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11 weeks and counting!

As of today I am now 29 weeks pregnant, which means I have approximately 11 weeks until our little person arrives. When I take into consideration the fact that my specialist has said he may induce me anywhere from 36 weeks it starts to get a bit scary because I am SO not ready!

I've also discovered that pregnancy is very much 'secret women's business' as there are so many things that go on with your body that aren't discussed, probably with good reason! If women knew everything about pregnancy and child birth prior to conceiving then I think the birth rate would drop dramatically!

Up until this point in the pregnancy I have been happily cruising along, give or take the odd day of feeling tires or unwell, but all of a sudden it feels as though my good run has come to an end.

I developed a cold, which I thought would just run its course, but it turned into an infection which needed antibiotics to help clear up. The sinus pain is so severe on my left side that I can't lay my face on the pillow, which would be fine if I could sleep on my right side but I've recently developed hip pain! Who knew pregnancy could cause hip pain - apparently its due to the release of hormones that help relax and soften the joints and muscles to help prepare the body for labour and delivery!

All of this would be fine if I could sleep on my back, however this position puts the full weight of the uterus on the spine, back muscles, intestines, and the inferior vena cava (the vein that transports blood from your lower body to the heart) so that's a no-no too!

Throw into the mix the fact that I, like 41% of pregnant women, have developed pregnancy snoring and you can imagine how little sleep I am actually getting! To add insult to injury Aaron had the audacity to poke me in the shoulder a few nights ago, after I had finally fallen asleep, to tell me I was snoring! This from the man that snores every night!! Words were exchanged and I am fairly confident he wont be doing that again.

On the plus side bumpy is moving a lot more now - particularly between 3am and 5am and we seem to be awake at this time every morning now - and Aaron has actually seen and felt the movement himself, which is great as it makes him feel more connected to the baby.

I spent the weekend washing baby clothes, towels, wraps and bedding so at least when we move, which is in 5 weeks time, I know the baby's things are all taken care of! I wish the same could be said for the rest of the house.

In the meantime I am trying every suggestion possible to get a good nights sleep - I have bought a vaporiser, a pillow to place between the legs and wheat packs and water bottles for the hip pain. At this rate there wont be any room for me in the bed!

Taken last night - 29 weeks pregnant and very, very tired!

At least I am organised when it comes to the baby's clothes!

Update

I am now officially in my third, and thankfully final, trimester! This means the baby is due anywhere between 8 to 12 weeks - we are so not ready! The upside is that I only have 8 more weeks of daily injections. Yay!

We have exchanged contracts on the house, which is now officially sold, so we need to be out within the next 6 weeks - yes, I should be packing and not wasting time on the computer.

The house that we fell in love with turned out to not be our dream home so we continued the search until we found something else that we liked. We were meant to be signing the contract yesterday but the solicitor pointed out that the very large decking, which was a major selling point, had never had council approval and could end up causing us problems further down the track.

The solicitor has now asked the seller to get council approval before we'll sign the contract, six weeks to go (and a baby on the way) and still nowhere to live... at this point I'd just like to know where I'm going, when I'm going and when I can set up a nursery!

All I can do is wait... and pack!

Ella

Last night we went looking for Ella as it was time to go to bed and she was nowhere to be found. Bearing in mind the fact that Ella is an indoors cat and you'll realise there aren't that many places for her to hide.

During the day Ella normally sleeps on a dining chair soaking up the sun that streams through the dining room window and at night she always sleeps at the foot of our bed.

My vet has always been against this idea and over the years I have bought Ella many cat beds, which I have tried to coax her into using, with no luck. No matter how many times I would leave her in the lounge room I would always wake up the next morning to discover that she'd crept onto the bed during the night. Eventually I decided it was easier to let her be...

Last night I started to worry when I couldn't find her and I wondered whether she'd snuck out the door without one of us seeing her, highly unlikely as it was really cold outside and she's never tried to get out before.

