Keys to the new home

Exciting milestone of our life- we got our new home keys today!

We immediately checked out the place and were so pleased with our big purchase, I am so incredibly proud. Move in date is in 2 weeks and we have a million things we'd like to do before then. Paint, change locks and install new lights!

Gosh. Money sure is flying out of our pockets....

26 weeks

About 6 months into the pregnancy and I am here sitting in the Perth Qantas Lounge. Flew over to see mum who is here on a holiday.

Everyone seems to think I am mad to travel but I didn't think too much of it. After all, it's only a 5 hour flight! Haha I kid, I thought I'd be alright. And I knew I would be.

Baby is happily kicking along while I indulge in all the good food and company over here. It's nice to hang out with family ;)

Second biggest purchase of our lives

We bought a car!

After many weeks/months of test driving, we finally bought a car!

A brand spanking not-so-new (second hand) SUV that even I feel comfortable driving.

The exchange will probably happen Tuesday/Wednesday so stay tuned!

24 weeks

Wow. The past two weeks I think baby underwent a little growth spurt. And I can now say, I've popped! I am now visibly pregnant though I'm still trying to hide at work..hehe! Worst kept secret, maybe? Nobody has actually walked up to me to asked - but maybe they all know but are not talking about it. My closest workmates and team, know about it, of course.

Three girls that I'm close to at work even took me out to lunch and got me presents. They called it a mini baby shower. How sweet are they? I have to admit, in this work I haven't made much effort to hang out and socialise with people. Well who'd have time with planning a wedding, honeymoon and not a baby?! Anyway, I was just reminded how I missed having close gfs at work. They are as close as they can get. Not good enough I think. Need to try harder. One day I will.

Back to baby. Wow. Baby girl sure is active. She is constantly moving, kicking, flipping (i think - it felt as though I'm sitting on a rollercoaster, on a hill drop) and then there are vibrations. I think the vibrations are hiccups, not sure about it. She also seem to respond to Twitchy's voice. When he says hello to her, she tends to kick or move towards him. The belly movement freaks me out at times. I guess it's now a good time for baby to swim around - there's space. I can't imagine what's going to happen in a couple of months!

I'm doing well, though work does get me a little tired some days. It's mental exhaustion. And I do get a little agitated. I've only put on about 7kgs, which is not too bad. I do hope I don't exceed 11 kgs for this pregnancy though....

Oh and i bought baby her first pair of booties! I knew everyone would not be able to resist buying cute baby clothes but I really wanted to be the first to buy our baby something. So here it is. Teeny Tiny fluffy booties! Aren't they the cutest?!

Baby's first booties

Apart from that, we haven't been shopping for baby. I figured I'd wait till we move to our new home (4th May!) before I start buying items. After all, we don't have much space at our current place.

So we're moving homes, we sold the bachelor beemer, are shopping around for an SUV, visited his parents - his dad was in hospital for a surgery - and I have a baby shower to plan.

Phew! Life sure is happening all at once!

To the niece whom I'll never meet

Awful awful news. Baby actually has a cousin who is due to arrive in May. A cousin who will be her age. We were all filled with joy, thinking that we'd be raising two kids so close in age.

Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. My brother and sis-in-law lost their baby at 28 weeks. SIL had high blood pressure and had an episode last week. Blurred vision and nausea. Confined to bed, she stayed there for a few days. When things didn't get any better, they went to see the doctor who then told them he couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat. Their baby had passed.

What happened after, is a series of heart-rending hours. Of when their baby had to be induced. Of praying that my SIL will survive and not suffer a stroke. Of finding out the gender of the baby (girl!). And finally for SIL to be safe and past the danger zone.

I didn't know how they will get through this - but I guess the saviour of all would be my 3 year old nephew, who would not comprehend this but would light up the dark with his laughter. And for the two of them to know they have one to live for, to continue on.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Baby K is now 22 weeks! She's actively kicking away. And even got Twitchy in the cheek when he was trying to listen to a heartbeat 2 days ago. And yesterday got Twitchy in the mouth, when he was talking to the belly. Yes. Twitchy likes to converse with baby!

