The Babymoon

What a wonderful weekend! Hubby and I haven't been able to get away by ourselves since our honeymoon nearly 2 years ago so it was just wonderful to have the whole weekend to ourselves. It feels like we have been so busy the last couple of months that it was fantastic to just have a break away from everything.

We arrived at about lunchtime on Friday and had lunch at a local surf club before checking in to the hotel. The hotel was everything I had imagined, just absolutely incredible. Even the beauty of the lobby area just took my breath away. Our room was perfect, with everything we could possibly want, all decorated with the gorgeous Versace touches that you would expect. Here are a couple of pics:

The foyer:

Chilling out in our suite:

Waiting for us in our room was the most adorable Versace bathrobe for the baby - a size 4 so obviously for when they are older, but just so gorgeous. There was also a beautiful Versace teddy bear - here is a pic:

After checking out the room, we were off for a swim in the resort pool. I had been looking forward to this swim for ages and the water was just beautiful. That night we went out to dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants, right on the waterfront just after sunset. The food was incredible, this restaurant would definately be on my top 5 list. The only thing missing was the wine! Bub was kind enough to give me a bit of a kick to remind me how much it was worth missing out on though. We ended up back in the lounge area listening to a pianist and vocalist, hubby with a cocktail, me with a hot chocolate.

Saturday morning we enjoyed a very yummy buffet breakfast in the main hotel restaurant, then headed out for a walk on the beach. A walk that turned into a bit of a marathon walk down the beach while heading for what seemed at the time like a mirage. We made it though and had a bit of a wander around before catching a cab back to the resort. We got changed and headed down to the day spa area for a swim in the indoor pool - so much more peaceful than the outdoor area as no children are allowed into the day spa facilities. It was wonderful to relax in the water after such a long walk in the morning, and great to feel so weightless for a change! I was surprised though just how much energy swimming took and how much harder it was for me to catch my breath being pregnant.

We changed and headed up to the lounge for afternoon tea where I had the yummiest cake I think I have ever eaten! Absolutely incredible! Then it was straight back down to the day spa for me for a rejuvenating pedispa. So very relaxing and wonderful to be pampered!

Saturday night we went out to another waterfront restaurant for dinner. We had a fantastic table with a view right over the water. Unfortunately the food let us down - it was not bad, but not really great either, and I've never seen such big servings!! We both struggled to get through half of the main! Still a lovely night out on the water though. The rest of the night was spent up in our room playing Connect 4 - we hadn't played this game for years but ended up playing for a lot of the night, stopping at around midnight for some munchies - icecream with chocolate topping for hubby and a chocolate milkshake with a selection of cakes for me! I don't think I have eaten as much as I ate this weekend for a long time!

Sunday morning we again headed down to the main hotel restaurant for a buffet breakfast, then it was back up to the room for the sad job of packing. We spent the rest of the morning in our room, enjoying being totally alone together and of course, a few more rounds of Connect 4!

We were very lucky with the weather this weekend too - we were worried that we were going to get rained out, but the sun was kind enough to come out for most of the weekend. It was just so wonderful to be away for those couple of days. Very hard for us to leave and come back to reality, but that was made a thousand times easier knowing what a special gift we have to look forward to in a few months time. And while it was absolutely fantastic to be away on a romantic weekend for just the two of us, we both couldn't help but look at other families with young children and daydream about holidaying with our very own child.

24 weeks

Time already for a 24 week belly pic update:

and a comparison with 2 weeks ago...

My belly probably hasn't done a heap of growing over the past couple of weeks. Some days I feel quite small, others I feel like a heffa!

I had my 24 week appointment with the OB yesterday afternoon, all went really well. Hubby was able to come with me to this appointment - he hasn't been able to get there since the first appointment so it was fantastic to have him there with me. Again, the appointment wasn't very long - just the standard question time & blood pressure check for me and sizing & heartrate check for the baby. OB is happy that both me and bub are doing really well. Next appointment is in another 4 weeks, just after I will have done the glucose test.

Hubby and I are off tomorrow on our very special holiday. I've been looking forward to this weekend for ages, it's hard to believe it's actually here. Hopefully we will get some nice weather for at least some of the weekend, a sunset walk along the beach sounds just perfect about now.

Buying for baby

After the weekend just gone, I feel a lot more organised with all the baby stuff we need to buy. We found a great baby shop and managed to knock a really good chunk of things of the list. We bought a change table, a car seat, a super comfy rocker chair with footrest, a new mattress for the cot, an activity mat, wall stickers for the nursery, mobile for the cot and some other bits and pieces. We've pretty well crossed off the big stuff now, all that is really left is the bits and pieces of little things that we can get closer to the time. The change table and chair had to be ordered and we pick them up in a couple of weeks - after that we can get to work setting up the nursery!!

Everything else has been going smoothly. I'm starting to feel some stronger kicks from bub - yesterday morning in particular I was at work watching the baby move from the outside of my belly. Such a bizzare feeling, but just so comforting. The movements are happening more regularly now as well which has been so reassuring. They just make the whole experience feel so much more real.

2007...looking back

A week or so late, but I thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of a wrap up of 2007. This is a quiz that seems to be doing the blogger rounds, this one is courtesy of Shannon

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
IVF

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I honestly don't remember having any new year's resolutions last year

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
no

4. Did anyone close to you die?
no

5. What countries did you visit?
none, we are in desperate need of a holiday

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
our baby :)

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
19th February - day one of our first IVF cycle
28th August - first HPT with 2 lines!
4th September - blood test confirming pregnancy
24th December - first time I felt bub's movements

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Surviving our IVF journey with my life and marriage still in tact

9. What was your biggest failure?
Can't think of anything...?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
The one month I took off IVF over the year I had an awful cold.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A brand spanking new 4wd

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Again, can't think of anything for this one

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I don't think anyone's behavior made me feel this strongly, however I was extremely disappointed to find out that a close friend's wife was unfaithful to him.

