Week Twenty: Sunday 25th May 2008

Happy Anniversary to Us! This week Ash and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary and to mark the occasion, Ash is contributing to this week’s blog...

Eels had the bye. Nothing else to report.

And that is the first and last contribution from Ash.

Here I was thinking he might actually have something worthwhile to say for once. Believe it or not, he did manage to get something right, he sent me the most beautiful flowers during the week. I guess after something like that it is really difficult to stay mad at him, although I am never one to give up easy on a challenge!

We also enjoyed a celebratory weekend in town, seeing Phantom of the Opera on Saturday night and staying at the Sheraton. It was a fantastic weekend with special thanks to Mum and Dad who booked our hotel room as an anniversary present.

Speaking of presents, Elwood has had another week of being spoilt rotten. This time, he / she received a special gift from one of the celebrities on this blog – the Holt family. I have really wanted to tell everyone I was pregnant face-to-face, but now I have hit the five month mark, it’s probably not appropriate to show up to catch ups with people, showing off an unexpected bump. Margaret and Nick came across our blog, before we could tell them directly, and because they were so excited for us, sent us a little gift package. The best part of the package was two little letters from Livinia and Elyssia – telling Elwood how excited they were to have a new playmate! Such a great gift and so thoughtful, I am really looking forward to catching up with the girls and Nick soon.

Elwood also received his / her first toy this week, and excitingly for me, a lullaby CD. Not sure how other people have found them, but I have read a lot about how important music can be for settling a baby and getting them into a good sleeping routine.

I read this week that Elwood is just like a miniature baby, with everything formed and in proportion, just needing to grow a lot more and put on a stack of weight. He / she is still moving around like mad, especially as I sit here to type, I think the glass of OJ before bed has stimulated a little gymnastics routine in there. Elwood ears are also perfectly formed now and can hear all our conversations, and considering Ash managed to drive me mad at least twice this weekend, the little thing is probably wondering if it is about enter into a world of pain.

In order to rectify his earlier disgrace, Ash has decided to do a sign off……….

Kelly has been getting very angry at me lately and I haven’t done anything wrong.

Please see note above regarding Ash’s contributions - I believe we have heard the last from him.

Week Nineteen: Sunday 18th May 2008

Starting off this week was our nineteen week scan which we have been anticipating since the last big scan at week twelve. Ash and I settled in for an expected 40 minute visit during which every last body part of Elwood would be measured and checked, hoping all was well and normal. While it was great to see the little one squirming around and at one point, doing a back flip, the sonographer was being taught how to use a new machine and so was more interested in the machine than us. Bit disappointing, however we can’t complain when everything was normal and baby was doing well. Although I am not sure Elwood enjoyed the experience too much, as, following the appointment he/she lodged an arm or leg under my rib and gave me a kick every couple of minutes or so. A nice hour of pregnancy yoga soon pushed baby back down… Thankfully.

Baby has been kicking everyday now for over a week. It started off as a night event, while I was lying down to watch telly, but now Elwood is moving in the morning while I am at my desk, or in the afternoon during an interview. It’s a really amazing feeling, and very reassuring. I also think I am quite lucky as not all women feel their baby move this early on.

Yesterday Ash and I went a bit shopping crazy at Baby’s Galore. With a sale on, we took the opportunity to make all of our big purchases and then had to spend little bit more to get the rocking chair I have had my eye on for free (I have included a photo it is so beautiful). All up we saved about $600 and then our rocker was a $450 saving.

Our purchases included:
Pram and bassinette (thanks to Gae and John)
Baby’s cot (thanks to Moi and Jimbob)
Baby’s change table and mat
Port-a-cot
2 car seats
Baby rocker
Rocking chair and stool
Snugglebed
Baby bjorn

And then today was all about the Baby Expo – half a day spent walking around about a thousand stalls for babies and infants. To be honest, I think Ash’s attention span lasted a lot longer than mine... By the middle of the expo, I was tired and hungry – probably more so than the hundreds of kids running around. It was a good little time waster though, and we got a few goodies which will come in handy.

Last thing for this edition, is a new bump photo – definitely think there is something to see now....