Baby kicks very strongly these days. Sometimes I'm amazed by how strong her kicks are! What's going to happen in a few weeks?!

21 Weeks!

I'm finally allowing myself to embrace baby and be happy! It's not that I've been unhappy, but I've been overly cautious - wary of things going wrong, etc.

But enough is enough. Time to be happy!

We bought a place and settlement will take place in about 20 days. Twitchy is finally about to sell his far in a few days (fingers crossed) Bye bye bachelor beemer! We're shopping around for a pram-friendly car...and I've got my eye on the X1.

But anyhooooo...here's whats happening with baby and me.
----------------------------

How far along? 21 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: + 5.5 kgs (or about)

Maternity clothes? Yes, brought out the pants a week ago

Stretch marks? No not yet. I am religiously rubbing stretch marks cream every night before I sleep, and sometimes after I shower during the day. My favourite oil to date is the Clarins Huile Tonic. Not so much the Bio Oil - it sticks and smells too medicated.

Symptoms: Headaches once or twice a week but easily meditated with some Coke (coca-cola!) Caffeine's bad, I know but you try having a bad headache at work! Nausea is rare these days, though it stills happen when I don't eat in time!

Sleep:  Best sleep of my life. I've never looked forward to going to bed everyday. This is even with the 2-3 trips I make to the toilet in the middle of my sleep! 


Best moment this week: Getting excited thinking about the baby shower. I'm thinking late May!

Have you told family and friends: Yes and only ones I'm closest to in the office. No fb announcements.

Miss Anything? Sushi & Sashimi. Desperately!

Movement: Lots! Baby is very active especially when I am sitting still or lying down. Lately I notice baby reacts to sugar and caffeine...(uh oh)

Food cravings: Fruit! I sometimes crave refreshing fruits! i.e today it was watermelon. 


Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of meat being cooked

Have you started to show yet: Yes! I've noticed people's eyes being drawn to my belly - which has never happened before. Even the car salesman congratulated us without asking.

Baby is a: GIRL!

Belly Button in or out? In - does it really pop out? huh?!?


Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: 50/50. I do tend to get cranky at work. certain people annoys me

Looking forward to: seeing baby again in 2-3 weeks at the 24-week check up.

20 weeks

Saturday morning and we woke up nice and early. I had a sleepless night, being a little anxious.....

It was our 20 week ultrasound appointment, also known as the gender scan!

So we got to the ultrasound place, and spent almost an hour looking at all of baby's anatomy.

What a cheeky baby we had, it sure was being a handful - don't think baby like being scanned. Every time we tried to take a good picture of the heart, baby would move or block with its hands. Same with the face - baby keeps turning away from the u/s, or cover with its hands. And baby would actively move around. Sure kept the ultrasound technician on her toes!

But it was all good. Baby has a healthy heart, and all organs are growing very well. I breathed a sigh a relief!

Most excitingly, baby's a girl!

A girl, a girl, a girl to call my own!

Kick kick and kick some more!

Baby is a few days short of 20 weeks. Gosh, what an active Baby I have in my belly.

What started off as a few kicks after dinner, while lying down at 18 weeks quickly progressed to kick every few hours ( regardless of what I'm doing) today! Last Thursday/Friday, I was just thinking how odd it is to have baby kick me while I'm sitting down at work. Today I even felt baby kicking as I have my dinner!

As odd as it is, I am thankful to feel baby kicking. It's very reassuring to me. To know baby is active, happy and hopefully healthy in my belly.

3 days till we find out if baby K is a he or she!

Quick survey and everyone seem to think we're having a girl! We shall soon see :)

Scare

What a Friday. 1st February is one I will remember for a long time. Woke up feeling tired. Tummy felt odd. Despite it all, I decided to go to work because I had an important social event to organise.

Big mistake.

By 11 am, I was fighting back tears, doubling up in pain at work. It started off with a headache at work. I've had that before, so I thought I'd have sometime to eat. A banana. Not long after I started having sharp tummy pains. That gave me a shock - as I've never had that before. I got all terrified for the baby.

