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By Robin, on July 25th, 2010
My girls came home on Wednesday. Cathy was bored to death at the hospital and there was no reason to stay any longer. Where better to recover than your own home.
Before we left the hospital, they did a hearing test on Sophie. They measured Sophie’s brain activity while they played a few clicks over small ear phones. She passed the test with flying colours. I think she looked pretty cool with the head gear. (photo below)
The first night was a bit weird for the new parents. It started with Sophie being sick all over her and her bed, so we had to put her in a bath and clean her bed. This all within half an hour after we went to bed. But after that, it went pretty OK. The second night also started with Sophie throwing up a bit, but we could contain the ‘damage’ to her wrapper.
The last two nights have been better. We decided to stop feeding Sophie breast milk, as it didn’t go down very well every time we fed her the breast milk. Besides that, Cathy was in massive pain when she expressed the milk. Having switched to the formula milk (baby milk from supermarket), Sophie has been way more relaxed. Which is good for her, and her parents of course.
And, also VERY important: I can play a video game while Sophie is sleeping on my chest. 
I will be home for the next two weeks, so Cathy can recover a bit more and we both can enjoy our precious daughter.
By Robin, on July 18th, 2010
I think all of you know by now, but just to make sure: our daughter Sophie Imogen was born yesterday! On Friday we were told that she had dropped a bit and that we could induce the birth if we wanted to.
So on Saturday morning we arrived at the hospital just before 8, and at 11.41 Sophie was born. Sophie and mother are doing great. They will be at the hospital for a few more days, but that is all normall.
Here are a few pictures taken yesterday and this morning.
By Cathy, on July 13th, 2010
Ja, het is eindelijk zover, donderdag was de laatste werkdag voor mijn zwangerschapsverlof.
Veel mensen vonden het vreemd dat ik met ruim 38 weken nog steeds aan het werk was, maar ik heb me nog nooit zo goed gevoeld. Dus ik zag geen reden om thuis in de koude te zitten, bovendien vond ik heel lastig om mijn project over te dragen. Niet dat ik geen vertrouwen heb ik mijn vervanger, maar we begonnen net met “Improve”. Voelt een beetje dat hij nu alle credit krijgt voor het werk dat ik de voorbije maanden gedaan heb.
Gelukkig was Robin ook thuis de voorbije dagen, want ben er nog niet helemaal achter wat ik de volgende dagen ga doen tot Mutsie er is. Ondanks dat we vandaag 39 weken ver zijn, heeft ze nog geen teken geven dat ze klaar is om haar warme nestje te verlaten, ze is nog niet ingedaald. Vrijdag gaan we weer op controle bij Dr Brian, onze vloekende Ierse gynaecoloog.
Vrijdag, was een erg NL/BE dag: grijs, grauw, koud en het regende pijpenstelen (dat is vast heel erg Vlaams). We zijn dan maar eens bij de “Dutch Butcher” langs geweest. Enne hebben we even voorraad in geslagen: 1kg (gouden) zoute drop en echte belegen Gouda, ronde beschuit van Bolletje en roze muisjes, de groe(n)ten van Hak (grote pot rode kool), een blik Capucijners, speculaas, Bolletje kandijkoek (lijkt waarschijnlijk meer op Vlaamse peperkoek dan Hollandse ontbijtkoek) en – last but not least – door de slager zelfgemaakte Kroketten. Tuurlijk koop je in NL voor de prijs van de drop en de kaas hier, de halve winkel leeg, maar vast niet zo lekker als hier. Wat was dat smullen vanmiddag een bammetje kroket met mosterd of zoals zaterdag een bammetje met speculaas.
Vanochtend hadden we handover inspectie van het huis. Zodra de builder de betaling voor “Practical Completion” ontvangen heeft, krijgen we de sleutels. De volgende paar dagen worden de dingen gefixed die we vanochtend hebben laten vast stellen. Wij hebben een goede bouw opzichter, want hij had het hele huis al geinspecteerd voor wij er waren en al wat dingtjes genoteerd die hij niet goed genoeg vond. Er zijn geen grote gebreken, alleen maar een paar kleine dingen, een stopcontact met een wit of geen afdekplaatje ipv een metalen, hier en daar wat plaatser- en verfwerk dat bijgewerkt moet worden en de automatische garagepoort maakt een vreemd geluid. Het enige wat nog wat nabelwerk vergt, is het stopcontact in het keukenblad. Wij hadden zo’n mooi en duur stainless steel popup ding besteld en nu zit er vreselijk goedkoop uitziend wit plastic ding in ons zwarte aanrecht.
By Robin, on July 4th, 2010
The only baby news we have: it is all going well. We passed July 1, which means that Cathy is now entitled to maternity leave when the baby is born. And that is good, really good from a financial perspective.
Anyway, I have started working 4 days a week now. Last Friday was my first day of this wonderful roster and we decided to make the most of the day. Cathy took the day off as well and we arranged a meeting with the interior designer who also helped us picking colours, materials and other things about a year ago. This time we talked about wall colours, flooring, curtains and furniture placement. A very busy day, but well worth the money.
The floor has been ordered, we found a painter who can do the work for a good price and we hope to get a quote for the windows dressing stuff any time soon.
When we got to the house on Friday, the front had been cleaned up and the pavers had been laid. (There was a bit of rain, so you see a few extra specs on the photo’s.)
By Robin, on June 17th, 2010
Things are really coming together now. We just stopped by the house to see they have painted the front, put in a lot of the light switches and also fitted the oven and cooker in the kitchen. From what we can see through the windows, the tiling is almost done.
And everything should be coming to a finish, as we have our ‘practical completion’ inspection on 13 July. The only reason this might be postponed is if Cathy goes into labor the day or night before. But it looks like everything is really coming together within the same week!
Ow, the space in the columns of the portico will be filled with a special stone, but that will be done in the next few weeks.
By Robin, on June 7th, 2010
Let’s say we are prepared, I don’t think one can be truly really ready for the birth of your first child.
Foundation day is officially on June 1, but the Aussies conveniently celebrate it on the first Monday of month, making this weekend an extra long one. So far we have kept ourselves pretty busy. On Saturday we had a relaxing time getting a massage, a late present for Cathy’s birthday. We went to a place where they are trained to massage pregnant women. And since I had to wait for Cathy, I decided to have a massage myself as well. Cathy had a relaxing time, my massage was a bit more painful! But all very relaxing after wards.
After the massage we went home for a quick bite to eat, before heading out to the stadium to watch some footy. This was probably the last game we went to before the baby is born. Although the Eagles lost the game, we had a great time.
Yesterday we put together the cot. It had to happen at some point. Our bedroom looks very different now with the cot all set up. It is pretty big compared to the baby that will be sleeping in it.
On the house front: we might get the keys to our house the week before the baby is due! We drove by on Friday night to see they have now put in a concrete floor in the garage and al fresco area. From talking to our site manager earlier in the week, I know the tiler has now started and should be ready in about 2 or 3 weeks time. There are still a few things to be done, but it is really getting closer and closer to the hand over date.
By Robin, on May 23rd, 2010
As winter is approaching, the rain and storms are as well. The last few weeks we have had more and more rain, which is a good thing here in WA.
We were a bit concerned with the rain blowing into the new house, but when we did a drive-by visit yesterday, it turned out they put in windows and doors! It was to wet to get out of the car and have a closer look, but it seems the house is completely locked up now, just in time before the heavy rain.
The down side of it is, that we are unable to go to the house in the weekends to have a look inside. We will have to peek through the windows to find out what is going on.
And yesterday morning we went to pick up some nice wheels for our unborn baby girl. Now she/we can ride in style.
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