(no subject)

I'm so amazingly excited about my super secret nerdy present for someone that I just might explode before I post it. My hands are cramped from many, many hours of knitting today and my eyes a bit tired from checking the patterns and occasionally ripping back because of miscounting. Found the missing piece from yesterday hidden in new bra. Sales good, 1euro bras bestest thing evar, industrial strength underwear is not cheap!

Did also discover when trying on the rest of the sales purchases that I'm a lot fatter than I think I am. I don't generally try on clothes, except bras, before buying. I hate clothes shopping enough without adding that particular torture. So it came as a bit of a shock to find that really, am a -lot- fatter than I think I am. This seems to crop up every so often and it's not that I don't see myself in the mirror every so often, just that I'm genuinely comfortable in my skin. Sure, could do with losing a few tens of kilos, but a size 16 is about the smallest I'll ever be, what with these hips and other bits. Strangely, still the same back size as I was when I was 17, though have gone from a then DD to now G. Was a 16 when I was 20 and I looked bloody hot. Course, I know I am now, too, which may not be the biggest help when losing weight should be a health issue rather than just to feel good about myself. Must work on that. Not quite sure how, though.

Of course, another thing that's not going to help with this is discovering what the ingredients for Cake are. Some experimenting in the kitchen may need to happen.

But first, sleep, then more knitting.

(no subject)

Starting to look as if I can't really afford the Glasgow nerdery, which is a bit of a shame but the more exciting one is in Galway in a few months. Galway one is all about waterbirth, which I'm not trained in at all at all. There was one one hour class on it in fourth year which consisted mostly of being shown videos of waterbirths. Of course, most of us were already familiar with waterbirth videos because there's this thing called the internet. I don't ever advise you to watch them in reverse though cos that looks yeeeowchy.

Waterbirth is something that I don't think I'd want for myself but by God do I want the option to be there and I want to be able to feel safe in providing that option. I don't see it being difficult or scary but I'd like to have a bit of training behind me before I do it, especially as the time is fast approaching where I'll be doing these things mostly on my own. Of course, that's assuming that they're ever allowed happen in Irish maternity hospitals ever again. Am unsure if the midwife led units are back using water again after the death of the baby in Cavan that led to the ban. Certainly, where I'm training has a birth pool, spent a fortune putting it in, reinforcing floors, installing a hoist, making the room well-equipped yet de-medicalised, all that jazz. And it's never, ever been used. The previous Master refused to even let women labour in it "in case they wouldn't get out when it came time to push."

The fight is still on over the Nurses and Midwives Bill. That problem hasn't gone away and I'm still waiting on a reply from our glorious leader Harney. The generic one that seems to have gone out to everyone managed to spell one of the Irish words for midwifery wrong, though, which says a lot about how much respect my profession is given here.