Pat’s Point of View

I’ve just returned from a week in Cairns, a trip which was meant to be partly for the OZCHI 2008 conference and partly for holiday. Not the best trip.

Last Sunday we flew up to Cairns. When we arrived the Qantas check-in staff didn’t provide an infant boarding pass for my daughter, and I didn’t such a thing even existed, so when we went to board there was a bit of dilemma. Thankfully the staff at the gate were very helpful and gave us an upgrade to business class! (Although I think this result had more to do with another family of four who were giving them a hard time about wanting to sit together so our two ‘spare’ economy seats were a welcome relief). It was a great start to the holiday, and not a bad flight to get upgraded for: it’s 3 hours to Cairns.

Then we arrived in Cairns. Hot. Humid. Ouch. I’m not built for hot weather, but I soldiered on and tried to find the cab we had booked online the night before, with a special request for baby seat. A lot of cabs in Cairns are now based on the eco-friendly Toyota Prius, so I was thinking hey they are pretty high tech up here. Sadly no. After asking some people and having no luck I called the cab company. They told me two things: a) they don’t accept bookings from the airport and b) “in Queensland public transport vehicles are exempt from having to carry baby capsules” (a phrase we were to hear over and over again) so they can’t do that either. FAIL! Why does your website allow you to request both those things if you can’t deliver?

So now I know why you see so many baby seats/capsules on the luggage conveyors at the airport, it’s because you can’t rely on anyone you just have to bring your own. Seriously, I don’t give a crap if the Queensland government have deemed “it’s perfectly legal to just hold the baby on your lap”, it’s not safe! How can they feel it’s unnecessary for essential safety equipment for babies to be available? I would happily have waited and/or paid more to secure a safe mode of transport for Grace. We had few choices, the best of which seemed to be catching a cab with Grace on Jenn’s lap in the back seat. We discussed the lack of baby seats in Queensland cabs with the driver, as well as how using a hybrid vehicle for a taxi is really just a PR stunt and not yet economically viable (nor environmentally friendly at the end of the day).

Monday. A day of relaxing and acclimatisation in preparation for my OZCHI tutorial on Tuesday. Possibly even more hot and humid. Yuck. It’s not glamorous, but we spent most of the day in Smithfield shopping centre because we had to get some groceries for Grace and it was air conditioned! (not something there is a lot of in Palm Cove). In the spirit of the tropical theme I bought a lovely knock-off ‘Aloha shirt’. Cool in that absurd kind of way.

Tuesday. Went off to James Cook University for my tutorial. Still hot. Got into the room the tutorial would be in…urrgh not much cooler. Lovely. The tutorial went well, although almost everyone there was not exactly at the right level for an introductory course, but I got good feedback and I think we all got something out of the half day.

Wednesday. Can’t remember what we did in the morning, but I remember the heat hadn’t relented. We went for a late lunch at Pepper’s Beach Club on the esplanade at Palm Cove, we’d been there many times when we last stayed there and it was always nice. I had a ham focaccia and a light beer. Big mistake. I remember thinking our order arrived quite quickly, Jenn only got a salad so I was wondering if my sandwich was fresh. It turns out it probably wasn’t and given the hot and humid conditions something was off. To cut a long and painful story short I spent the next 8 hours witnessing my body performing a complete evacuation of its digestive system by any and all means possible. I’ve not been struck by any major illness in my life, and I’m sure this is nothing in comparison, but this bout of food poisoning was the worst such thing I’ve ever experienced.

By midnight I was completely wrecked, severely dehydrated and in need of medical assistance. I was worried, about me but also about my family, what if this was viral? At this point I was also pondering, in my barely lucid state, how vulnerable we are when on holiday. Without your normal support network, local knowledge and even transport, you kinda feel on your own. But we managed to get an ambulance to the resort which was harder than expected. The paramedics agreed it was food poisoning, possibly with a bit of heat stroke to boot. I opted not to take them up on the offer of hospitalisation because I had a wife and baby to consider. Besides, the mass evacuation seemed to have slowed by the time the paramedics arrived, so I thought I would ride it out and see how I was in the morning. It was a rough night.

After the ‘purge’ had finished the ‘reboot’ began, as my digestive system was rebuilt, a process that ultimately went on for about 60 hours. I was trying to rehydrate myself but Mr Stomach wasn’t playing nicely. I couldn’t digest anything for a while, so eating and drinking were very difficult.

Thursday. Why does it always seem to be overcast in Palm Cove? It makes is more humid and it’s depressing rather than a tropical paradise. But on this day I think the sun was out all day. It might have been hotter but at least not as humid, but I wouldn’t know since I spent the entire day in bed. Made a break for it at dinner time and chanced a trip to the restaurant. Saw OZCHI folks going off to the conference dinner, but I was in a daze. Didn’t last long, had to return to the room.

Friday. Started to get better, I even ventured out for breakfast and lunch. Arranged to meet James Breeze and some others for dinner, but as the sun started to set the humidity rose and as we couldn’t find any restaurants with air-conditioning I quickly wilted and had to make a very early exit. The heat, sweat and thought of food just made me ill. Why no restaurants in Palm Cove have A/C is beyond me.

