Bonding with Bubs - Week 40

Size: because it's 40wks there's no telling but I'm assuming over 3.5kg & around 53cm still

What's Pecan Up To: jabbing me in the bladder way too often (not that I should complain if he/she is only starting to do that now!); 

Symptoms: waking up for 1 pee break during the night (usually 2/3am) and then not being able to get back to sleep; my belly button is poking out and I have the beginnings of stretch marks on my lower belly around my belly button (they don't look too bad...yet). I still don't feel or look huge either which is weird considering my due date is tomorrow but I definitely feel big.

Cravings: coffee, sweet treats (although I'm really trying to be good about that!), haloumi cheese, curries

Keep that away from me: onions, mince - this really hasn't changed

Weight: well according to our scales I'm around the 83-84kg mark so I'm feeling a bit better about my weight gain.

 

Feelings: trying to enjoy every little wiggle and kick because I know soon my belly is going to be empty and all those intimate moments with just me and Pecan will be over. I'm also giving pep talks to encourage he/she moves out and it's funny to think these will be repeated albeit in a different way in another 20 years haha

Random: I was hoping this would be my last BwB post but I don't think so, I still feel like I could comfortably be pregnant for another month so all signs are pointing to Pecan being born after Monday.


It's funny looking at the calendar the guests created at my Baby Shower and seeing people drop out of the running as the dates go past. It's also funny to realise just how many birthdays there are in November...it's crazy I've pretty much been celebrating someone I know every day of last week!

The Final Stretch

c/o

It's so close and I'm still doing so much (well only really in terms of going out for dinners but it's exhausting), I still don't feel like Bubs is coming anytime soon :(

Yesterday Mum spoilt me with a house clean courtesy of her cleaner and far out we can now see into our oven! It was the best present anyone could have given us although the house was surprisingly relatively clean. Hubs and I are not by nature very tidy people. We're clean but just not tidy and I've really been making an effort to change that lately. I just keep reminding myself if you do this little job now you won't have it weighing on you and won't have to do it later. I know this will be thrown out the window when Pecan is born (like most things I've been blogging about ha-ha) but still it's nice to be keeping a tidy home.

Yesterday was also the day I spotted stretchmarks...I thought I was going to get away with not having any but sadly it looks like a few have decided to pop up under my belly button! I told Pecan he/she can now come out because they're obviously getting too big to be in there ha-ha. I did moisturise my belly every morning and usually at night as well but in all honesty I doubt that matters and I was expecting them because I've got them on my sides just from normal growth as well. I've got my first Mum war wounds, now I just want my baby so I can really soak it all up.

Today I'm baking a Caramel Apple Cheesecake for my sister-in-law's early birthday celebrations seeing as they're over here from Sydney. Very fattening but very yummy (hopefully) again I'm making a few changes which is a good indication I'm becoming more confident with my baking. I've always wondered how people can just throw things together but I'm starting to learn how to do that and it's awesome. I'm hoping I keep it up over the coming months, even if the meals aren't that special I'm really enjoying cooking and it's something that everyone can appreciate.

Off to continue being a good housewife and dropping Hubby at the train station and then walking our crazy puppy dog. I've also got to hunt down my headphones so I can try listening to music whilst on my walk.

The List is Getting Smaller

I finally feel like I'm getting in control of my to do list but on the downside that means I'm getting really bored. Because we don't have any money coming in (other than the savings we saved for this reason) I'm trying to just stay at home and avoid spending but that equals horrible days spent in front of the laptop and tv.

This morning after dropping Hubby off at the train station I took the dog straight for a dog walk and really motivated myself to do 3 circuits. I was inspired by Danielle at Sometimes Sweet and her Pep Talk post about motivation and the gym. Even as I started on the second circuit I was feeling a bit blah but just kept going and I think if I'd had some music I could have kept going which is going to be something I aim for. I know it's probably a bit silly to start planning something like this right before Pecan is due but I figure I will go stir crazy if I don't even do dog walks with the baby.