14. Where did most of your money go?
IVF

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Easily our pregnancy

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
No one song in particular

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
Most definately happier

b) thinner or fatter?
Fatter...but with good reason!

c) richer or poorer?
Surprisingly...richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Appreciate the little things

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Nothing in particular

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my family

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I was already in love and still am :)

22. What was your favorite TV program?
House

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't hate anyone

24.What was the best book you read?
Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Natalie Gauchi - I didn't watch Australian Idol this year, but happened to flick over on the second last episode and was mezmerised by her voice.

26. What did you want and get?
A successful IVF cycle

27. What did you want and not get?
Our baby for Christmas

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Die Hard 4

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Went out to lunch with family, I was 27. It didn't really feel like my birthday last year. I was 8 weeks pregnant and still adjusting to our dream coming true so much that my own birthday felt like it paled in comparison.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
To have fallen pregnant much earlier in the year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
For the first half of the year, much the same as 2006! Didn't buy much in the way of clothes for most of the year in the hope I would soon be pregnant. The last couple of months I have started living in my maternity clothes :)

32. What kept you sane?
I was sane???

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
No one in particular

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Political issues don't tend to stir me all that much.

35. Who did you miss?
No one in particular

36. Who was the best new person you met?
All the truly wonderful people in my IVF buddy group and then my pregnancy buddy group on EB - you all know who you are, I can't thank you enough for your support and friendship during 2007.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
That regardless of the odds, someone has to be the '1'
That I am capable of being stronger than I ever thought I could be.
That sometimes life just isn't fair and there is no clear explaination for it.
That you never know what someone could be dealing with.
That support and friendship don't have to come from people in real life.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year
'We Gotta Get Out Of This Place'

22 weeks

22 weeks today and wow, I think it is safe to say that there is a reason I have been feeling bigger lately. Here is my 22 week belly shot:


and the comparison with 2 weeks ago:

Seems I've really popped out over Christmas! Surprisingly though, I have still only put on around 3 and a half kg so far. Nearly 1kg of that was in the last week so I'm guessing that the normal pregnancy weight gain will start to catch up to itself soon. Either that or I ate too many chocolates over Christmas!!

I've also been able to confirm in my mind that the movements I first felt over Christmas were definately the baby. I have been starting to feel them a bit stronger lately, more definate kicks I guess would be a way to describe it. A couple have been that strong that I could see my belly twitch from the outside! The easiest time for me to feel it seems to be when I am sitting still at night after dinner. Hubby was even able to feel bub kicking for the first time a couple of nights ago which was just wonderful. He even copped a boot in the head from bub last night! The movements are still very sporadic, but it is so wonderful to be feeling something from the baby, it really helps to appreciate pregnancy so much more.

The Pram

Well, we did it, we bought a pram. I've found this to be probably the hardest baby item to research and decide on. There are just so many options out there and it seems very important to get the right one. We went to a couple of different large baby stores to look at the many prams on offer, as well as reading the very large section on prams of the Choice Guide to Baby Products and ended up making our purchase yesterday.

Introducing the Swallow Beema Q:
We are very happy with our decision and just love our new pram! It has every feature we wanted and was the top rating pram in the Choice guide. We also managed to pick it up at a great price, and even got a free Swallow nappy bag to match!

I am absolutely loving buying baby products, it makes the whole thing seem so much more real. The more things we buy, the more I just can't wait until the time when we meet our little one. I know that once the pregnancy part is over I will probably miss it terribly, but for now I am so excited about the day that we get to meet our baby.

Christmas

For some reason it didn't really feel as much like Christmas this year. Not that I am complaining, it was certainly so much better than last year, when we were about to start our IVF journey. The unfortunate thing about Christmas is that it can be a painful reminder of what you have not been able to acheive that year, especially when it is to do with families. I am just so grateful that although our child has not yet joined us in the outside world, that it is at least a part of our lives now.

Maybe it was the anticipation of celebrating next year's Christmas with our child that kept us from the usual excitement of the holiday this year. Either way, it has still been a great week, just missing some of that 'magic' that I hope will return for us through our child's eyes in future years.

Our baby also recieved a first gift - a Christmas present from the future grandparents:

How surreal and wonderful to be opening a present for our child. I am just so excited about the day that we get to finally meet our little one.

One other very exciting thing that happened during the break was that I think I may have felt our baby move for the first time! On Christmas Eve, I was sitting at the shops looking at the baby monitor I had just bought when I noticed what felt like a large bubble popping inside my belly where I was leaning the packet of the monitor. I don't know for sure if it was the baby moving as I don't know what I am feeling for, but I had never felt anything like it. I felt a similar sensation later that night, then twice throughout the day on Christmas Day. One of the times I pressed down gently where I felt the movement, and I felt it again, faintly against my hand. I guess I wont know for sure if it was the baby until the movements become more obvious, but if it was then how wonderful for it to happen at such a special time of the year.

Other than that, I managed to survive the Christmas period quite well. I did miss the usual glasses of wine and Christmas ham, but it is a sacrifice well worth it for the health & safety of our baby. I even managed to get a couple of nights of sleeping through for 5 hours or more! Very unusual for me considering the trouble I have been having sleeping, as well as the middle of the night bathroom stops that still haven't eased up at all.