Saturday. Feeling much better. Packing, breakfast then transfer to airport (and guess what? no baby seats available, because “in Queensland…” grrrr!). At the airport things were looking up, we managed to all get on the same flight (long story) and even got moved to a bulkhead row with a bassinet so we could put the baby down for a sleep during the flight. Back home in Sydney. Dry heat. Hmmmm.

Man, I need a holiday.

It’s so typical for usability professionals to point out the un-usability of everyday things they encounter, and I normally try to resist, but I just have to comment on the Bonds EasySuit.

You’ll no doubt have seen the ads on TV, cute lil buggers wearing stretchy one-piece numbers. They look good and feel good—no seams or buttons—but damned if they are decidedly not easy to put on!

It looks like it’s easy enough, you just open the hole on the lower back and slip it on. Yeah, good luck. You need to bend baby in half and then simultaneously insert arms and legs into the corresponding holes and somehow they’re supposed to spring back into shape, fully clothed.

Grace gives me a slightly perplexed look and emits a short ‘humpf’ as I bend her in half like a pretzel. The look on her face seems to say “you sure you know how to do this?”.

What’s needed is a suit fitting system like in Iron Man :)

Lucky I have a terabyte of storage, I’m going to need it if we keep taking this many photos of our kids! Here’s a sample from weeks 6-12.

I have a few nick names for my daughter, but one of the most apt is “Princess Grumbles” because she does get stroppy from time to time—common for Picean women I hear :)

Yet lately, she has taken her grumbliness to a new level. She has a cold, you see, and we believe she has also started teething. This is one more in a string of early bloomer events for young Grace, she was early entering this world, early to get into regular sleep patterns and now early to sprout teeth. It’s not unheard of but teething normally starts at about six months, not three.

So it was a decidedly un-relaxing weekend, hopefully she feels better soon.

My little girl is growing fast, so I’ve posted a few photos so you can see how well she is doing.

She’s very animated but sometimes hard to interpret. For instance, in this photo is she is practising her a) scary face for Halloween b) Ice-T gangster rap, or c) what-to-do-in-an-armed-robbery look? Perhaps she’s pretending to be a pirate, I don’t know.

There aren’t many photos of her sleeping, that’s because it’s a bit of a rarity at this stage. Her mum is doing so well, I don’t know how she copes. I have it lucky, I have to go off to work, so I get to sleep at night!

I’m so very, very proud to introduce you all to my daughter, Grace. She came into the world at 5:09am on the 6th of March 2008, weighing a petite 3.2kg and measuring 48.5cm long.

The birth wasn’t quite what we expected (more on that soon) but in the end we got what was most important, a healthy baby girl. Jenn did really well, staying fairly calm and focussed the whole time. I did my best to support her but she is a tough little bugger and did all the hard work herself.

The midwives at RPA and our obstetrician Anthony Frumar were excellent, they took good care of all three of us and we are so glad we birthed there.

It’s so cliched but oh so true, nothing can prepare you for this experience. I feel so happy when I hold this little miracle in my arms and see a face kinda like my own, looking back at me.

For the moment, we all really need a rest, but you’ll get a chance to meet this little miss in due course. And thanks to everyone for their best wishes so far!

UPDATE: I’ve uploaded some more photos

Today is my wife’s birthday, and I want the world to know. I want the world to know how special Jenn is and how proud I am of her.

I want the world to know that Jenn is pregnant, coming up on 26 weeks, and is holding down a full time job. That in itself isn’t that unusual, but she decided to return to work after starting the pregnancy as a housewife (now how many people choose to do that?). She did this because she was bored, but mostly because she wanted to make sure “we’d be alright”. She’s great at what she does, earns as much as me and has a pretty stressful job to boot.

I want the world to know how caring Jenn is. She takes care of me, which she does usually without complaint, even after a hard day at work. On top of all this, each night last week she worked a fill-in shift as a restaurant manager. She did this because she is such a generous and genuinely selfless soul who puts those she cares about before herself.

I want the world to know how smart Jenn is. She manages all our finances and investments, and if it wasn’t for her I would be broke and destitute. When we met, I was earning roughly twice what most people my age were earning, but couldn’t rub two cents together because I’m hopeless with money. Now, we’re well on our way to financial freedom and it’s all because of Jenn. Despite this, I often have to remind her that book smarts ain’t nothin without street smarts. Some might say I’m intelligent, but I’m not smart (except for my decision to marry Jenn, she’s the smart one).

I want the world to know how tough Jenn is. Being pregnant is no walk in the park, mums-to-be are always uncomfortable, irritable and bloody tired. And this heat doesn’t help either. Yet my wife takes it all, without much complaint, she just buckles down and gets through it. (And you should hear the price she got on our new air-conditioning!)