But back to the list, so far all that remains is:

• Hanging the nursery artwork (we just need to get some nails)
• Adding hangers & fixing up the stockings I've made for the in-laws
• Christmas shopping - I'm trying to get this done online
• Possibly hanging up a curtain in the nursery (especially with the sale on at the moment at Spotlight but I think I'll need to twist Mum's (aka the landlord's arm) to help with the cost of these)
• Finally getting around to setting up our door bell (instead of relying on our barking dog)
• Finally finishing packing my hospital bag

The only urgent ones are probably the doorbell which I'll leave to Hubby and the hangers for the stockings which I'll try and motivate myself to do this week. Obviously if I get around to going to Spotlight then a curtain will be hung but it's not urgent because we have blinds in the nursery. 

It's exciting now that the countdown is on, my best friend in France reminded me that it was exactly a week yesterday. Sadly I still don't feel like Pecan will be making his/her grand debut before my due date. All the family (from Sydney and Dad from down south) will be here by the end of the week (the Sydney-siders come this afternoon) and they all want the baby born on the weekend. I'm hoping Pecan will realise Mummy would prefer that he/she comes when there's not so many people around! I'm selfish but I just don't handle crowds of people converging on me very well.

Baking

Pecan is still baking away in there and I'm taking the time to become a Baking Goddess. Much to the delight of Hubby and not my waistline. I'm sure Pecan will appreciate it later as well especially when it comes to School Fetes (if they even still have them then, they'll probably be outlawed because of allergy risks!).

As part of my 25 4 25 plan, I decided that I'd bake Hubby a cake to celebrate him finishing uni. I asked Hubby what he wanted and he said whatever I wanted to bake. I told him that no that wasn't the point, the point was for him to be spoiled. So I wound up making a Banoffee Pie adapted from two different sources - Curtis Stone and taste.com.au. I didn't want individual pies so the second recipe was ruled out and I also wussed out on making pie pastry. But Curtis Stone's was just a little bit too sugarey for me and so I used the toffee from the taste recipe and simply boiled a can of skim condensed milk. So without further ado my Pie:

Ingredients

• 1 can skim condensed milk
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 3 large bananas (use as many as you want)
• 600ml whipping cream (I used less than this you but just whipped it all in case)
• 280g Marie biscuits
• 150g butter (melted)
• Milk to smooth out the toffee

Method

Crust

1. Line the bottom of a 22-23 cm springform pan with parchment paper (don't grease the sides).
2. Chop the biscuits in a food processor until they are finely ground.
3. Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and process to blend well. The crumbs should stick together when pressed.
4. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom and 3 ½ cm up the sides of the springform pan. Refrigerate for 20+ minutes.

 Toffee

1. Cover the can of condensed milk in cold water (make sure it's well covered) in a saucepan. Bring the water to boil and then leave to simmer for 3 hours (making sure the water continues to cover the can.
2. Take the can out of the water and once it's cooled slightly pop off the top. (Now I wound up double boiling this with some milk to get it to a smoother consistency). Use one cup to double boil and when it's a smooth as you can get it but still thick cover the bottom of the crust. I felt like I didn't have enough toffee but it worked out you could probably do 2 cans.
3. Leave the leftover toffee in the can (this will be the sauce over the pie and again I suggest double boiling and putting in some milk).

Pie Filling

1. Whip the cream using an electric beater.
2. Slice 2 bananas and put a little bit of lemon juice over.
3. Fold the bananas into the whipped cream and then put into the pie crust on top of the toffee.
4. Slice the remaining banana and again put lemon juice over the slices. Use these to decorate the top of the pie.
5. Spoon the remaining toffee sauce over the pie.

*Note the toffee didn't turn out as great as it could (very gluggy consistency) but still tasted really really yummy and I just couldn't justify using the extra sugar & butter it called for in Curtis Stone's recipe.

It was really yummy and we had it for afternoon tea with the in-laws after we asked my Father-in-Law to put up the remaining to shelves and a canvas print of Hubby and I at Sculpture by the Sea two years ago. We still had half the pie left so I told Hubby to take it to work before accidentally dropping it this morning whoops - luckily it pretty much stayed together.

