Christmas 2011

Well, I've been preparing for this Christmas since December 1st. Christmas CD's have been playing in the car and while I'm at work and the Christmas tree has been up since then as well. I've been desperate to get myself into the Christmas spirit because this is our last Christmas before baby arrives and well, it's only going to get better with each Christmas in the future. So I have to remind myself how to get into the spirit of things and go back to that "Child-like" innocence to get the excitement that comes along with Christmas.

To start our Christmas celebrations we FINALLY got to go pick up Bradley & Shamini from the airport and get our holiday off to a good start. They arrived on Thursday (22nd) evening. Their flight was delayed by an hour and because I couldn't get off work early it worked out quite fine for us. Their flight got in after 6pm so I managed to leave the office come home for Cam as he had the day off and go straight to the airport. We stood around waiting for what seemed like forever and the airport was really packed. We love the arrivals lounge at the airport, especially around Christmas, it's always so exciting and happy and I love watching people's reactions when they see their loved ones. Because I get really stiff and sore if I stand on my feet for too long, as soon as there was a chair available we sat down, so when they finally came through the doors they couldn't see my pregnant belly. But when I stood up, their reactions were priceless... Shamini's jaw dropped to the floor and well, in between Brad's excitement to see his brother his eyes kep diverting to my tummy as if it was a mirage... PRICELESS!!! Shamini reached out to touch it to see if it was real and couldn't pick her jaw froom the ground til at least the next day!

Friday the 23rd was meant to be my first day of leave but because we've been caught up in the recent MV Rena grounding down in the Bay of Plenty I had to wrap up a few things before I officially began my leave. So was back in the office on Friday, thankfully these 3 were still asleep so I didn't miss out on anything!!! We had a quiet Friday as they were up til ungodly hours on their first night (that seemed to be the theme of the entire holiday). Come Christmas Eve we went to Westgate Mall for Brunch and then did last minute shopping for Christmas lunch. Once we were home we got into the kitchen to get our prep done for our big Christmas lunch.

Christmas morning was an early one for me. First things first was to get the ham into the pot to boil and prep the Chicken for roasting. Thankfully Shamini had helped me get the pie filling and the stuffing done the night before so it was just the roasts and sides to be done. While cooking my mum skyped me from SA. It was good talking to her, especially since she hasn't seen the pregnant belly either so she got to see how big I am. Honestly, I don't know if she wanted to cry or laugh when she saw my belly but I know she was happy to see her baby in full pregnancy glow! After chatting to her and after everything was done I quickly got ready for all the guests to arrive. We had invited Premika, Lenny & Kajal as well as our friend Romarlon for lunch so we had a pretty full house. We had to bring two tables together to fit everyone around the table for Christmas lunch and well as our dining room isn't big enough for that we rearranged the whole house to fit the two tables into the lounge. Okay, I have to apologise, I didn't take any pictures on Christmas day. I was exhausted and well, that was the furthest thing from my mind! I know Premika did take a few so will have to try to get some from her. We had an amazing lunch together though, this was our menu:

Roast Chicken with Pork & Sage stuffing
Gravy
Christmas Ham with a apricot and honey glaze
Steak & Mince pie
Salad
Sauteed Asparagus and Green Beans with chive butter
Steamed Carrots
Herb Roasted baby potatoes

The weather held up and we had a good time just sitting outside under the gazebo and enjoying each other's company. We then had Evelyn & Api, Jared and two of their friends join us that evening to continue the Christmas Celebrations. I was the stick in the mud though, by 11pm I called it a night.

On Boxing Day we had a lazy morning and headed off to Lenny & Premika's place for the afternoon. We took all the food over as well because there was still so much left over and had that for dinner that night. The guys enjoyed an evening of playing playstation (FIFA 11 I think it was), while us girls chatted about everything babies! We're all at different stages so it was good to share our stories.

We had planned to go to Hobbiton on the 27th but after the rush of the last few days we decided to just relax on the 27th and plan a full day for the 28th. We headed off early that morning, straight after breakfast and drove the 2 hours to Matamata to see Hobbiton. Anyone who has watched or even heard of the Lord of the Rings movies will understand why we HAD to go see this place. And with the new "The Hobbit" movie coming out we really had to take the opportunity to go. Only thing though, we all signed a confidentiality agreement which prohibits us from sharing any pictures of the actual set (the exciting part really) on any social website or for any personal use, so sorry people I can't share these until the release of "The Hobbit" movie in December 2012... which really sucks... But here are a few of the ones we can actually share...

