Today is the beginning of our 20th week, the half way point til the birth of our baby. I'm trying to be positive and look at it as the glass is half full, but it feels like the past 20 weeks have gone by so slow. Hopefully, now that I feel better and now that we're starting to buy the baby things, the next weeks will go by faster.
Yesterday, we bought the cot (cot = crib in Oz). I know I've mentioned this before, but things in Australia really are quite expensive. The cheapest cot we had seen before yesterday was from Ikea, and it wasn't anything special. In fact, it was just as I described "cheap". But, we were going to settle for it since it was about $300 less than anything else we had seen. Then, yesterday, we saw a Boori cot on Gumtree (Aussie Craig's List). We had seen the Boori line of cots at http://www.bubs.com.au/ , but seeing that they were no less than $700-$1,000, we stopped looking for a cot at that store. So, you can imagine my surprise when I came across a Boori Paddington Cot on Gumtree for $390 with the $150 mattress included. I thought it would be sold for sure. I called the seller and was happily informed that it was still available. Ryan and I went and picked it up last night, and then late last night after I went to sleep he surprised me by putting it together. I woke up to see our baby's crib set up in his new room, and I've been smiling ever since!!
Dear Baby,
Even though I knew it would inevitably get here, I didn't feel it coming. Today, my "nesting" phase officially started. "Nesting" is a term used to describe "an uncontrollable urge to clean one’s house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world."
I wouldn't say that my nesting is as severe as your Aunt Lindsey's...yet! One morning a few a weeks ago, she cleaned and organized their whole house by 10 a.m. She even went as far as getting the tools out to assemble some things. Then, a few days ago, she steam cleaned their couches, drapes and carpet. All of this in preparation for your cousin, who should be here in the next month or so.
I don't know if it's because your daddy and I picked out your furniture yesterday, but I woke up with a strong desire to get busy. I laid in bed and planned my attack. First, I would throw away or recycle everything that we don't need from the office. Good thing I talked it over with your daddy first. Some of the things I was ready to chuck, he wasn't so keen on chucking : ) Then, I would sort and organize all of my office/art supplies inside the cubicles of my project table and find a new home for them in the closets or in the living room. After that, I would ask your daddy to help me move the antique trunk and project table out of the office to make room for your furniture. I know that once these things are done, we can bring home your furniture, and I can get busy washing and putting away all of the cute clothes and blankets that you'll soon be wearing.
As I write this, I still haven't attacked the office. Ironically, I didn't even make it past the kitchen. After brekky, I had the sudden urge to clean and organize the entire kitchen, cupboards and all! I not only organized everything in the cupboards, but also took a warm rag and wiped everything down. I must say, the kitchen is looking damn good right now. So, the plan for the afternoon is to ATTACK THE OFFICE. Your daddy is online right now creating an ad for the project table. Hopefully, we can sell it and get your side of the office/baby room cleared out soon because I am ready to get the tools out and assemble some furniture.
Love,
Mommy
Dear Baby,
For the past couple of weeks, your Daddy was in Taipei, Taiwan on a business trip. While he was away, I started feeling the first little flutters of you moving. I remember the first time. I was sitting on the couch typing on my laptop. After I felt you, I sat motionless waiting for it to happen again. It went on for about fifteen minutes. I don't think I even took a breath for fear my breathing would make me unable to feel you. Over the last couple of weeks, your little flutters have progressed to little kicks. Your little kicks feel almost like a tiny heart beat under by belly button. Your daddy and I were talking on Skype the other night and I told him how you are moving around and kicking more and more. I was sure he'd be able to feel it from the outside when he got back home to Brisbane. I was so excited for him to get home and feel you kicking. Five minutes after he walked in the door, you decided to get active. Did you recognize his voice? We sat on the couch, and your daddy got to feel you kick for the first time. After that, I kept waiting for you to get active again so that we could feel you. You should know, it makes us extremely happy knowing that you are growing and developing, and we can't wait for the day that you are born so that we can meet you in person.
Love,
Mommy
Up until a week or so ago, my belly looked more like an "I've eaten too many doughnuts belly" than a baby bump belly. So, we haven't really taken any pictures since week 10. I know, I know. It's ironic that someone who loves to take pictures has neglected to take pictures of her first baby belly for seven weeks. I'll try to be better in the future! I think that it looks more like a baby bump when it's a naked belly, hence the naked belly picture!
(Week 17)
A few days ago, I started feeling what I think is the baby moving. The Dr. said I could start feeling him move any time between now and week 20. It feels like a faint flutter...Almost like when your stomach growls minus the sound and a bit more faint. Who knows, maybe in a week something different will happen, and I'll realize that until then I wasn't feeling the baby at all. But, since I have nothing to compare it to, I'll just go with my gut instinct.
Ryan and I just got back from our monthly OB appointment. You know the phrase, "hurry up to wait"? That pretty much sums up our visit. After a rushed morning getting ready, we got to our appointment on time only to be told that the doctor was running three appointments behind schedule. WTF?? Couldn't the receptionist have made some phone calls to let us know? So far, Ryan and I have been pretty spoiled. We've had either a 2D or 4D scan at every one of our doctor's appointment. Ryan took off of work so that he could be at the appointment just in case we were lucky enough to get another glimpse of our little guy. Finally, after waiting in the waiting room and reading almost all of the reading material available, Dr. Higgins came out to greet us. I've really appreciated that Ryan has made a point of going to all of our appointments. However, I felt really bad that we he took off work and waited for so long for what consisted of a 10 minute Dr. visit. Dr. Higgins checked my blood pressure, felt my belly to make sure my uterus is rising and answered a couple of our questions. That was it. The quickest Dr. visit in history...if you don't count the long a** wait in the waiting room.
This past week, we bought our first baby supplies. It's funny how excited I was just to buy the basic supplies such as nappies (diapers), wipes and a bunch of Johnson and Johnson bath products that will have to periodically be replaced anyways. I even made the comment that someday I'll be sitting at home thinking, "Damn, I need to run to the store and get diapers". This time, however, I was far from annoyed by the need to run to the store for baby supplies.
Like I've said before, Target in Oz, is NOTHING like Target in America. I wish like hell it was, but it's not. It's more like a cross between a low-budget Ross and out-of-date Kmart. It might even be worse than that. The selection is non-existent and the prices are outrageous. Anyways, for basic supplies like nappies, Target will have to do.
Even though we love living in Australia, it's difficult seeing the things we want online at American stores, but being unable to find the same things here. Or if we do see the same products here, they are heaps more expensive than in the US. One example is the Fischer Price Space Saver High Chair. At Target.com, there is quite a selection to choose from and they are about $40-50. This is the one we REALLY like....
... and it's $50 at Target.com in the US.
We've only seen one here and it's NOT the nicer padded one. How ugly is this?
...it's $30 in the States and $99 in Oz. But, who wants to spend $99 for this ugly thing??
A few days after I went shopping for the basic supplies, Ryan and I went to Bubs, a baby superstore here in Brisbane. We went to test out the stroller that we want. I LOVE this stroller. (But, we prefer the red area to be dark charcoal gray)
The plan is for Ryan to buy it in the States when he's there in July for a business trip. Buying it in America will save us $200+. But, this particular stroller is sold here, so we went to check it out in person to decide if we really like it. It was priceless seeing Ryan pushing the empty stroller around the store to see if he liked it as much as he did when he read about it online. He does!
After that, we went to another, less expensive store and bought a few blue blankets and a couple of newborn soothers (pacifiers), just in case!!
I realize that a lot of men aren't as involved with these purchases as Ryan is. I think I am a very lucky lady that bub's daddy is so keen to be involved!
