30 Weeks......Not Much Longer To Go Now!

So we are in the third trimester! My belly sure has grown a lot in the past couple of weeks, which I guess means so has Marble. His kicks are no longer gentle......I can now put my hand on my belly and feel him completely readjust his position or feel a little foot sticking out. The nice thing about it is, now everyone can see and feel him as well. He is still pushed up on the right hand side, doing what the sonographer called a 'placental face plant'. It is nice that he is so comfortable in there but as he squishing my stomach, I am still pecking at food like a chicken. Oh well, the doctor is happy that Marble is getting his nutritional requirements and I get the added benefit of little weight gain!

Emotionally, I've been all over the place but this is more a result of Mr J being over on the other side of the world. He is having a fantastic time at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He has travelled with his dad and brother, as part of the Fanatics tour group and has been attending the Socceroos group matches. The Socceroos have done Australia proud, almost taking down football heavyweights, the Netherlands. We dominated most of the game but in the end, we couldn't get the result we needed. The Fanatics also organised many little tours and so Mr J has managed to see some of what Brazil has to offer including the Christ the Redeemer Statue, Sugarloaf Mountain, Copacabana Beach and the Panatanal while he visited cities including Rio de Janiero, Florianopolis, Sao Paolo and Porto Allegre.

Mr J at Christ the Redeemer Statue - sadly the weather didn't play!

Mr J on top of Sugarloaf Mountain

Mr J and his Dad on Copacabana Beach in Rio

A beautiful sunset over Florianopolis

Mr J with his dad and brother at the Soccceroos group match against Chile in Cuiaba

Mr J with his dad and brother on the Pantanal

Mr J with his dad and brother in Florianopolis

Meanwhile, back home in Oz, I've been keeping busy. I was far more emotional than I thought I would be in the week after Mr J left. There were lots of tears and I didn't sleep very well.....I have a feeling I can thank the pregnancy hormones for my ridiculous coping strategy! But nevertheless, there was light at the end of the tunnel, as I had the Brisbane Pregnancy Babies and Children Expo to look forward too. I was prepared with a list of things that we still needed and hopeful for some bargain prices. Nan even came along on our little trip into the city and to help me lug all the freebies around.

In the end, the Expo was fantastic. Walking in, it was quite overwhelming. Lots of stalls, lots of people and lots of prams (patience was a virture, especially when people kept running over our toes) but also lots of people to give advice, plenty of seats (my back was very thankful) and bargains galore. Within 5 minutes of walking in, I had purchased our nursery glider/rocker! It is so beautiful. It is the Eurobell glider in sand....I can't wait to show you pictures of it in the nursery!

We then headed over to the Valco Baby store, where I ordered our Rebel Q Air Pram. I posted about pram early, here. Then it was time to leisurely stroll through the stalls, enter all of the competitions and get our freebies! Bepanthen had a good deal that I didn't walk past.......a big tube for $8 and 6 smaller tubes free! Ergobaby lured us over, with their advertised 50 % off RRP, but upon closer inspection this wasn't quite correct, otherwise I would have walked out with a new baby carrier! I spoke to many newborn photographers, health experts, skincare specialists (I purchased some new belly butter from Gaia.....I can only hope it keeps those stretch marks at bay) and midwives. We even saw a demonstration of a high energy, prenatal exercise class conducted by Brisbane-based Preggi Bellies......but here is a hint ladies, if you would like to do their classes you need to enrol before 30 weeks!

My other favourite purchase was our Nappy Bag! It is ingenious. Developed by Pacapod, a UK company but distributed here in Australia by Brandstyle, it only hit our shores at the beginning of the year. The bags have two inbuilt pods - a changing pod and a feeding pod, which are designed to provide organised, easy access space for regularly used items. They can also be removed and used as a stand alone, leaving even more room in an already spacious bag. Our bag is called Mirano and it is a beautiful, navy blue, leather bag with brown trim, so Mr J can carry it around without looking like a goose! And of course it comes with all of the bibs and bobs including a change mat, insulated bottle carrier and adjustable pram strap. Some of the other Pacapod designs even have the option to convert into backpacks!

So whilst it has been a lonely couple of weeks without Mr J, I have managed to distract myself. Next time, I'll be able to update you on our new car, the baby shower, the antenatal classes and even our babymoon!! A very busy month ahead indeed.

Phoebe

xo