Australia - summary of the first couple of weeks

Although technically I have more time on my hands than usual, given I'm not working, time has been flying and I just feel tired all the time. 

 I've been trying to figure out why. 

 I don't think its just the pregnancy. Or just the heat (which is lovely).

Moving to a new country, no matter how well you speak the language, is an exercise in non-stop information processing and decision making: Where to go to get or do this? Where is it?  How to get there? How to pay for the transport? How do things work here? 

All new rules and ways of doing things.

Then there is the food. Where to eat if we're out? Where to buy ingredients if we're cooking at home? I take a while reading food packaging when I shop normally, but in a new place everything is new and each option needs weighing up and deciding upon. 

Its exhausting.

I've been extremely neglectful of this blog so I'll just summarise the past couple of weeks to get up-to-date.

Brisbane

We enjoyed a couple of weeks staying with friends in Brisbane.  

While Mr Duncan was working each day, I sorted out flights to Melbourne, somewhere to stay while we look for a rental, health insurance and insurance for Mr Duncan's expensive work computer kit which was a condition of his new employment contract.  

We both swam in the pool a lot.

I also borrowed the sewing machine to alter some of my clothes to fit my expanding waistline. I have a draft post on that I'll try to get up this week.

Brisbane was lovely and sunny and we were there just in time to enjoy some amazing tropical storms after they had endured nine months of no rain. Here are a few shots inspired by Marcy who always has such great pics in her posts.

Ben and Jerry's Open Air Cinema on the Southbank.  The bean bags are extremely comfortable.

View of the city from Southbank as the sun starts to go down.

View of the city from Southbank after the movie finished.  

Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne last Monday.  I accidentally left my glasses case on the plane.  

At the 11th hour our serviced apartment was upgraded from a one bed to the originally requested 2 bed with balcony.  

It is great.  Spread over two floors it is larger than our home in London.   And about the same price, which puts the expensive glorified bedsit we stayed in for three nights before we left to complete shame.  

It is big enough for Mr Duncan to have his own work area and we're not in each other's pockets which is good, because he's been pretty tetchy of late.  I put that down to all the uncertainty - he prefers to be settled and surrounded by all his 'stuff'.  

The apartment is located next to a large park and only a ten minute walk from the city.  

It has a 'full' kitchen so I'm back to cooking, but with limited equipment and ingredients there is only so much I can do.  

We spent the weekend charging around lots of different areas trying to get a sense of where we might like to live.  We have until the end of January to sort it out but the rental market here seems to be quite competitive, so I'm a bit concerned our belongings will arrive and we'll have nowhere to put them.

Just before we left Brisbane I developed eczema on my inner arm for the first time in about ten years.  

I guess I've been eating less well than usual - its tricky when you're eating out or a guest at someone else's table.  

It could also be due to moving stress or the increased dairy I've been consuming because of Pickle as both stress and too much dairy are known triggers for me.  

I'm making a concerted effort to cut down on both and now that I have a kitchen, return to healthier eating habits. I've also been lavishly applying coconut oil to the eczema. 

Something is working as I've seen some improvement in the last day or two.

Pregnancy

Not much to report, but no news is usually good news.  

I registered with a doctor last week.  I kind of expected her to take my blood pressure and weight etc but she just referred me to a hospital and to a radiology clinic to book my 20 week scan.  She told me I should hear back from the hospital with an initial appointment date in a week or so.   

I sorted out medical insurance when we arrived, but there is a 12 month waiting period for maternity related services so I'm with the public system whether I like it or not. Which is actually fine with me.  The Australian health system is of a high standard and must be on a par at least with the NHS in the UK.  

I joined the library and got out a book on pregnancy in Australia, so hopefully that will tell me what to expect here.

Today I am 15 weeks, which is the time we lost Pipkin.  

As far as I can tell everything is okay, though thats how I felt with Pipkin until it wasn't okay any more.  The nausea has abated which is to be expected and I am bigger than I was with Pipkin which is reassuring.  

I had to give up on the hairband trick last week, so its just as well I put in the sewing time I did while I was in Brisbane!

Anti-nausea snacks - curbing morning sickness

Almond stuffed dates

With Pipkin I had no appetite, but I had no nausea to keep at bay either.  

All I wanted to eat was dairy (yoghurt or custard or ice cream) and plain crackers or breadsticks.  Obviously I provided myself more nutrition than that, but only because I was following my brain instead of just my cravings.

This time I am really hungry a lot of the time and try to eat something small every 2.5 to 3 hrs between meals.  If I don't eat I start belching repeatedly and feeling super nauseous.  My favourite snacks balance some sugar/carbohydrate with protein.

Dates stuffed with Almonds

Yep, just like it says on the tin. 

I just shove an almond or two inside a pitted dried date and carry a small container of them around with me for when I feel that bleurgh feeling coming on and I'm not able to sort out something more substantial to eat.  Two or three are usually enough to stave off the sick feeling. 

