starting to show

somebody actually asked me the other day "Is this your first baby" that's when I realised I've reached the point of looking pregnant & not just fat. Which is really nice and made me feel good, I like my round belly. Now my shirts are getting too short to cover my belly so I have to wear a longer top underneath.

I have been more stressed than I should be of late due to issue's at work and the thought of moving as we found out the other day that an offer has been made on our house, which pretty much means it's sold so getting official notice can't be far off. We have started to seriously look now for a new place and I'm very keen to get settled somewhere soon, be able to start setting up for bub's arrival. We have looked at two places so far, the first one was in a quiet street in Penrith but it was a total dump, real estate pic's were extremely deceiving. The next place we looked at was in Emu Plains and it is in the process of being renovated - new bathroom, new carpets and timber floors with a big yard and good fences, so we put an application in for it today, It would be really great for us as it's so centrally located about 15 mins walk to the local shopping centre. Hopefully we will get approved.

20 weeks GP visit

Well I'm here. the official half way point and it's gone so quick. Monday I had a routine prenatal check up with my GP, all is good - weight, blood pressure, measurements & position of uterus (which is up to my belly button now). Dr Rachel used the dopler to have a listen to bubs heartbeat- last time it was hard to pick up and lots of static noise but this time you could hear it straight away so loud and strong. I'm trying to watch what I eat so that I am getting enough nutrition but I'm feeling really good at the moment, lots more energy now than I had a month ago. Have to look into buying some maternity clothes very soon - still fitting into my size 10 jeans but find I have to undo the button when sitting or after eating as the pressure on my belly is uncomfortable. Work keeps me active, lifting groceries all day and theres a flight of stairs to get to the bathrooms & I'm walking up and down those at least 4 times a day. Paul and I went out for dinner in Newtown last night which was great, so good to get out of our immediate environment and spend some quality time together. We had dinner at Newtown Thai II - super yummy. curry was only mild but after eating a bit and being inside with the heater on I got really flushed and my heart was beating really fast, till I drank some water and took a few deep breaths. Then a beer at the pub (cranberry juice for me) after that we ended the night with pistachio & rum and raisin gelato at Ice n Splice.

20 weeks

I am at the 'half way' point now. They say that the baby now measures about 22 cm from head to toe and weighs about 340 grams. I'm starting to feel more movement now although it is still very subtle.

In week 20 baby's nails form and their fingerprints are now visibly engraved in their fine skin. Their permanent teeth now appear behind their baby teeth deep within their gums. The bones in your baby's inner ear and their nerve endings are now developed to the point where it is possible for them to hear sounds.

waiting for movement

I look at my reflection in the mirror and think it's so hard to believe there's this little baby in there, I have definitely gotten bigger bump wise but am still quite neat. It's the ultrasounds and feeling baby move that confirm what's really going on inside, at this point I have felt a sort of shifting and the occasional pop or bubble but no strong kicks as yet. They say for a first pregnancy weeks 20-24 are when the first movements can be felt, I'm looking forward to that. Every day is a progression and brings subtle changes. I worked out that I have four months left of work before I go on maternity leave, that's not very long at all. Before we know it our baby will be here and our lives will change, we will be learning so many new things & finding our own feet as to how we raise our child.

Today is my birthday, another year older & being 19 weeks pregnant makes it all the more special. Paul made me ham & cheese croissants & coffee this morning and gave me a beautiful bunch of pink roses. I couldn't have asked for a nicer day spent with my gorgeous thoughtful man soaking up the sunshine.

18 week Ultrasound

I had my last ultrasound today so technically the last time I get to see bub before he or she is born. Our appointment was at ten to 9 at Nepean hospital, it was very difficult to get out of bed this morning I had a restless nights sleep full of weird vivid dreams and I awoke to a tension headache behind my eyes. I worked the close shift last night and found myself getting so drowsy mid way through so I bought some natural jelly beans to munch on for the rest of the shift to keep me awake, thus the weird dreams and sugar hangover this morning.
It was difficult to find a park at the hospital & we ended up having to find a spot on the street a few blocks away, not so good for a pregnant woman with a full bladder, but we made it there on time anyway and didn't have to wait very long before we were taken in for the scan. A student sonographer performed my scan initially then the qualified Sonographer took over at the end, It was a very comprehensive scan and went for much longer than my other scans which didn't bother me as I got to see bub for longer - every time I have a scan I am just amazed to see that I really do have this baby growing inside me, getting bigger and stronger every day.
Lying flat on the bed for so long left me with a sore back, the walk back to the car was a hard one as my back kept cramping up which is very painful.

We are starting the house hunt now as I just want to be able to feel secure with a new lease and be able to start organising things for when bub arrives, I just can't do that here as they won't give us any indication of what's happening with the sale of the property, all we know is we get our quiet Saturday's interrupted for an hour while the real state bring strangers through our house. There's two places we are keen to see locally and hopefully we will be able to go through them very soon, around here places go at the snap of a finger so you have to be quick and jump on anything that's suitable.

18 weeks & 5 days