Cravings

Photo at 36 weeks pregnant.

No car news yet, we hopefully pick it up tomorrow (Tuesday)

Anyway, cravings. I haven't really experienced many. I've had the odd occasion where I felt like having something in particular, but it wasn't a desperate urge or anything.

To date, they have been:

1. In the first trimester - fruit. I'm not a big fruit lover at the best of times, but I wanted and ate a fair bit of fruit in the first 12 weeks. I'm over it now though!

2. In the 2nd trimester, on one occasion I suddenly thought I could "smell" pickles. You know, like the ones on a Cheeseburger. Then I thought about pickles all day. Told hubby about it, and he went and got me McDonalds that night, LOL!

3. Last week, I really felt like one of those icy poles that comes in plastic tubes. Like the ones you give to kids, from the supermarket. So I bought a packet, and have been having one now and then - hits the spot right now because its so hot and humid lately! I guess its like wanting to eat ice...

4. Today - All I could think about was having a HUGE cold salad for lunch. No protein, just lots of crisp iceberg lettuce, onion, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, capsicum, cucumber and avocado. So I've just finished it - yum! I dont really understand this one, because I have salad probably 4 nights a week with dinner (the other nights are steamed veg), so its nothing special, but for some reason I REALLY wanted salad for lunch!

Now that I've got some time up my sleeve, I've been experimenting with some baking. Last week I made bread rolls for the first time, and yesterday I made some Almond and Strawberry Friands (ooooh yum!). I only ate a couple, and the rest go to hubby for his lunches (he's lovin it!). Think I might also try making some Calzones, or Foccacia bread, for his lunches. I'm not a natural "baker" (I'm hopeless with measuring and weighing ingredients) and I cant seem to stick to a recipe (I've got a bad habit of throwing extra stuff in for some reason, for experimentation - which is great when cooking, but not so good when baking). But for some reason, I feel like baking. Maybe its the nesting instinct??

3 weeks to go (unless tictac is late of course)!

Maternity Leave

Ok, so here I am, maternity leave. I finished work last Friday (big sigh of relief) and am now patiently waiting… waiting… for a baby to arrive.

4 weeks to go (am now 36 weeks along), and next week bub will technically be considered “full term”. Makes me laugh when people say to me “wow that’s gone quick!”… man, I feel like I’ve been pregnant FOREVER! I would just like tic tac to be out now, seriously, its been lovely to have another little being growing and kicking inside me, but I’d really like my body back now!!

Work gave me a baby gift card, so I happily went and spent that on Monday. Just a few small items to get now, and I’ll feel ready! I still haven’t packed any bags, so I must get to that this week – just in case. I’ve got lists galore, and have got so much stuff to get done in the next couple of weeks (get tax done, hospital appointments, massage appointment, get a few more baby/hospital supplies, pack hospital/baby bags, get baby capsule installed, organize bubs room, dentist check up etc) so I’m not exactly putting my feet up just yet (and with my feet swollen to resemble elephant-man, I really should be!)

One thing that is still up in the air is a car. Can you believe that we STILL don’t have a car for me yet? Because hubby is such a car (Ford) enthusiast, well, he’s been researching a car for me for the last 6 months. Its got to be a performance car (for him, when he’s on his own), and a safe & reliable car for me and bub. Hard to find something that ticks all the boxes. To me, a car is a car, but its so important to him! My company car stayed at work on Friday when I finished, so currently I’m driving around his hotted up XR8 ute (his pride and joy). It’s a manual though, and an absolute BITCH to get into reverse. I do enjoy driving it though, I feel a bit tough! Here's a pic - wouldn’t you feel like a hoon if you drove this?:
Anyway, we sorted something out yesterday, fingers crossed we’ll have a new car by the weekend (and bye-bye XR8!)

Today I'm going for a pregnancy massage, and I cant wait. I've certainly relaxed and loosened up a bit since I finished work on Friday, but my shoulders are still pretty tight. A bit of pampering will be nice though.

So nothing too thrilling to report here - catcha next time...