Told the boss I had to go. I was truly sorry I couldn't organise the event. But the pain and the scare ( and probably hormones) got to me and soon got tears started rolling down my eyes. He got really alarmed and told me to head home.

Soon I couldn't stop crying so he walked me out to catch a cab. Poor boss. I'm so sorry to show this side of me. Wish I didn't. I don't like being made to look like a softie.

Made it home and immediately laid on the couch. Rang the midwife, who says my tummy pains are too far up to be related to the babe. Besides, I had no bleeding, no nausea and no diarrhoea. So she just advised me to go on bed rest and see how I feel when I get up.

I did feel better lying down. But could n't stop crying in the afternoon. What a scare! Am I truly ready to be a mum? Am I ok to endure a lot more pain that is coming my way? Will I be able to survive work? Is baby truly ok?

(Baby was alright. Felt a few reassuring kicks in the evening.)

I am still a little traumatised by the experienced. I hope I'll be ok soon.

Our Big Day

Didn't think I'd get around to posting about our wedding day.

22.9.12
It was a bright beautiful day, with a high of 27degrees. All I remember of the day was smiling a lot, being very happy and it was just beautiful. The flowers, my bridal party, our shoot at the beach, the reception, our dance....Truly magical.

16 weeks

It's been a while since my last scan. 

Amidst all the sadness with Baby V, and work and an incident of my walking into a fan and hitting my tummy one night (yes it really did happen).....I was scared, at the back of my mind. I was counting down the days till my next ultrasound, which is TODAY!

To my immense relief, there it is. Baby K, lying contently waving its hands at me. And what a strong heartbeat baby had! Our next screening is on Valentines Day, when we'll find our the gender. Yes Twitchy wants to know. And I think it's nice to know too...

On another note. I think I finally popped. There is a small baby bump, and it became obvious over the past 2 days, when I got to 16 weeks! No pictures yet. Tomorrow, maybe?

How we are going

A 3:30am post.

Week 14 (last week) was the strangest week ever. Woke up one morning and behold - I felt the most unpregnant ever! Was a bundle of energy, went to bed late (10:30pm!), no nausea and no bloat! I felt so good. But after 2-3 days, I got a little worried - what is wrong with me?

Yes, this is so typically me. Miss worry-wart. Anyway, I had to take a breather and pace myself to enjoy it. Was also reassured by bff who says "Nothing. Welcome to your second trimester!"So I had a pretty good week/weekend, being super productive and active.

Week 15 started the same.
---------------------------------
When I got that call about baby V, my insecurities came right back up. Am I ok? Should I get a doppler to find the heartbeat? Once again had to take a breather and to tell myself to chill out! Instead, Twitchy and I went for a long walk by the beach and had Ben & Jerrys!

Today (i mean yesterday - being up at 3am still counts as the night before), I was suddenly hit with a headache. It's not your typical pounding headache, but uncomfortable nevertheless. Reduced me to being in bed the entire afternoon. Which wasn't so bad - I read a book and listened to the rain. Sipped on hubby's coke during dinner, and felt 100% better! Caffeine really is the remedy when you have preppy headaches!

On, and another update - I think I can finally feel and glimpse the bump. Which is exciting, because before this, I don't really look pregnant. Just felt pregnant and fat (when i have only gained 2 kgs).

OBGYN appointment in 4 days, will be looking forward to seeing mini K then!

Bye V

Friday started of like any other usual day. Uneventful, but with a restless countdown to the weekend.

The phone rang at lunchtime. Strange, I thought. I don't hear from this person much these days. 10 minutes later, a blanket of sadness and grief engulfed me. My dear friends have lost their 4 month old. She was tucked to bed, and when they checked on her later that night, she wasn't breathing. From what I gathered, they rushed to the hospital, where she was put on life support. But didn't make it in the morning.

Devastating. I've heard of SIDS but never heard or know anyone who've been affected.

...the sound of both of my dear friends sobbing will haunt me for a very long time.

I couldn't sleep that night. Culmination of heat, sadness and fear. Is my baby ok? Will my baby be ok?

I'd be happier when I have my next OBGYN appointment next week.

