Hot Potato Chip: Week 23

What we ate: Spaghetti on toast; my go-to "sick" food.

How we moved: Very little.  A few walks was all I had in me.  I've beaten myself up about this, but Rational Kate knows it was for the best.

Where we went: From bed to the couch to work to bed.

What we wore: A shrinking selection of clothes, precious few of which are going to work for summer.  I wish someone would invent mid-thigh length underwear for those of us with too much thigh...

What we bought/got given: Lots! I cleaned up at a local secondhand baby bonanza, and we received a generous pile of bits and bobs from our neighbours.  I love hand-me-downs; cheap/free, green and good for the community.

What changed: Chip got MUCH more active over the past few days; I've felt movement every day since Friday, and it was non-stop for a good chunk of this morning.

What stayed the same: Belly still feels like it's stagnating a bit.  I'm not complaining- I know someone's still growing in there, and it's about time I had a belly-growth slowdown!

Exciting moments: Movements are definitely still new enough to be exciting, so I'm counting them again :)

Hot Potato Chip: Week 22

The final halfway point.   I found out at (about) 4 weeks, with 36 weeks to go, and I'm 22 weeks pregnant today, with only 18 weeks (theoretically) remaining. I guess there's no denying it- I should probably start doing some more planning...

What we ate: My appetite is still a bit iffy, and I am working on not eating too much, as my "say when" button seems to be a bit munted. I get much less "hungry" and get full much easier- but have to make sure I eat a sensible amount and sensible things. 

How we moved: It was truly a week of walking- and good walking too.  I did my usual weights on Tuesday, and a 5k "run" on Wednesday, and from then on it was walking all the way, aside from a short swim on Sunday.  An hour (plus) of gnarly hills on each of Friday and Saturday, and lots and lots and LOTS of incidental walking which was awesome if a little hard on my feet, and a little bit too tiring for me at times.

Where we went: To windy wonderful Wellington.  What a weekend! Decaf flat whites, hills, friends, sea air...

What we wore: We dressed up in a black maxi dress for my friend's wedding- with a turquoise sash and necklace for some colour.  I was feeling pretty frumpy and hippopotamusy in the lead up, but scrubbed up OK on the night, I think!

What we bought/got given: A lovely wee bamboo silk hat from a good friend, and my sister made me a fantastic maternity skirt.  



What changed:  I started feeling Chip moving, for real this time.  It's still pretty light, and pretty sporadic, but it's definitely there and it's very cute! No morning sickness for a week or so.  Fingers crossed it stays that way... Unfortunately, at this stage it's being replaced by my first cold in ages, which is why I'm blogging instead of enjoying this gorgeous evening.  Grr.


What stayed the same: Not much! Maybe the belly, which hasn't grown much this week as far as I can tell.

Exciting moments: Feeling Chip squirming during our friends' wedding vows.  Keyoooot!

Hot Potato Chip: Week 21

Another half way point! We are now half way from (theoretical) conception to (estimated) birth. Woot! One more week, and we're truly halfway through.

What we ate: Chip has gotten to the squishing my insides stage, meaning my appetite is all outta whack. But I'm loving having salad veges and asparagus, and especially loving the beginning of strawberry season.

How we moved: Not enough. Again. I'm having trouble sleeping and have been exhausted. And lazy. The gym isn't air-conditioned enough for me, so it's not exactly tempting. Add a couple of days of emotional turmoil, and you have one lazy mama potato. A pissy swim on Wednesday, decent enough gym sesh on Thursday and a 5k walk on Sunday was it for me this week. Oh- and a 40 minute run that became a walk due to a soaring HR on Monday after I first drafted this :)

Where we went: To the pub to watch the Mighty ABs! (making it through the whole game which started at 9pm on a school night is no mean feat for preggo Kate)

What we wore: The white shirt, black bottoms combo got a workout again. I love Court, but was relieved to dump the white shirt in the wash on Thursday afternoon! I also got new maternity togs, which make me look like an oversized stripy something or other. I'm thinking of buying a plain black pair as well- for those times when I don't want to look like an oversized stripy something or other.

What we bought/got given: I bought Chip's first tiny outfit, and we made some serious progress on our decision list. No more purchases for now, but we're a darn sight closer to figuring out what we MIGHT buy, which is a step in the right direction.

What changed:

We saw Chip's bits!

I figured out I probably wasn't feeling Chip move- which was all but confirmed when I saw Chip wriggling all over the place at the 20 week scan, and punching and kicking me relentlessly, but was totally oblivious to it. Chip's placenta is right at the front of my body, so it may be that it's a while before I feel much more. Oh well!

What stayed the same: Still getting occasional days of morning sickness, but that's about it. Still figuring out how best to set up my pillow fortress every night.

Exciting moments: The 20 week scan, which confirmed that Chip is healthy and all major organs are present and correct and doing what they should. There was an "incidental finding" which, combined with googling and deciding I could read ultrasounds real good, sent me into a complete tailspin over the weekend, but I am now happy to rely on the medical profession who are unanimous that there is nothing to worry about.