Bonding with Bubs - Week 39

Size: my watermelon baby; approximately 3.5kg & 53cm

What's Pecan Up To: baking away, by now his/her lungs are mature enough to be born and his/her brain is still laying down nervous connections which will continue throughout early childhood. Along with lots of bum wriggling and kick and jabbing away down there!

Symptoms: not sleeping through the night anymore (just randomly waking up); needing to pee a fraction more but really only if Bubs puts extra pressure on my bladder (I've been pretty lucky not having the multiple pee breaks); foot cramps.

Cravings: coffee, chicken nuggets, fish fingers, banana bread and citrus fruits.

Keep that away from me: onions, mince

Weight: 86.5kg at last weigh in...whoops! I'm trying to cut back on the sugary treats but it's so hard. I've put on 15.5kg (how the hell did that happen) I think it's mainly gone to baby, belly, boobs and butt though. Still not looking forward to having to get rid of it.

 

Feelings: I'm ready for Pecan to arrive and trying to enjoy this time before our lives change forever. Very relaxed and going with the flow about the whole situation though.

The weight aspect of this pregnancy is starting to get to me (not that I'm doing super healthy eating or anything to try and be better about it!) but I'll just have to slowly kick my butt into gear once Pecan is born and make sure I eat healthier and get in more exercise. I definitely don't want to be stuck inside day in day out and our puppy dog won't let that happen either.

Random: Our next appointment is scheduled for November 25th (4 days after due date) and I'm hoping we won't need to attend it because we'll already be parents.

Family Day

My 11.11.11 photo

So life is now becoming more about doing everything 'sans baby' at the moment until Pecan finally decides he/she wants out. Today therefore is dress shopping day with my Mum and little sister, yesterday was coffee with one of my awesome uni girlfriends and it's funny to keep saying goodbye to people knowing that most likely the next time I see them I'll be a Mum.

I'm really enjoying getting out and about, it's funny to think that movies had always freaked me out that I'd be somewhere important and my waters would break. That always scared me but now (after actually learning what really happens) even though there's a slim chance it could I don't care. Talking with my best friend she also admitted that she felt the same and I'm really looking forward to being their guinea pig. I'm surprised that I don't feel more nervous about the whole thing but I'm really happy that I just want to go with the flow.

Yesterday I had another appointment at the Birthing Centre, it was good to catch up with our awesome student midwife (she & Hubby had to miss the last one due to exams). She goes to the same university that we all went to and we had a nice long chat about how nothing has changed and the admin side of things is so crappy. All the midwives I've met so far have been really nice and it was a pretty simple appointment, same as they all are. Pecan is apparently 3/5ths engaged but still hasn't dropped and I was right with predicting how he/she is sitting (legs all up in my left side). I'm excited about giving birth now and definitely ready for Pecan to arrive.

Tick Tock

c/o pinterest.com

We're officially in the waiting zone and I have had zero inkling/symptoms/anything that Pecan is going to arrive early. I'm trying to tell myself I shouldn't wish away this time and that we still haven't passed D-Day but I also have moments were I just want to be holding Pecan instead of making To-Do lists and worrying about washing, cleaning etc...

But the waiting is good (or so I keep telling myself) and there are things I want to get done/enjoy before our lives are changed forever. I'm making an effort to catch up with friends this week and then going dress shopping for Mum's wedding on Saturday - not that there's much point seeing as I have a huge bump! But I'll indulge her, I'd much prefer we were going wedding dress shopping for her but maybe it will turn into that especially if she doesn't want the typical wedding dress.

I finally finished sewing all the mini Christmas stockings I needed to do for Hubby's family (although I need to attach little hanging things so they can be hung up *gulp* wish me luck with that) so that's a major to-do item ticked off. I'm also going to attempt to make some Christmas candy to put into the stockings but we'll see if I can manage that with a newborn, I might be getting a little bit too ahead of myself.

