23 Weeks

I've had a cold this week, and the amount of coughing I've done with the mucous being made has been turning my stomach a bit. Still, my perfect non-puking record this pregnancy is intact (proud of that one! :P). Unfortunately I've passed the same cold onto my husband and he's feeling poorly this morning - we leave to go on holiday to his parents place in Tasmania for Christmas today.

Work is now finished for the year... I'm officially on school holidays! :D

Excited? You bet. Unable to relax, on the back of one of the busiest months I've experience in a while? Definitely. It usually takes me a week or two to unwind at the end of the year, I'm guessing that this year will not be much different. ;)

Our little one was bestowed with more gifts this week (I'm honestly overwhelmed by the generousity of others), in particular:

From an online friend who has a three year-old son. She spoilt us. :)



Okay... so many all of this isn't for the baby, but at least the teddy is! (being a teacher at this time of the year often results in excess, but a nice excess)



One of the families I have taught this year wrote me a beautiful note (you will have to click on the image to see it full-size to read it more clearly)

And lastly, it wouldn't be the end of the year with the annual "jump" picture - even being pregnant it wasn't going to stop me! Behold the disappearing bump:

Which really looks more like this....



(23 weeks & 3 days)

So my classroom is now empty, a new teacher has been employed to take over from me in the beginning of February, and I'm a little petrified. Teaching is what I know and love, and the idea of it being out of my life for at least a year (or more) makes me feel a little unstructured - or out of control, even. Come April, I know that this time will be a distant dream, but for now it's more than a little surreal.

22 Weeks

The bumping and thumping continues, with baby making his presence known more by the day.

We had an appointment with our obstetrician this morning, where we found out that everything was well with the 20-week scan (as expected, as we were given every indication during the scan that nothing was awry!). Weight gain so far this pregnancy is at 8kg (I'm now carrying an extra 1/7th more weight than pre-pregnancy!), the doctor seems to be pleased with how everything is progressing.

I'll be doing the (non-fasting) glucose test on January 4th - not particularly looking forward to it but such is life! The doctor also said that with his IVF patients he usually schedules a 28-week ultrasound to make sure that everything is continuing to progress nicely. Another ultrasound? Another chance to see the little man's features more developed? I'll definitely be in on that (even if it's for purely selfish reasons :P).

I quite like our obstetrician, he said he needs to have a "reason" (his words) to perform another scan, with IVF in itself not usually being enough on the request form. So he popped down that the baby is potentially measuring small (even though he's not!), and voila... scan is booked for January 20th.

Recent gifts for the little man(atee) that arrived from my MIL and sister in-law. Very cute, and in squee-worthy newborn size!



View from the top at 22 weeks! ;)



21 Weeks

The last week has brought another milestone - I'm now able to see my belly move from the outside when the little man kicks out at his surroundings. It's very surreal seeing your tummy poked from within, but at the same time very cool too, I can't keep my hands off it!

I bought some cloth nappies second-hand from a friend recently and they arrived this week - very exciting! (we're hoping to use cloth after the first month in or so; if things don't work out and we go back to disposables then that's okay too - nappies are pretty easy to sell on as there's always a demand. However, there's not much that's cuter than a fluffy bum on a baby!)

More on purchases, I finally outgrew my last pair of pre-pregnancy jeans and sourced eBay for some maternity jeans (I'd tried a couple of brands on in a store so I knew which fits and sizes were best for me). I must say I'm impressed with the two pairs that arrived - even though someone else has worn them, they fit me like a glove! What a shame it's been Summery weather this week and too warm to wear them yet (empire line dresses have been my friend!)

My best friend (and honourary Auntie) bought the baby his first alligator toy, also very cute - the gesture of the gift means a lot to me too. :)

Marisa and her thoughtful gift; our house is now decorated for Christmas too!



It's nearly the end of the Kindergarten year and while things are crazily busy right now, I know that within two weeks hubby and I will be escaping the pressures from work and heading away to Tasmania until nearly the New Year...can't wait for that. My replacement at work has also been hired recently, and rather than starting maternity leave from March 1st, it'll most likely be after February 15th - yippee! (although what I'll do with myself for potentially 8 weeks I do not know; I'm sure life will dictate otherwise)

Speaking of work, management bought me this gorgeous bouquet of lillies and presented them to me at the Christmas party on Friday night. Made me feel so special. :)