It was a really long day and was even longer considering we had to drive back to Auckland the same day. So when we got home although we had planned to go out that night we were all really exhausted from the full day and just called it a night and decided we'd go out for supper the following night. The 28th brought the rain and well, it hasn't let up. We went out to Wildfire for dinner and ate til we were almost sick! We haven't been there since my 27th birthday so it was nice to go back and have some really great Brazilian Churrascaria!!!

The last few days have been really full on and I cannot believe we have one more day for 2011.

23 Weeks - 6 months

This week starts the last month of the second trimester, I cannot believe how fast time has flown. There's not much to report on the pregnancy at this stage, besides the fact that baby is always on the move. Loves the sound of music, will start moving the moment the music goes on, which makes me wonder... do we have a musician in the making? Cameron has finally started to feel all babies movements which are becoming incredibly stronger as the days go by.
This is the last belly pic we took this week, officially 6 months.

First birthdays

Well, although we've barely gotten to our own baby we're surrounding by loving little girls who both have turned one over the past 2 weeks.

First up we had Kajal's (our friends Lenny & Premika's daughter)first birthday party on the 26th of November which just happened to fall on her actual birthday. Last year we were getting ready to go to Taupo for my 42km Cycle Challenge the day she was born so this year, besides the fact that I am pregnant and unable to ride, we had to pull out of the race to celebrate our little munchkin's birthday. The Friday I baked 2 cakes for the party, a carrot cake and a red velvet chocolate cake and the Saturday morning we were off to their place, well when I could finally drag myself out of bed. I've been really exhausted over the past few weeks and early mornings just aren't my thing. The party was a great success, our little girl looked so gorgeous in her white dress and little ballet pumps. Here's just some pics of the birthday party.

Lenny, Premika & Kajal

Kajal with her grandparents

We then had baby Zivah's birthday on November 30th. As it was during the week Evelyn & Api decided they would have a BBQ on Friday night and then have a little party for her on Saturday with their family. Evelyn asked me to bake a red velvet cake as well so I did that on Thursday night and then iced the cake on Friday night. I normally make a white meringue type frosting but for Zivah I added some pink coluring and made a yummy pink frosting for her. (Sorry was such a rush so I didn't get to take pics.)
It wasn't a very formal do so we didn't get to take pics with the birthday girl but here's some pics of the two of them from Kajal's party.

Halfway there

Well we finally reached 20 weeks and now with the beginning behind us we can are getting more and more excited for the end. I'm looking more pregnant everyday and I am loving every minute. Through the exhaustion, through the discomfort and through the constant need for the loo, I am enjoying my pregnant belly and feeling baby kick and move around. I've always been the one who rubs pregnant bellies and will be the first to spoil and help out any pregnant woman I know, friend, colleague or family. So now that it's happening to me I can only but stand back and watch it happen. Everyone wants to rub my belly and the first question people ask me is, "so when is baby due?"

Well to catch up with week 20, here's what's been happening.

We've been for our 20 week scan and baby is doing really well. The scan took quite a while because the sonographer couldn't get baby to turn over to measure baby. But he was able to measure baby's arms and legs, check baby's heart and brain and, well everything else. It was so surreal when baby turned and looked straight at us, probably one of the sweetest moments to date. The one thing Cameron didn't notice was when baby gave us the thumbs up, it was the funniest thing, as the sonographer looked at baby's arms, s/he literally put his/her thumb up at us. When I spoke about it later on in the car Cameron looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about, we then realised he didn't pay attention to that part. I guess the ultrasound doesn't really look like much to him. Even though the sonographer said, "oh look he's giving you the thumbs up". And no, he didn't mean "he" literally because as we begun the whole ultrasound I quickly blurted out, "please don't tell us the sex, we don't want to know just yet."

Here's some pics we got from the scan, he didn't give us the full profile but did give us baby's face profile and his/her little hands... if you can actually see that it's hands!

Cameron also took snaps of my belly this week...