Hubby and I went on a date night after he returned from having 1 Gin & Tonic to celebrate finishing uni. He's not a big drinker and had work the next day but I did keep telling him if he wanted to booze it up I'd come and get him. I guess I should be grateful I have a Hubby who hates alcohol but it's hard when you're pregnant and booze is off limits (other than the awesome glass of champagne I had to celebrate him finishing uni whilst out with our parents). We wound up just heading down to San Churros (a chocolate franchise place which specialises in churros) and then because the skies decided to open up snuck into a second hand book store where surprisingly nothing caught my eye but Hubby bought Russell Brand's second book for $5. We discussed a few names over our churros and Hubby admitted that he liked Luca for a girl. I said I did too except the song is about domestic violence so it wasn't really on my top favourite names lists. We both agreed we 'think' we're having a girl but I really wouldn't be surprised if I give birth to a son.

Oh well, only time will tell and at the moment I have that in endless supply whilst also having no time left at all.

The End

This will be Hubby soon (sans the cute dress and high heels of course!)

Today is Hubby's last uni related day EVER! Both of us met at the end of our first year at uni (just before our exams) and now we're about to welcome a baby as Hubby finishes uni forever. It's a really exciting time although I do feel a bit guilty, the poor guy just finishes 8 years at uni and is now looking at his life changing forever. He's pretty excited though and I feel so much better knowing that.

There's some advert on Australian TV at the moment I think maybe for AMP (an insurance company??) which is all about how life unfolds from graduating to getting a great job, moving to the coast, meeting your partner, getting married, getting pregnant, buying a bigger house. I always feel terrible when it comes on and I said so last night and Hubby's response was 'but we do live close to the coast' - I'm very lucky to have him. He knows just what to say even when I'm making no sense or he doesn't even know that what he's saying is exactly what I need to hear.

Tomorrow also marks the day from which Pecan is free to arrive when he/she so wishes. I think Mum would be fine if it was tomorrow (she wants to soak up as much grandbaby time as she can before she goes on her amazing Antarctica trip in January). I've still got a few things I want to get done but nothing pressing. Most recent is just to change the name on my passport because I've finally found all my documentation I need (that I put in a 'safe' place) to lodge it. Plus Mum has already booked everyone's Bali tickets and is just waiting on Pecan being born so that she can book our little family in. I can't believe how spoilt Pecan is going to be, traveling overseas before he/she is even 1! Then before he/she is 2 we're taking them to Denmark to see where Hubby grew up and to meet his family. Sadly Pecan won't be able to remember that trip but our bank account will be grateful for not having to pay for a full price ticket!

Today is my odds and ends day, in between this weird and horrible stormy weather we're having (hello Sun you can come out now!) I'm trying to get all our washing and all of Pecan's done too. I started on organising the nursery yesterday and OMG stuff just keeps coming out of nowhere. I thought I'd pretty much done all of his/her washing but sadly that's not the case. I also found out that my SiL never bothered to properly rinse out all the bottles she gave us (silly me assumed she had so didn't check and just put in storage) needless to say I needed to SOAK SOAK SOAK them. Not impressed at all! At least when the family friend gave us all her second hand goodies (including pram and car seat) she warned us they hadn't been washed. Oh well, my SiL goes in and out of favour and at the moment she's out. Hubby wasn't impressed (especially because early early that morning she'd sent out a mass 'give us this for Christmas' text message...too late as I've already got their presents) and asked if I'd ditched the bottles. If they'd been crappy ones I would have but they're Medela so I'm hoping the soaking in hot water & dishwashing liquid will help.

Does anyone know what the major 'dont's' are for washing bottles? We also got given what I'm assuming is a microwave sanitiser (again in gross condition from the SiL) but I have no idea how to use it!

PS: Thanks for all the advice in the comments it's saving this mother-to-be's sanity.

Bonding with Bubs - Week 38

Size: approximately 3kg and around 53cm

What's Pecan Up To: packing on the pounds like his/her Mum; all Pecan's organs are developed; sticking out a knee constantly on my left side!