And because you've been so patient, and because I was a good girl who made it to the gym this morning, some bump action:

(and 13 weeks, to compare)

Hot Potato Chip: Week 20

We have reached the first halfway point! It's the official one, even if not the "real" one.  There's another halfway point next week (halfway from theoretical conception to estimated due date) and yet another the week after (halfway from finding out to estimated due date). This week we stop measuring Chip from crown to rump and start measuring his or her complete length (currently a bloody long banana).

What we ate: On the whole, not enough, but what I did eat could have been worse.  An unusual problem for me- but basically, I was flat out from Monday to Thursday with Court, frantic drafting, and other work, and sadly, nutrition took a bit of a backseat.  I eat a healthy breakfast or two every day, and get plenty of veges in the bulk of my main meals, so I don't feel like I've let Chip down in any way- it just wouldn't be a great idea to continue along that path for much longer.  I did make up for it in the weekend, with lots and lots of mostly healthy food.  It was truly a weekend of the breadmaker, with a delicious wholemeal roast vege pizza on Saturday night, and a sweet, satisfying challah on Sunday.  The "dough" setting is a life changer.

How we moved:  In short, not much.  See busy in Court, above.

Tuesday- REST

Wednesday- REST (I miss the pool)

Thursday- 50 minute walk after work

Friday- 1 hour walk (to the supermarket and back)

Saturday- 8 km run (I was awesome, and "ran" 80% of the way.  Woo!)

Sunday- a good gym session, and a couple of 20 minute-ish walks.  Plus 45 minutes or so of sweaty garden work.

Monday- REST

Where we went: To Pirongia for the annual craft fair on Saturday.

What we wore: White shirt, black bottoms.  Over and over again.  Phil was a laundry and ironing hero.  Definitely a keeper.

What we bought/got given: Big bag of hand-me-down toys from a family friend.  Woot!

What changed:

• Chip has GROWN.  I had masses of comments; from my old secretary saying "WOAH! Have you had a growth spurt??" when she saw me in the morning, to clients, opposing counsel, and opposing counsel's clients commenting and wishing me luck.  It's the first time everyone has happily assumed I'm pregnant with no worries about being wrong and offending me!
• Along those lines, my ribs are well and truly gone.  They've been buried in flab for a long time, but I have a pretty broad rib cage so it's always stayed fairly prominent.  Now I can't even find it if I'm standing up.
• Also probably as a consequence of Chip's growth spurt, sleeping is getting harder.  My pillow fortress is growing, and I'm struggling with backaches at night.
• And finally (also a flow on from the growth spurt...), I'm pretty much 90-something percent sure that I'm feeling Chip moving about in there. It doesn't feel quite how I expected, but if you asked me to describe it, I think I'd say "it feels like something tiny punching my innards", so I suspect I'm right.   It wasn't quite the emotional, life-altering experience I'd been led to expect, partly because I'm still sort of thinking "was that? hmm, yep, pretty sure it was" every time.  But it's still neat, and is making it easier to face the countdown to our big scan on Friday.

What stayed the same: Still getting occasional days of morning sickness, but that's about it.

Exciting moments: Entering our second race- we'll be running as part of a team at Tinman!

(another no picture week- I missed my Tuesday gym sesh again... Maybe tomorrow!)

Name our new addition!

Not THAT new addition.  We don't want to end up with Chip called Chrissie Kona Cervelo Cornfield, do we?

But you can help with our other new addition.  Here she is:

My new town bike (an* early 30th present) joins 5 other bikes in our garage, bringing our collection to six.  We've got:

• my road bike, Eric the Strada
• Phil's road bike, Derek the Strada
• my mountain bike, Maxwell the Silver (ish)(Avanti) Hammer
• Phil's mountain bike, Andre (the Giant... ok, I only I ever call it that...)
• and Phil's old road bike, an unnamed blue avanti who is destined for repainting

Before the road bikes (and the road bikes before the road bikes), I had a shiny red Avanti hybrid, Mike the Bike.

So... what should we (OK, I) call her?

*very early, I'm still very young indeed... with a whole 4 months to go!

Hot Potato Chip: Week 19

Wow- Chip is 19 weeks big today (in fact, yesterday...)  For those who are fans of fruit and vege comparisons, apparently Chip is the size of a small cantaloupe, and weighs around 300g!  (which sounds like a lot, but really is a bit over half a block of butter)  Excitingly, this means we are swiftly coming up to our 20 week scan, which we'll be having next Friday.  I might hold off on the update until after that!

What we ate: A bit healthier than usual, but still far from perfect.  Baby steps! I'm still very keen on oranges and orange juice.  Can't get enough!

How we moved: 

Tuesday- my usual weights and a nice walk back from the gym

Wednesday- 2k swim (my first 2k pregnancy swim- woo!)
Thursday- rest (as usual, somewhat connected to work)
Friday- morning swim

Saturday- morning swim (and then lots of work)

Sunday- weights and some walking

Monday- rest (with a big week of work ahead, expect a lot of rest in week 20)

Where we went: Work, mostly. 

What we wore: New work dresses from Top Shop- they're great!

What we bought/got given: Nuttin'.  But we did set up our jogging buggy, which was fun!

What changed: Nuttin'.

What stayed the same: Everything!

Exciting moments: Chip's first High Court appearance (it seems his or her future is not as a lawyer, sadly... or happily!)