Growth Spurt

My little Lenny lump had a growth spurt this week. To the point where I can no longer just wear a loose top and cover it up without looking like I'm wearing a tent. My belly became firmer this week, I officially have no waist  and I'm sure people now would look at me and know there's actually a baby in there, not just a massive lunch.

Poor quality photo - but you get the idea... it's a bump at 18 weeks. Time has been going by so quickly!  Apparently Lenny is now the size of a kumara. They vary in size, so I'm not too sure exactly how big that makes Lenny lump this week.

So I'm a little bit freaked out that I still have over 20 weeks of growth still to come... oh oh, I'll be the size of a house in no time. But that's ok, Lenny can grow all he(she) wants.  I hadn't put on any weight until now which was weird given I could no longer button up my jeans and literally had to wrench them on...then boom! 2kg in one week when I weighed myself last night.

I was back down 1kg by this morning so I figure I must retain a lot of water during the day... then after about 3 - 4 awesome pee stops during the night I wake up 1kg lighter. Amazing information there for you readers. I'm sure that kilo is just hot cross buns. So delicious.

I need to spend one night actually going through my current wardrobe and just eliminate things I definitely won't be wearing for a while. It takes me so long to find things to wear to work in the morning and drives me mental.

The Finished Product...

And here it is - as exciting as a post on pantry doors can be... in time I imagine this will be covered in scribbles. I need to update now, as Lenny is as big as a turnip apparently this week.

I wrote this little message on the door for valentines. I think it might stay there a while.. 

Just like the movies...

He surprised me this year.

I came home from my walk on Valentines day to find fresh red lillies in a vase and a new Lady and the Tramp DVD sitting on the table. He made me the most delicious spaghetti and meatballs for us to eat, just like the movie and even bought me a bottle of  grapetise (non-alcoholic grape juice), so I could pretend we were enjoying some wine together with our meal.

It's fair to say I felt pretty special! How did I find such a romantic?

And yes... we did the noodle kiss, just for a laugh.

Project time

A little project I did the other weekend using Resene Blackboard Paint. It took about 2 days in between coats and drying time. I actually did it properly this time, and I'd just pop out to the garage, quickly roll on a coat in 5 or 10 minutes and then leave it to dry for 3 hours, or whatever it said on the can. With these paints the longer you let it cure the better. We waited a whole week until we drew on it, following the advice from Resene. Torture!

It's so fun to have in the kitchen - we leave notes to each other, make reminders, update the shopping list and add other bits and pieces for fun. It was so easy to do and inexpensive, two great features whenever you're tackling some DIY. Here's my rough step by step.

Another great tip the Resene guy gave me, was to use  a soft cloth and soda water to give it a good clean. It beats scrubbing it with a crappy duster and stops chalk dust flying around. The doors dry really quickly, so within 30 seconds you can write on it again.

P.S. Crayola chalk is crap. I got so excited with my coloured chalk, and it didn't work. Made a horrible squeaking sound and was scratchy. I used some cheap "dust free" chalk from a local stationers. I am on the lookout for decent coloured chalk.

Pictures of the final product to come...

How did you know?

A common question that is asked when telling people there's a baby in my belly...
How did you know?

Apart from the obvious 2 lines on the test, I had to think really hard about what signs there were (that I missed). After a good think back,  I realised, actually there were signs, I just pretty much ignored them for a while there.

The signs - and I'm sure everyone's body has a totally different way of letting it be known, but these were mine, in a brutally honest, lay it all out there kind of way.

It hurt to hug. It REALLY hurt. It's like I had two rocks out front and when someone gave me a squeeze it was like pushing those rocks into bruised chest bones. Not comfortable. There were some awkward hug moments in those first few weeks where male friends in particular would go in for a hug and feel awkward because they could ....feel my...ahhhh newly enlarged friends. One actually made a comment to Mr D while paddling out for a surf.. hah! Along similar lines, it hurt to sleep on my stomach, not that I'm much of a stomach sleeper, but the times I did... OUCH!