Week Eighteen: Sunday 11th May 2008

Lot’s happening this week – not sure I am going to get through it all…

Exciting news on Wednesday with my girlfriend, Gen giving birth to her first baby at 2:01pm that afternoon. Little Sophie came into the world spot on her due date and was 3.5kg and 54cms.

I caught up with Daniela for dinner this week, who is sitting pretty at week 30. She is really glowing with her pregnancy and seems to love every minute of it.

The two of us seem to do everything together – literally! We were engaged within 6 months of one another, married within 5 months of one another and now pregnant within 4 months of each other. The two of us have also found it a long time coming for baby, so I think there is a part of us that appreciates everything about the pregnancy just a little bit more. Dan bought me the most beautiful gift too – a lovely Anne Geddes baby book, and Baby Parmenter’s first pumpkin patch playsuit. It still feels a little strange collecting all these gifts for someone who hasn’t even entered the world yet, but I am getting used to it – after all I have always been a bit partial to a gift or two!

Ash and I spent some time on the weekend, catching up with Tim, Kym and Dylan as they move into their new home. Part of my day involved going along with Dylan and his Mum to his swimming lesson. Dylan just loved the water, he couldn’t get enough - although he was more concerned with putting all of the swimming toys into his mouth than focussing on his stroke! I have to be honest though, Dylan was the cutest baby of the group – and definitely the most talented.

And then today was Mother’s day – so we enjoyed a pizza dinner with Mum tonight and an episode or two of “From Here to Maternity.” For those that have never caught the show before, it involves following couples through their pregnancy, right up until birth, and since it was Mother’s Day, we were treated to a marathon! I think if Ash had to sit through one more birthing experience he would have run screaming from the house.

I also received my first Mother’s Day present, with my brother Jai buying me a gift voucher to be pampered – manicure, pedicure, massage and facial! Still can’t quite believe Jai would be so thoughtful – am sure his gorgeous girlfriend is having a very positive influence. And they say women can’t change men!

Happy Mother's Day to Mum and Gae - you are both so wonderful, Ash and I love you both very much. And to all the Mum's out there - hope you had a great day.

Week Seventeen: Sunday 4th May 2008

Sometimes, just when you think you have it all planned out, and you know what to expect from the next week in your life, you are thrown a curveball and everything changes. This week went from being one I thought would be a wonderful farewell for my boss towards twelve months of baby bliss, turned out to have us both saying goodbye for good with a lot of tears, on Friday afternoon. After some pretty significant business changes were announced earlier in the week, the changes hit closer to home than I would have liked, with Kristen being offered a redundancy on her last day of work.

Although the baby shower seemed to go quite well (especially considering I didn't burn any of the food), however shortly thereafter, we were told about how the changes in our department would bring our team down to one, meaning the other person was out of a job. All things considered, Kristen took the news very well and made a huge effort to ensure she comforted me, (I was pretty devastated) and walk out the door with her usual positive attitude. Needless to say, it is going to be harder than I ever thought to go into work tomorrow, knowing now that the team is just me, and I won’t be able to look forward to coming back to working for Kristen after my break. Enough of the sad news though, here are some pics from the baby shower. And Kristen glowing with a round and pointy (we think it’s a boy) belly.

This weekend was a busy one, with Kristen’s real baby shower on today, and Ash busily completing his final assignment for the course he is completing. With not a lot of time to chill out, Ash and I sat down on Saturday to watch a DVD – well I watched, Ash worked. So there I am, sitting and relaxing, and then the most amazing feeling, the baby gave me a little kick. Up until now I think I have felt the beginnings of movements, especially when laying in bed watching telly. Not sure if I would describe them as “butterflies” but certainly something was going on down there. This feeling on Saturday though was very different, and unmistakeable. It was too strong to be anything but baby, and considering the little one is about 14cms and weighs 200grams, it makes sense Elwood is beginning to make his/her presence felt. Have not had anything like it since, and tonight, all is very quiet down there, however it makes me look forward to the day when the movements are felt every hour.

Apparently it is in week eighteen that the baby can begin to make facial movements... Hope Elwood inherits my ability to cast an evil eye – many have been frightened by my ability to deliver a look that could kill.