Symptoms: period like pain in my tummy (possibly Braxton Hicks I don't know); needing to rest up in the afternoons

Cravings: iced coffee, citrus and fish.

Keep that away from me: again the seafood section in the supermarket.

Weight: 83/84kg all that eating out and sweet treats from the Baby Shower...whoops.

 

Feelings: I'm getting excited and also nervous which I think is the norm. I'm really keen to just continue going with the flow and I haven't had any major freak outs. It's very suprising for super organised me that the nursery is 100% completed and I thought that would be nagging at me but it isn't. I still feel pretty under prepared but I think in reality I'm as on-top-of most things as I can be considering I have no idea what to expect when we bring Pecan home.

Random: We still haven't settled on any names, boys names we've got a little stockpile and girls names we've got 2 but we really need to decide once Bubs is born I think. I've made sure I've got my list of definite no names on my iPhone. It's silly but after having the most popular name the year I was born I don't want our child having a name in the top 20. I'm loving the fact that there's an actual government list of top WA baby names per year so this is where I've gotten my 'NO' list from. But then I could pick a name and it could wind up being the 'popular' name of 2011...oh well whatever will suit the baby is what he/she will be called. We've also happily resigned ourselves to the fact that Bubs will always be Pecan to us!

PS: Can anyone recommend any cool 'baby record/memory books'? I didn't receive one at the baby shower and I'm thinking I should probably wait until after gifts people bring to the new baby but, I love recording stuff!

Also a bra related question - I've only bought 3 maternity bras (all same size) and that was back in May/June. Did people go in for another refit around now or did you wait until after Bubs was born? I just don't want to waste money on buying bras now only to find out they're the wrong size afterwards - damn big boobs = big $$$$.

Goodbye Rings

c/o Anne Geddes

It was another Mother Daughter Nail Salon day :)

But before we headed in to get our Shellac redone (I'm now rosebud), I had to get Hubby's watch made smaller and our rings cleaned. Unfortunately because my rings are white gold it was finally time for them to get rhodium plated so now I'm the knocked up unwed mother haha. Hubby was so cute all of last night and this morning claiming that it felt so weird and not right without his ring on. I find it weird too (I hold my ring finger funny!) but it is nice to be able to normally wash my hands and not worry about it catching on clothing etc...

It was funny though because at every store we went into everyone kept calling me Mum's 'friend' - I think it's really sweet that she looks way too young to be a Grandma. She really needs to hear it as well especially because she's getting married and I'm trying to talk her into trying on dresses (she's sort of against it because it will be her third wedding). I want her to have a really wonderful wedding and for her to be spoilt because this will be it.

Whilst it was lots of fun it was also kind of scary because everyone kept asking when I was due and saying 2 & a bit weeks instead of months is INSANE! My To Do list is getting smaller (thankfully) and I've come to the realisation that the nursery may not be ready before Pecan is born but that doesn't bother me in the slightest. It would be great if either Hubby or I were handy around the house and could hang everything we need hung unfortunately we aren't and Mum's fiance (our go to handyman) is too busy at the moment so we're just going to wait until he has some spare time before I start hounding him again. And in all honesty Pecan really won't care if his/her room isn't all pretty as long as he/she has access to boobs, nappies and somewhere to sleep!

Baby Shower

Last Sunday it was my Baby Shower, after trying to sort out an appropriate date where all my important ladies could be there it was finally happening.

My wonderful uni girlfriends threw the Shower for me and Mum's fiance was kind enough to give us free run of the house. The food was amazing, we had mini scones (I think I probably ate the most of them), mini cheese scrolls that you can barely see in the bottom left hand corner, little sandwhiches, raspberry cheesecake brownies, Baby Pecan cupcakes, mini gingerbread man, mini coffee cupcakes...it was all sooooooo good. Two of the girls are excellent bakers but as one of the two is more crafty she did the decorations (including gorgeous pinwheels which I took for the Nursery and little colourful onesies that everyone wrote messages on) and the other was a non-stop baking goddess! The third girl organised all the games including a skulling water from a baby bottle, she learnt lots including that there are different sizes for bottle nipples and that next time she does that game she won't get the newborn size haha. I was very spoilt!