Aaron told me I was worrying for nothing and she'd turn up once we went to bed. He was right! As soon as Aaron got into bed he found Ella... snuggled underneath the blankets obviously enjoying the warmth of electric blanket that I'd turned on earlier!

Well, it was a cold night after all.

Sunset

Last night I was taking the clothes off the line when I looked up at the sky and noticed it was streaked with pink. I went inside to get Aaron's camera (mine having committed hari kari in a bucket of water) and by the time I got outside the colour had deepened.

Of course I watched the sunset until it disappeared into blackness and then I had to take the remainder of the clothes off the line in the dark - and cold! Still, it was worth pausing to watch.

Just before the sky turned black

Oliver Wendell Broadhead

Meet my lovely little nephew Oliver Wendell, who was born yesterday afternoon around 4.30pm (and weighed around 8.6 pounds). These photos were taken when he was less than 2 hours old - and he already looks cute!

Just like Danielle's pregnancy with Isabelle the contractions were coming and going for several days and we thought he was going to be born on Monday or Tuesday, but no, he held off 'til Wednesday! Even though she can't be with us physically the similarity in labours made it feel like Belle was included!

Despite Madeleine, Isabelle and Mason being born with very dark hair, which went blonde later, Oliver is a blondie from birth, which was a surprise to us all.

Big sister Madeleine having a cuddle

Madeleine and Mason opening up their big-sister and big-brother presents!

Adios Amigos

Last Friday was my last day at work for some time as I found the 5 hour daily commute was wearing me out! Luckily I have holiday leave due to me as well as long service leave so I will be taking that before my maternity leave commences.

My lovely colleagues organised a morning tea on my last day, which wasn't quite as embarrassing as I had expected it to be, and there was also a final lunch with friends - on top of the more formal lunch the day before! There were lots of lunch-dates in my last week!

Aaron and I were given a very generous gift voucher to use on the baby so we have already decided on a cot mattress, change table topper, nappies and baby wipes! It was very much appreciated.

Sue, me and Chris

with Bradley

me and Robyn

Corinne, June and myself

Simon, me, Chris, Lauraine, Brad, Kris and June

Simon, me, Chris, Lauraine, Brad, kris and Corinne

It was a very strange feeling not having to get up for work on Monday morning, however I didn't have time to dwell on it as my sister in law went into labour with the newest member of our family. But for that news you'll need to read the next post!

On the Move!

Once we knew a little person was going to join us Aaron and I decided it was time to sell the house to buy something more suitable. As housing prices are low at the moment it means we can afford to buy a house in an area that would have previously been way out of our budget.

We spent a few weekends painting the kitchen, bathroom and guest bedroom, plus we ordered a skip and removed building materials that the previous owner had left behind in the back yard. By the time we had finished our de-clutter and paint jobs I was regretting the fact that I hadn't put in the effort earlier - all that hard work for someone else to enjoy!!

Still, it was worth it as the house sold within 6 days of being on the market - a lot quicker than we anticipated.

The front yard after the gardens had been weeded and tidied

The main bedroom

The guest bedroom when I bought the house

The guest bedroom after we'd repainted it... why did I wait so long to do it!

The back yard when I moved in... what's with all the ugly sheds???

The back yard as it is now, minus a few sheds and some gardens in place - much better!

We spent a few busy weekends getting the house ready for sale but we certainly learnt a lesson, and if our next house needs painting we'll do it straight away so that we get to enjoy it!

Now all we have to do is find our new home!

6 months & counting!

Aaron and I have been so busy over the last few weeks I really haven't had time to post anything! We have finally finished working on the house and we put it up for sale - only to sell it for the full asking price 6 days later!!

A blog about that will be coming soon!

In the meantime here's evidence that I am well and truly expecting a baby!

I am 23 weeks (6 months) pregnant today!
The bump is now well and truly showing!

Ella seems to appreciate the bump; it gives her something to snuggle around!