So we're getting closer and closer but we are so far from ready. We've yet to get anything besides the first bits of clothing I bought a few weeks ago, but we've decided we'll get through Christmas first and enjoy our time with Bradley & Shamini and focus on getting all baby's stuff in the new year. I've already booked my maternity leave and will be finishing work on the 23rd of March but have to get a letter from our midwife so I can formally give my notice. We see Deb again on the 8th of December so hopefully we can get it all finalised then.

Here's to the next 20 weeks...

Patience is a Virtue, so they say!

Ok, so I should have been just a little more patient. I was so eager to feel baby kick and well, yesterday was the first time I felt it! It was a definite kick. So exciting, so surreal, so magical! I have never felt more happy, more ecstatic in all my life. The first thing I did was call Cameron, and the first thing he said to me was, "are you sure it's not indigestion?" Just got to love him!!

Here's what happened.

We went for a lunch date down to Jack Tar in Wynyard Quarter. It was a beautiful day in Auckland and was a good excuse to get out and enjoy the day. So after lunch we went back to the office and a few hours later I was just sitting at my desk busy with my day, when I felt this little flutter. I've been feeling these for a while so didn't pay much attention to it. But a few minutes later I felt this literal kick, like a huge bubble bursting on the inside. It was defined and caught me totally by surprise. I know it was a kick because I've never felt that before. I know what indigestion feels like, I am acutely aware of all the fluttering going on over the past few weeks and this was nothing remotely close to any of that.

This is just another reason for me to give God thanks. Thanks for choosing me as the vessel to bring forth this glorius life, the first in the next generation for the Pillay family, another one to add to the Bonhomme brood and an extension of Cameron & myself.

18 weeks

Well we've officially reached 5 months, so they say. I don't count it like that but hey, who am I to argue!

Well there's not much to report on, still haven't felt definite kicks yet. Still some flutters and every now and then its more defined but still not convinced. Can't wait until it's defined, frequent movement. But I'm being patient and enjoying this pregnancy for everything it's worth. My belly is really starting show now, there's no denying that we're in the second trimester. No cravings yet, although I am still loving fruit and oranges are my new flavour of the month. Backache is becoming more and more frequent but luckily our new bed arrived this weekend so Im sleeping blissfully. I can finally stomach chicken, which thrills Cameron considering he wants to eat chicken 5 out of 7 days, at least. Although I'm not quite there yet, I can't eat it everyday! I don't have to eat every two hours anymore which is much better and there is absolutely no nausea anymore. Yesterday we noticed a little swelling in my feet, but I think as it was a busy day at work yesterday I was a bit exhausted and just needed to put my feet up. Once I did that, the swelling went down.

Anyway, I think that's all I can think of reporting at the moment. So here's some pics that Cameron took yesterday.

So the next scan is in 2 weeks so we'll have to have a bit of a report back then. We also see Debbie again on the 8th of December.

I've read that baby is about 14cm or so now and should weigh around 190g (or so). It's also interesting to note that baby's reproductive organs are already formed, so we could definitely see whether we're having a boy or girl at our next scan. Babies nervous system is also fully formed and functional and his/her bones are starting to harden into real bones, so the movement should become more apparent in the next few weeks.

We're almost halfway!

Baby's first clothes and 16 weeks pregnant

This week marks our 16th week of pregnancy. They say I should only start feeling baby move around week 18 - 20 but this week I'm sure I've felt baby move around. Every now and then when I lay really still or I'm relaxing while watching tv or reading I'll feel a little movement, like a butterfly fluttering within me. Who knows but I'll keep believing that it's baby! This week I've also noticed a lot of stretching in my abdomen and aches & pains in my abdomen and back, they say the stretching is called Round ligament pain because the ligaments in my abdomen are stretching to accomodate the growing uterus and baby. All the little things they don't tell you about before you fall pregnant.
Here's some pics Cam took this week of me at 16 weeks pregnant.

The baby's clothes I ordered the other day finally arrived this morning (so glad I took a sick day so was home when they arrived). I've taken some snaps just so I never forget what were the first baby clothes I ever bought for this little gift of ours.

Yes, everything is white and lemon because there wasn't much else to choose from JK Kids online that was gender neutral, and as we don't want to spoil the surprise and wait for the birth to find out what baby's sex is, I had to buy anything that wasn't pink or blue!

I am happy to report though that the morning sickness and nausea has come to an end, there are a few days when tension headaches rule the day but I am finally feeling normal and my old self again. Here's to an awesome pregnancy!!!