Fat feet

Hubby has always loved my feet - he has often said to me that one of the first things he notices in a woman (after a face, boobs etc) is their feet.  Its surprising actually how many of his mates share this same opinion actually!!   I don’t think it’s a foot-fetish, but apparently it IS important (in his opinion) to have nice feet.

 

Anyway, currently I have fat feet.  And at the end of each fat foot, I have 5 fat little sausages for toes…  This swelling only really started a few weeks ago, and its gradually getting worse, and some days are worse than others, depending on the weather, and how long I sit/stand in one position.

 

I'm having great fun tormenting hubby with my ugly feet now - I keep saying "Look at my swollen FEET!!" and he just about shrieks and runs away!  LOL!  Not quite, but it IS funny!  Ankles have disappeared too, on both sides.  It is quite bizarre.  Luckily I have no swelling anywhere else.  Elevating my legs at the end of the day helps a bit, but you cant do that at work!

 

We had our all-day ante natal class last Saturday, which we actually quite enjoyed.  We learned quite a bit, we both asked heaps of questions, and it was great to have a tour of the birthing suites, and to see the rooms in the maternity ward.  The great thing about my hospital is, although its public, you get an individual room - nice.  We watched a couple of birth videos, which for some reason made me want to burst into tears.  I just found it so emotional watching this woman go through all those contractions and pain, having her hubby supporting her and helping her, and then the actual birth (which was graphic enough in detail, and freaked me out a little bit) - just so … moving.  I blinked back the tears though, had to remind myself that I was in a room full of 30-40 strangers!

 

I'm having my baby shower this Saturday, and really looking forward to it.  One of my friends has organised it all, so I just get to sit back and relax!  (After I clean the house from top to bottom of course)

 

Oh and I have decided to finish work a week earlier than I'd planned, its just getting too much.  I will be 35 and a half weeks by next Friday, which is enough for me.  So I have only 5 days of work left - yeeha!   I've got so much to do after I finish though, to get organised for tic tac's arrival.

 

Have an awesome weekend!

Stressy Week

Ugh - stress city. I knew this week was going to be the week from hell... and it has been.

I've been having trouble sleeping this week. Sleep is always one of the first thing that goes out the window for me when I'm stressed. I'm actually ok getting to sleep this time, but I cant seem to stay asleep. And once I wake up, thats it.

Now I know that this is part and parcel of the last trimester of pregnancy, but I'm over it. Work is really stressing me out, there is so much going on, and now when I wake up, I just cant seem to drop off again. Bubs has also taken to doing a "corkscrew" impersonation during this time, or at least thats what it feels like!

Last night we had a huge storm in SE Qld, huge claps of thunder too - so we decided to bring Elke inside for the night because she was really freaked out. Its the first time we've had her in the bedroom (on the floor) and while she did settle down and go to sleep, she's a really "snuffly" dog and all I could hear was her heavy breathing and snorting. I woke up around 1.30am and the storm had passed, eventually at 2.30am (I was still awake) after listening to her grunt and snort for an hour, I got up and put her out (much to her disgust!).

But still couldn't sleep, so at 3.30 I decided to get up, no point lying there NOT sleeping. So another night of 3-4 hours sleep. *Sigh*.

I have 16 days of work left. I'm really thinking that the stress is not worth it, and see if I can take my maternity leave a week earlier than planned.

I'm planning on suspending my gym membership in the next day or two. I haven't been in several weeks, and I really just dont have the energy at the moment so I'll just keep up the walking a few days a week with Miss Elke.

I had my 33 week hospital visit on Wednesday, and its all looking good. Tic tac's head has descended already - I was hoping that meant it might come on time (or even a day or two early would be nice!) but apparently it aint so!

A friend of ours had her second bub on Tuesday morning - a gorgeous little girl. Wednesday night we went to visit them in hospital, and my hubby was quite smitten with the beautiful little bundle. He even held her for ages, he said he needed some practice holding a baby! I kept saying that its hard to believe that we'll have one of our own in a few weeks - freaky!

We have our ante-natal class tomorrow! Just gotta get through today...