March photos and changes

So we're 18 weeks along today, and here are some recent photos from the weekend. It seems just in the past week and 1/2 - so many little changes! My belly's popped out a bit, and Bubsy is becoming an unbelievably active little character! Dominika reckons since I can feel so much so early, it must be a big baby - a strong boy. Hmm... who knows?! Doesn't seem to be getting too big too fast, thank goodness! Just one more week till we get to see Wee One again.

Thoughts on life in Trimester 2

HI friends :)

Thought I'd update you on some of daily life lately.

I really like being pregnant. Lately I've been shopping for cute maternity tops on e-bay - last night I won a really cute tee-shirt that says "Baby: ingredients: Love (58%), Passion (28%), Hope (20%). Cooking Instructions: Pat tummy gently for 9 months and daydream (Dan read that and he said - well, you've definately got the method down!). Made in Australia from local and/or imported ingredients. May contain traces of chocolate."

Life down under's pretty busy. We really like our house. We have to get a termite treatment to protect us from the little buggers... so there goes our savings. We're working on designing a nursery - we're going to paint and put in new floors and a floor rug and decorate from scratch..that's all very exciting at the moment! Well, I'm picking colours and themes and what-not, and then danny's going to do the actual painting when I'm far away from all the fumes. Ahh, the perks :)

I'm actually studying a lot. I feel like I'm taking 2 courses simultaneously. One could be called, How to Not Screw Up your Brand New Baby 101, and the other, How to Survive the Terrors of Childbirth 102. :) Yeah, there's a lot of reading involved...and interviews with tons of other recent mothers, and some internet research. The final exams for the 2nd course are in August - possibly August 14th, but who knows exactly - there could always be a pop quiz! But the first course - well, who knows when those finals are. In about 18 to 20 years I expect :) So I guess I've got plenty of time to perfect those skills - and all the other add-on courses that come along with it. It's an extremely intensive package deal. If you ever decide to take any of these - beware! there's no going back. There's Enduring toddlerhood, and Parenting a Preschooler, and Navigating the messy world of Elementary School.... Oh my goodness! How exciting!

School is full-on. I can't remember if I've mentioned that I've been cut back to 3&1/2 days this term - they've made massive cuts to education this year, and special ed and ESL are really suffering from it at the moment. grrr... but I'll be back to full time next term starting 30th March, and work up until end of June when the 2 week break comes and then I'll just sit around and study and nest and wait for baby to come :) and go camping! Anyway, I'm working 5 different schools in less than 4 days a week. I'm a whirlwind travelling teacher. It's crazy. But let me tell you, the week goes by fast! Sometimes I get quite swamped - I really have too many students when it comes to managing all the paperwork and admin we have to do - but all in all I quite like my job. I love my students and the variety, it's always incredibly interesting. And sometimes they even learn things from me!

And I guess that's about all the news from down here for now. Hope you're all well and staying warm :) We'd love to hear from you any time.

Talk to you soon,

Alicia

Pictures of bub

My husband is a genius - he got the scanner on our computer up and working again, so I'm happy to share with the world our very first photos of our very first child! If you look really carefully, you can see his/her great big brain :) I'm so proud!

That one's a bit fuzzy, but bubby's waving at us :)

First Scan

This morning Dan & I went in to the hospital for my first ultrasound.
Everything is normal-normal-normal for our little bub. Anything but normal for us... we actually got to see a tiny little person hanging out and growing and waving and kicking around inside of me. It was incredible!

The dr. said everything looks really good. They said Baby was a bit stubborn and made it tricky for them to get the snaps they wanted, Dan said 'that sounds about right.' We got a fairly good photo and it's on the fridge, but unfortunately we forgot to ask about getting anything in computer format, so I don't have anything to show you online yet. Maybe we can scan the photo, but I doubt it would turn out well.

Dr. said the due date is right on - I'm exactly 13 weeks today and Baby is exactly 7cm. from head to bum. The little heartbeat is good, the brain looks to be forming properly...we could actually see the brain! They can zoom in so close that we can see these tiny bits like the bladder and the ears...it was so weird. But beyond cool. I think I'm falling in love :)
The next scan will be at 19 weeks - on 20th of March. By then they might be able to tell if Bub's a boy or a girl, depending on what he or she feels like showing us. Today they had no way of being able to tell that kind of thing yet anyway.

Feburary 4th - 12 weeks.

It's an odd thought I've had lately... I've become a place. A place for a new life to grow and be knit together. All you who've done this before know...it's really pretty cool. (I know I still have a tiny little belly, but believe me, it is slowly growing!)

Have a beautiful week!