why is it raining?

I'll tell you why - because I am in the middle of building works and have a tight schedule! Seriously, most of Australia doesn't receive enough rain, and we have been in drought for years but as soon as I start demolishing part of my house it starts raining and now I'm hoping the tarps over the roof keep the rain out. But I can still hear the builders out the back excavating and banging and cutting and making other building like noises, so that sound (whilst annoying) is comforting to know that work continues.

Yesterday though I was not entirely happy - I came home from work to discover building supplies stacked up in the front yard and down the sides of the house, so much so that the path to the front door was completely blocked and I had to crawl on hands and knees beneath a small tree to get in the house. It must have been quite a sight, a 7 month pregnant women wearing a dress crawling in her front garden! Anyway once inside I discovered that we had no water or sewer connection, lucky we have great neighbours who let us use their toilet and shower last night.

But the real problem was that the dog is being kept in an enclosure down one side of the house during the day when building is occurring, and I could hear him crying and barking to get out but I couldn't get to him because of all the building supplies! I had to walk around the block to get into the backyard via our back lane, climb down through the excavated section which was all muddy, move some building supplies to let him out. Then the little princess wouldn't walk in the mud so I had to carry him out to the back lane - remember this is a big dalmatian weighing nearly 30kgs!

So today I'm home from work on sick leave - feeling a bit sore and exhausted, I guess being pregnant is finally catching up with me! The water and sewer have been reconnected, work is continuing and all is well again. But since it is raining it is a good time to lay on the lounge writing and reading blog posts.....

And what better to lounge around in than new pyjamas? I could have done the simple thing and bought some new pyjamas, they are relatively cheap after all but why do that when I have so many cottons in the stash and patterns just waiting to be used? So I made four pairs of pyjamas using the kimono top pattern from BWOF 12/07, and for the pants I used a now OOP Style 1012 simple elastic waist straight leg pants pattern.

Both patterns are extremely simple and quick to make, and oh so comfortable! Although the wrap top sits a little awkwardly because I need to tie it either above or below my huge belly, neither positions are where the tie is supposed to sit so it gapes a little, but I won't change it because it will fit fine post pregnancy. And being a wrap top it is ideal for breastfeeding - I've heard that new mums spend loads of time in their pyjamas, so now at least I'll look decent! The fabrics I used are all from the stash:

The yellow polka dot and green floral are both thrifted sheets, while the yellow gingham and red polka dot are garage sale scores, and the pink floral and multi colour jumbo polka dot are long term stash residents. I just need to find a contrasting fabric for the jumbo polka dot so I can put the bands around the pant leg and kimono top and I'll be all done.

The antenatal class on Sunday was really great - yes the videos of actual births were graphic and horrifying, but I guess educational and the midwife running the course was fantastic. She was very informative and reassuring, and we got to do a tour of the hospital which is quite new so everything is spacious and modern. All the birthing rooms have big bath tubs, windows that overlook a nice garden (though I doubt I'll be admiring the view when the time comes!) and the hospital is the main maternity hospital in NSW (RPA for you Sydneysiders) where sick women and babies get transferred to from all over the country, they have a full time surgical team and anaesthetist on the ward if an emergency arises or an epidural is needed ASAP!

The funny thing is there were four other ladies there who are due on the same day as me (by the way Jean the estimated due day is Christmas day) and we were all worried about the same thing: staffing levels due to the holiday period! But we were told its business as usual so it makes no difference. And the other funny thing is that we were all so different in size, I've said it before that I feel huge but see other women bigger, well these others at the same stage of pregnancy were way more ginormous than me so I shan't whinge again. That said, my belly has rounded out nicely now, and yesterday morning the bus driver told me I was a sexy mum to be which is a bit creepy actually but still made me feel better at 7am on a Monday morning......