I want the world to know how unforgettable Jenn is. The other day, she ran into an old work colleague from years ago. He said “You know the thing I remember about you from all those years ago? You used to always say ‘we’re not saving lives kids’!” (in reference to the utter lack of substance in advertising, but more importantly Jenn’s ability to keep a positive attitude and the big picture in mind). People who meet Jenn remember her, because she’s fun, dependable and doesn’t give in.

I want the world to know how beautiful Jenn is. Even when pregnant she gets whistles from passing cars. Since the first day I saw here I thought she was the cutest thing ever. We just recently had our second wedding anniversary and there’s nobody else I could imagine being with.

For these reasons, and more, I’m so proud of Jenn. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing short of the almighty Himself will stop her from achieving her goals. Except, that is, for her own self-doubt. So here’s to you honey, may you have a great day and may you realise how special you are to me, our child, and to everyone who knows you.

As I sit here in Adelaide, I find my thoughts turning to the strange goings on in my wife’s belly. Our little baby (who has a mere 15 weeks to go) seems to like nothing better than to see how far she can push mum’s belly beyond its normal shape. My favourite of all are the scrapes, rather than the punches, because you can clearly feel those little knuckles rubbing along the inside.

From what I hear, we will soon be able to make out elbows and other body parts as my baby attempts to redecorate her steadily shrinking accommodation. If the current prods, pokes and scrapes are anything to go by, we’ll probably be able to make out fingerprints pretty soon!

Time for a big announcement folks. Jenn and I are very proud to announce that our little family will grow to three early next year. Yep, we’re pregnant and we’re just about to enter our second trimester! On the left you can see a photo of our twelve week scan.

Bubs will arrive in mid March 2008, not long before my birthday. We both have a feeling the bub is a girl, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Either way we have several names picked out already.

It’s been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster over the last year or so; trying to fall pregnant and dealing with disappointments along the way. In the end, I think the thing that made all the difference was Jenn taking time off work to relax and de-stress, not to mention a tropical holiday. When we were blessed with the good news we started yet another trip on the roller-coaster!

Mum-to-be is currently walking a tightrope of emotion; I never quite know how she will react to anything. However, it’s a beautiful transformation, and quite noticeable too. Besides the constant and severe tiredness and having to “make pee pee” every two minutes, Jenn is more relaxed and a bit more soft. It’s hard to describe and possibly only I can detect it but she looks, feels and smells more mum-like. Weird.

So now the news is out we can finish making preparations. We’ve been researching all manner of baby products for ages now, and in fact we bought a pram last weekend. Same with doctors and the like, I think we’ve been through the entire list of obstetricians in Sydney! We had chosen to go with the birthing centre at RPA but with a private obstetrician—for our first bub anyway—but after speaking with our chosen doctor we’ve decided to book into the RPA maternity ward as a private patient.

There’s so much to think about, just ask Jenn, I think she’s read every book ever written about giving birth. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be the mother of my children and she’s doing a great job. Besides coping pretty well with the tough first three months, she’s also budgeted for everything so we know we can afford it (what a woman!). No doubt there are going to be some challenges ahead, but nothing in this world makes me as happy as the thought of having a baby.

So getting the twelve week scan was quite exciting. We were a bit worried coming up to the scan but once we found out everything was ok we were so happy. Bubs was moving around heaps during the ultrasound and we could see her/him quite clearly. It was the most beautiful experience. Nothing like seeing your child for the first time to humble you in an instant.

Thanks to all those who have already sent their best wishes. We’ll have you over next year to see our new baby :)

Mazel, mazel. Good things!

We’ve just arrived home from our trip to the Gold Coast where we spent the week between Christmas and New Year with my brother and his family and in-laws. We had a great time, even though it was too short!

We gave our car a good work-out (its first long trip) and there’s now an extra 1935 kms on the clock. She performed brilliantly and it was a comfortable 12 hour drive each way—well as comfortable as that task could be. After that drive, all I can say is thank heavens for cruise control!

The first few days weren’t great in terms of weather but that’s OK since we were just hanging out with the kids, relaxing and doing some ‘factory outlet’ shopping. I even caught a fish. We were staying in a nice quiet part of the Gold Coast known as Runaway Bay, which incidentally is where we caught the ferry to Couran Cove island many years ago.

On the weekend we spent time with Jenn’s sister and her family, who were holidaying in nearby Surfer’s Paradise. First up, Wet’n'Wild Water World, a theme park dedicated to water slides (in case the name didn’t give it away). I think it was pretty good, and I’m practically allergic to sun and water! By far the best ride was the Black Hole, Jenn screamed like a little girl.

Next day we did Sea World, which was more sedate but had the attraction of marine animals, even if most of the time they were part of some lame ‘show’. The polar bear and penguins were my picks of the day.

Faced with the prospect of a 12 hour slog back to Sydney today (returning to work tomorrow) we decided to split the drive home over two days and stayed at Nambucca Heads for New Year’s Eve. That place was rockin!…not. Anyway it was the safer option.

So after a great Chirstmas we had a great little holiday, couldn’t ask for much more than that.