Happenings 11.5.18

* written over the end of April and start of May

DOING: sitting in my bed with my laptop and a cup of ginger tea. It's 8:17pm. Life is getting busier and busier, so blogging tends to only happen at night. 

HEARING: Sufjan Stevens' Mystery of Love. I have recently fallen in love with this song and artist.

DRINKING: ginger tea. I bought these bags when I was around five weeks pregnant, in the hope that this pregnancy would progress and I would soon be flooded with nausea. I recall saying to Ben, "I just want to feel awful".  I've only really gotten into this tea over the past couple of weeks, though. It's perfect on these cooler nights and helps me to keep my fluid intake up (something I struggle with during pregnancy).

EATING + COOKING: oomf. Food. In my previous Happenings post back in February, I shared that I was loving reading cookbooks and getting back into the kitchen. Well, pretty much right after I posted that my nausea really kicked up a notch and the kitchen became the WORST place in the house. The smell of the oven, fridge, freezer and kitchen in general would make me gag. Especially first thing in the morning or around dinner time. Ben took over a lot of the evening cooking from weeks 6-9 and when I did have to cook, I kept it very basic. I'm thinking of doing a first trimester recap, so I'll go more into the details then.

I have been eating, though. Soups have gone down well, along with grilled cheese. Potato crisps, too. And I've eaten a lot of apples, berries and mandarins. As the smell of the oven has become slightly less repulsive, I've had the urge to bake. Specifically, big, luscious chocolate cakes. I cannot quite be bothered to go to all that effort, though, so cookies it was. 

WANTING: this baby to continue growing. I have an appointment with my OB on Monday, my first since our big 12 week scan, and I'm just hanging out to hear that all is well with the baby. Update: we I had my appointment and everything looks perfect. 

WEARING: maternity jeans or leggings with big, warm jumpers. I'm yet to find a pair of maternity jeans or leggings that I absolutely love, but maybe that's just how it is. I've been thinking about ordering some Storq leggings after reading great reviews.

LOOKING: for bathroom tiles. We're planning our bathroom renovation at the moment. All the money we were ferociously saving on the chance we would need fertility assistance is now going towards creating a bathroom with working pipes. Hurrah! We're using mainly white tiles, however I want a colourful feature wall...

DECIDING: on those tiles. The colour we go for will dictate the colour of the taps, so we're also deciding on that. A bath, too. I didn't think I'd be into all this stuff, but I SO am. 

ENJOYING: possibly the most enjoyable thing in my life right now is the little baby flutters that come every now and then. I'm only 16 weeks, so sometimes it'll be days between sensing movement, but when I do, it's the most amazing feeling. Before getting pregnant with Joan I had no idea how much you would be able to feel the baby move.

WATCHING: During the first trimester I burned through the first few seasons of Law & Order SVU. It was strangely comforting to me. I've also been watching Season 2 of This Is Us and crying every episode, as well as Borderline and Empire of the Tsars on Netflix. On the nights Ben and I get to watch a show together, we have been working our way through Wild, Wild Country & Silicon Valley.

READING: I've been reading The Whole-Brain Child again, however I'd like to get back into some fiction. Any recommendations for great, easy reads would be much appreciated!

BUYING: a new bathroom! Oh, I also need to buy kale & silverbeet seeds for our vegetable garden.

PLANNING: the bathroom. Oh and next month we're off to Sydney! Ben and I timed our work trips and turned it into a little family getaway. Mum is coming up with us to look after Joan while I have a meeting. And then while Ben works, I plan to spend my time wandering around the city with Joan and Mum, playing in parks and eating pancakes at Bill's (which is something Mum and I did on a girls holiday 15 years ago).

CRAVING: McChicken Burgers, french fries with sweet and sour sauce and Coca Cola (more on that in the upcoming pregnancy post). Citrus, too.

LOVING: many things. And people. There's a lot to be thankful for in my life right now. 

SAVOURING: these days with Joan. Sharing this pregnancy with her has been such fun. She is super in it. Her face lights up whenever she talks to her baby brother or sister in my belly, and she'll rub it and give them a kiss. It's the sweetest thing. I've spoken to her about what will happen when the baby arrives in October - that they will need lots of love and attention, and we will need to be patient as we care for them - but she still obviously has no idea what she's in for. Neither do I, really. And so I'm really savouring these slow, easy, special days with just the two of us. 

PLAYING: Joan's really been into pretend baby check ups lately. She's attended each of my Obstetric appointments and is completely fascinated by what is going on in my belly. Most days, multiple times per day, we will take turns lying on the couch while the other person uses the toy doctor's bag to check the baby. She acts out the entire scene, putting the gel on my stomach and taking my blood pressure. She even asks me about the weather while she's doing it - making small talk. It's hilarious.

FEELING: happy, motivated, grateful, energetic, still a little queasy, excited and headachey.

Happenings posts inspired by Pip.

Heidi xo