Pecan got lots of books and a few other goodies (including a much needed car shade!) and it was so sweet to read people's comments in the books they chose to give and the reasons why. Two of the more 'recent' Mums there, a family friend and my cousin (who is also newly pregnant for the second time) recommended the Save our Sleep book. I'm loving reading it but I'm really not sure that I want to be so restricted by baby (especially with the 7pm go to bed time) does anyone else have any advice or routine recommendations? I think I will wind up being more of a go with the flow kind of parent and if that doesn't work then maybe turn to the whole strict routine thing!

It's hard to believe how close to the finish line we are now! Any advice or recommendations for the weeks (or days) leading up to birth and those first couple of weeks with a new baby would be more than welcome.

Crazy Goodness Week

I want to be a supermodel (haha) 37 + 1

Yesterday was a fantastic anniversary (even though I had a monster headache damn this change in weather and Hubby's last exam went crappy)!

I helped Mum make 2 yummy curries for dinner tonight to celebrate her fiance's birthday. We then sat down and watched the Cup and I can't believe how close it was. Part of me wishes they hadn't been able to get that photo finish and instead declared it a dead heat. I didn't bet but as always picked the Number 6 horse 2 minutes before and was very happy to see it was one of the greys I'd had my eye on (and was ridden by Damien Oliver I believe). After that we had some really yummy chicken rolls, probably not recommended for pregnant ladies but OH SO YUMMY!

We also managed to get in a mini-photoshoot (photos to come) with my Mum's help and realised that even though we're not very photogenic we still managed to get some good snaps. Plus finally got some Daddy & Bump photos which I was getting nervous we might not get. Of course everyone loves snapping the pregnant lady but with all the study Hubby has been doing he hasn't really been included.

After that we came home (I tried to do my hair for both the shoot and dinner but wasn't very good at it) and got ready to go to Rockpool. We exchanged our anniversary letters which were very sweet and then headed out. It was AMAZING (we even sat across from Andrew Forrest, Australia's richest man and Mum's old playmate!) the food was fantastic but I definitely shouldn't have eaten everything it was just too much for my poor tummy a food baby and real baby do not go hand in hand! I also surprised Hubby with his Georg Jensen watch, unfortunately it needs some links taken out of it but he was shocked and so happy. He felt bad for not getting me anything but I told him to stop being silly as he's always spoiling me and I finally found something I knew he wanted that I could get him.

On top of all that the full-time start date for Hubby will now be January 3rd. This is fantastic because he can keep working casually and bringing in some extra money for us but also have lots of time to spend with Pecan and to help me out. And the extra 'goodness' for this week is not having to cook dinner for 3 nights in a row plus I've got cute little baby outfits hanging on the line (although I absolutely cannot stand that Lux stuff the stupid flakes wouldn't completely dissolve and I had bits of soap stuck to everything grrr!).

I hope everyone else is having a good week and if not just try and take some time out and focus on the pretty little things, even if it is just a flower.

7 Year Anniversary

Ok so today is 'the race that stops a nation' aka the Melbourne Cup but more importantly it is the 7 year anniversary of the first date with my Hubby. Also ironically enough it's Kim Kardashian divorce time - just goes to show money and fame can't get you everything!

Today is important because it's also the last exam Hubby ever has to take at uni! He still has a thesis presentation to give on the 8th but it'll really feel like he's finally moving forward.

Whilst he's doing the exam and then heading into work to sort out his start date, I'm going to be watching the Cup and helping Mum cook a birthday dinner for her fiance for tomorrow night. After that hopefully we can drag Mum out of the kitchen to do a mini pregnancy photoshoot with us. I don't have lots of couple shots with Hubby and that's something I want to change so why not start a new tradition today :)

I hope everyone else has a wonderful 1st of November and if you have a bet on that you pick a winner.