This sweet but fulfilling snack was introduced to me by the Somalian woman I was seated next to in the NHS healthy pregnancy class when I was pregnant with Pipkin.

Dates are rich in minerals including calcium, magnesium and potassium as well as being high in fibre which helps with the constipation.  Eat them sparingly as they are full of fructose and high GI, though I read that the protein in the almonds help slow down the absorption rate.
Almonds are rich in protein, fibre, vitamin E and folic acid and help to regulate blood sugar levels.

Apple and cheese

Half an apple cut into chunks eaten with generous slices of cheese.

Cheese contains calcium and B vitamins and counts towards my daily protein and dairy requirements.
Apple has vitamins A, Bs and C and contains soluble fibre which seems to help manage morning sickness.  Consumption of apple during pregnancy is supposed to reduce the risk of asthma.

Oatcakes and spread 

Oats are full of soluble fibre and low GI.  

I top a couple of oatcakes with generous servings of a protein rich spread such as hummous or peanut butter or tahini (which is iron rich). 

Again, two or three is enough to ward off the symptoms.  I haven't been able to find any oatcakes in Brisbane but hopefully they have them in Melbourne.

Otherwise I'm going to have to find a recipe and make my own.

Hummous Recipe

This is not even close to a traditional recipe but it is cheap, super speedy and super yummy.  It also contains a lot less oil and salt than the commercially made ones. 

When I prepare dried chickpeas, I do a big batch and freeze portions for when I need them.  They're quickly thawed by being rinsed in warm water.

The 'recipe' is very flexible. If I'm out of chickpeas I might make the exact same recipe but with black beans and call it black bean dip.  There were some pimento stuffed olives that needed using up in the fridge here where I'm staying, so I threw them in this last batch instead of the cumin.  

Delicious.

Chickpeas are low GI, a good source of protein and soluble fibre and rich in iron.

Ingredients

• teaspoon cumin seeds
• cup pre-cooked chickpeas
• clove of garlic
• some chilli
• splash olive oil or dessert spoonful of tahini
• lemon juice to taste
• water for consistency

Method

1.  In a dry pan, toast the cumin seeds over a medium heat.  

2.  Put cumin seeds, garlic cloves, chickpeas and a small splash of olive oil in a high sided bowl or jug. 

3.  Blend with a hand blender adding lemon juice/water to taste until the consistency you want.

4.  Eat with carrot sticks, cucumber rounds or whatever plain crackers or breadsticks will satisfy your cravings.

Dates

82 boxes.

Today was Pipkin's due date.

We arrived in Australia to start our new life today.

I've always had a head for dates - remembering birthdays and anniversaries without any effort.  I'm glad that I can make this date dual purpose - and bring some positivity to an otherwise sad association.

I hope I can do that with Poppy's due date too.  

Although it was the middle of freezing cold January, we took the day off work for a trip to the seaside at Brighton.  It was good and healing to spend that time together and acknowledge what might have been.  

I hope the next time it comes around we can start something positive in Poppy's memory.  

In summer.

Its been an exhausting and busy week. 

I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks downtime in tropical Brisbane before attending to the graft of finding a job and a place to live in Melbourne.

L.

x

And we're off!

Update - moving to Australia with a baby on board

Outback sunset

Tomorrow I will be ten weeks.  

I had a scan today and we have a heartbeat and a little dancing embryo.  Cue a huge sigh of relief.  I don't think I'll feel confident about this pregnancy until this little Pickle is actually born.  Pipkin was also fine and dancing at ten weeks, but its progress at least.

I wanted to keep myself busy to keep my mind occupied and... be careful what you wish for Lisa.

Time has flown what with the new job in the mornings and co-ordinating this move.  I've been busy 

• sorting and 
• cleaning and 
• packing and 
• freecycling the various random items we are not taking to Australia with us.  

I've also sorted out the paperwork for the import application for the Land Rover and sent it off with the 15 additional documents required to support the application.

Fingers crossed.  

The Landy enjoyed Australia the first time and will be much happier having adventures there than sitting parked outside a London flat.  

I'm still working on coordinating final readings and cancelling various services and regular payments.

We check in to a hotel this weekend, the movers come on Monday for the furniture and we fly a week from today.  We'll spend a ten days or so visiting with friends in Brisbane and then head on to Melbourne to find a place to live.

Before we found out about this pregnancy we had intended to spend a month or so hanging out in Thailand while we waited for our goods to sail from one end of the planet to the other.  Mr Duncan can work from anywhere he has access to the internets.  But I'm anxious to find a new doctor and get in the 'system' as soon as possible, and for that we need a proper address in Melbourne.  I just hope we can get one and move in before the whole country shuts down for Christmas.

I'll be without a kitchen until we find a place to live - and without my kitchen things until probably February when our shipment should turn up - so it may be a while before I post any new experimental recipes.