Itchy collarbones. I thought I must have been attacked by invisible mosquitoes who left little invisible bites just along my collarbones. I'm still not 100% sure this was related to Lenny, but it was out of the ordinary and lasted about 3 weeks.

Heartburn - This would have been one of the first signs now that I think about it. I was putting drops of lemon juice in my water bottle and stopped because I thought it was giving me heart burn. Turns out lemon juice in water is actually awesome for keeping morning sickness at bay, and it definitely wasn't the culprit for the heartburn. Lenny was.

Then there was the obvious waiting game for that little monthly visitor... but I am useless with those dates and rely on my body to remind me... however one day Mr D said.. "Ummm I think you might be... and I said "nah.....I know my body, I'm not".... then my friend said to me after I felt extremely nauseous whilst eating rolled pork head (vomit) at my birthday dinner outing "Ummmmm I think you might be.... and I said "nah.... I know my body, I'm not"....

Turns out I don't know everything.

So that's a long winded tale of how I knew. Now I bet you're all hugging yourselves, itching your collarbones and worrying about that pestering heartburn...I'm sure it's different for everybody though so don't stress yourself.

And now I guess I should put some sort of pregnancy related images on here, as it's getting rather texty.
Here's a fake smiling, just got home from work shot. My sister is going to relish in the fact that I have no waist anymore.

My Nana has Talent.

Lenny is one lucky little baby lump. My Nana, who is a talented knitter, sent the most beautiful knitted shawl to me in the post the other day, along with an adorable mini ducky. It's difficult to photograph the shawl, but the detail is amazing.
I can't wait to wrap our precious little bundle in this soft, beautiful shawl and bring him/her home from the hospital.

This is so special to me. Thank you Nana, I'll treasure this forever.

I freaken love new stuff

1. One of many cool books Mr D is collecting for little Lenny.
2. I need to retire the heels soon, so flat shoe purchases are essential. These ones from here
3. I snuggly new cardigan for Mr D
4. A super soft tunic with leather pockets from here. This will stretch well over the bump in winter.
5. A new TV series to watch midweek, since we finished Curb Your Enthusiasm

A bit of a laugh...

One of my friends emailed me these photos thinking I may find it funny. She was right.
It's not everyones cup of tea, I know and these hot guy, metro quotes have been done many times...but whatever, I got a smile out of it.

Source: pregnantchicken.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: marvelouskiddo.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: pregnantchicken.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: marvelouskiddo.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: pregnantchicken.com via Laura on Pinterest

S
ource: pregnantchicken.com via Victoria on Pinterest

On a side note;

I actually think it must be so hard for the guys during pregnancy. I have this little human in there, growing away, changing my body, making me eat things and sleep lots... so I actually feel pregnant and want to get involved in things like sorting out a nursery area and read up on birth options as well as fuss over all of the adorable things you can buy.

For the guy, they're just getting used to this wife who can be a little bit snappy, complains about having nothing to wear that fits, fusses over nursery planning, won't eat certain dinners, just because she doesn't 'feel' like it, and meanwhile asking you to show more excitement about everything that's going on.

It must be hard... they really have no idea what is going on, unless you drag them along to every medical appointment and explain how you're feeling and why every 30 minutes. I thought these pictures were funny because it's what women THINK they want, but then if the men did start getting too involved, it would perhaps teeter on the edge of annoyance. It's similar to wedding planning... those who've planned or are planning a wedding, you have moments where you feel like you're doing EVERYTHING (similar to growing a baby) and you want them to paaallleeeeeeeease be a LITTLE bit involved here!!!! so they start going over the menu options, being really attentive, pretending to be interested in seating arrangements and flower selections, with opinions on all of it that you just don't want to hear. You find yourself wishing you'd never made a scene. I'd be a bit worried if Mr D actually suggested we sit down and have a heart to heart about nursery concepts and began organising the clothes into stages and recommending swaddle wraps because of reviews he'd read on the Internet. Scary thought.

I did see him have a quick flick through of my Up the Duff book that was on the coffee table the other day and he asked "how many weeks are you now?" which made me feel a little bit smiley on the inside.