And that's a wrap

It's the last day of 2012! Normally at this time of the year I'd be gearing up to party hard. But with a bun in the oven - I'm crossing my fingers that I would be all right and awake to watch the fireworks.

It's a busy day ahead. Instead of our usual beach house getaway, we'll be at Coogee beach, and possibly staying over at our friend's place, who are heavy drinkers and smokers.

Have I mentioned how sensitive my sense of smell is these days? When Twitchy has more than a beer, he has to resort to sleeping in the living room. The smell is too much to bear!

It's tempting to sit out this New Years Eve, but gotta be a good sport about this, don't we?

-------------------------------

13 Weeks and 6 days

Little bun is now 13 weeks and 6 days. I'm now on my second trimester and nausea has eased up a little. (still creeps up when I fail to eat on time). We survived Xmas in Canberra. Had a 13 hour sleep one night - a result from a morning walk and an evening walk. I am easily breathless from walking up a hill. Typical Xmas, ate too much and tummy got a little stretched and uncomfortable.

Prior to Xmas, I had my 12 week ultrasound. Lil bun was the cutest thing ever. We got a little wave, and its hands were constantly touching its face/nose. Because lil bun was sedentary, I was told to give a little cough. When I did, it moved a little and decided to turn to its side. Mooning us in the process. Ahhhh what a cheeky little bun!

Hunger or Nausea?

Never thought I'd get to the day where I don't know if I'm extremely hungry or just nauseous. 

Sometimes it's both. Which is, bizarre!

Morning sickness is at its peak and I find it so hard to concentrate on functioning. What more being at work and pretending to be normal. Maybe that's here pregnancy brain comes in.

Morale's a little low, as you can probably tell. I feel like crap, the tummy's bloated from all the carbs (thats all I ever want to eat these days) and I feel like I'm expanding. Rapidly!

Melbourne again

Back in Melbourne again, this time for a happy occasion, albeit a work one. We won an award for the hard work we did back in May.

Awards night is tomorrow night, but I caught an earlier flight to catch up w BFF and her Bella.

So here I am tonight, back in this familiar hotel room. As nice as it is to be back on familiar grounds, can't help feeling a slight tinge of depression!

Yuck. Shoo fly, don't bother me!!!

Heartbeat

I saw my little one today. And the little one's heartbeat.

Wow... It really is happening!

When something so significant happens in your life, you just become speechless.

8 weeks

I admit, the last time I wrote about baby, I was already late.1 week late.

Today I'm still late.

And ... 3 home test kits later, it can't possible be wrong, right?

We aren’t really trying, we just aren’t preventing

Having just been married, the conversation often revolves around when we plan to have kids.

What a dilemma.  Kids, inevitably would change your life (for good and bad). Whilst I like the thought of having them, I'd be first to admit. I am scared shitless!

On one hand, we're in the best shape of our lives, we've just survived 9 months of crazy wedding planning and could do with my "us" time. I'd love to party! On the other hand, we're not getting any younger, I'd hate to be an "old" mom and if I want more than 3 kids, we should probably get started.

We've had many conversations, mostly around me telling Mr Twitchy that having a baby is not as easy as it seems. Him, like all men, seem to think it's just the matter of doing it and getting it done. Not so much from what I see. I've seem friends who struggle for years, who remain childless. And I can't imagine the thought of wanting some but not being able to.

So we're letting nature takes its course.

One month on

It's been a little over a month since we got married and it's been rosy. We were kept busy when we got back from Bora - catching up with friends, work and being the bridesmaid at a close friend's wedding.

Yeap. Our close friends got married a month after us, and we were in each other's bridal party! Their wedding was a whole lot of fun, we travelled to hunter valley for that. My fav moment is probably from hanging out with our wider friends like how we'd be on a road trip.

Not so fav moment is being stressed and helping out at the wedding. Meg. Stressed. Also, not pleased that here were some elements similar to our wedding. But hey, imitation is the best form of flattery, right?

But I digress.

So now we're back to a bit of quiet tie. And I'm feeling lost. I desperately miss being at Bora Bora. The tropical sun, the luxurious hotel....the beautiful blue....

SIGH!