The second day we were in Sydney, we decided to keep it pretty low key because we were so exhausted from the day before! We spent a few hours down in the city exploring and then decided to go to the beach for a few hours. All of us were pretty sunburned from sitting in the sun the day before, so we didn't want to overdo it, but my sister said we couldn't go to Sydney without going to Bondi beach. So off we went!
Darling Harbour
Bondi Beach
Good idea to keep low key ton New Year's Day. All of Australia had the same idea...
Beach bums
Next, we hit up the Opera House and Royal Botanical Gardens.
Another pic with the bridge. It was just too awesome not to take 1000 pics with it
Nat, Gabe and I with the city in the background
Opera House up close and personal
Royal Botanical Gardens
It's hard to see, but at dusk, tons of bats come out. Literally thousands and thousands of them.
After this, we headed back to the airport for our 10 pm flight. It took a few days to recover after this! It was such an exhausting trip, but so so worth it.
I am officially in my 3rd trimester now. Part of me can't believe I am already 28 weeks and the other part can't believe I am only 28 weeks. Up to 20 weeks seemed to go by pretty fast, but it seems like the 20s have been draaaaggggiiiiinnnnggggg by. Only 2 more weeks til I am in the 30s!
26 weeks:
Baby boy got the hiccups... I think. That, or he was just tapping his little foot rhythmically for 3 minutes straight. I am sure this isn't the first time he got them, but it was the first time I noticed them and realized what they were!
He is starting to move more and more. My sister Kate came down to visit and we had lots of fun watching my belly move around.
I'm always cold, but there have been a few times that I have gotten SO hot. Like I feel like I am a car overheating or something. In the middle of church, I had to walk up to get a program from someone in our ward so I could fan myself. And everyone started laughing because it was just so typical that the pregnant woman would be dying of heat!
I haven't been able to pin the cause for this, but every once in awhile, I get light headed and my heart starts to race... kind of like how you feel right before you pass out. Luckily, I haven't ever passed out, but that's because I have laid down right away and fanned my face for 10 minutes. Anyone else have problems with this? Recommendations?
27 weeks:
You know that thing called Pregnancy Brain? I used to think it was made up. It's not. I like to think of myself as someone who is on top of things, but seriously the last few weeks, I am all over the place. I was the queen of multi-tasking, but that is completely out of the question now. And from what I've heard, it doesn't really get much better after the baby...
The other day, I woke up from a deep sleep with a Charlie Horse. And when I say deep sleep, I mean it (I take a third of a unisom every night to sleep). It was so confusing to wake up and be in SO much pain and have no idea what was going on. I am pretty sure I just started thrashing my body around trying to fix the issue, but then I just ended up getting another one on the other leg. I think that Jordan slept through it, but I have no idea how. I was seriously just flailing my body around and hitting the bed trying to work through the pain. I finally jumped out of bed to flex my muscles and it was able to stop. I hope this doesn't become a normal occurrence because it is AWFUL.
28 weeks:
Yes, has to be hiccups. And he gets them all of the time! They are pretty subtle, but I can definitely feel them especially when they hit on the elastic of my jeans. It's like a little twitch for a few minutes straight.
I think he has discovered his space because he is just stretching out. The other day, his head (I think, but actually have no idea) was up in my left ribs and then his feet (I think) were down in my right hips. Sometimes it feels like he is jumping in there because both sides of my stomach will be bouncing. Enjoy your space while you can little guy because it's only a matter of time before we are both squished!
He is kicking so hard now. It's not miserable, but I can see my stomach bumping and moving around. And I swear he can hear me tell people because as soon as I'm like, "look!", he stops. I guess he just wants it to be our special moment or something :) Jordan has felt big kicks a few times and every time he's like, "that must be so annoying". I guess it's a good thing I am carrying the baby! Also, I'm pretty sure no one cares to see as much as I do, but I think it is fun to see my belly moving all around. I wish I could have a permanent ultrasound hooked up so I could actually SEE what he is doing.
I used to pride myself in having a strong bladder. Like I could hold it for a LONG time. But my luck has ran out and I am up at least twice a night. It's really quite annoying, but I know I should be grateful for my sleep now.
Sleeping has been getting uncomfortable. My shoulders are always really sore since I sleep on my side and I feel like I am tossing and turning all night. I think Jordan thinks that too.
The next day, we were off to Sydney! For those that don't know, Melbourne and Sydney are about a 10 hour drive apart. We decided that since we were going to Australia, we couldn't NOT go to Sydney and lucky for us, our trip straddled New Years. My sis said that New Years in Sydney could not be missed, so we made it happen. On New Year's Eve, our flight left at 6 am, so we had to be up at about 3:45. Pregnancy + Waking up early = not a good combo. But we were only going to be able to do this once, so we had to make the most of it.
Gabey and I boarding the plane BRIGHT and EARLY.
Just landed in Syd in our pjs.
Since we flew in our PJs without makeup or hair done, we headed to our hotel to try to see if there was any possible way of check in. There wasn't, but they were kind enough to let us use their gym. We headed down there and they had everything we needed... blow dryers, chi hair straighteners, showers, etc. We definitely took full advantage of that! Afterwards, we headed into a part of Sydney called "The Rocks" for some breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks.
The Rocks with the Harbour Bridge in the background.
Natalie and Gabe enjoying the breakfast. Yes, that is pancakes and ice cream.
Another view of the bridge
View of the Quay with city in the background
A real life Aboriginal and Didgeridoo. The Aboriginal chose the pose... not us. Jordan was quite embarrassed.
In Chinatown. This Korean guy was on stilts and we asked for a picture. Next thing we know, he is covering me in these flower pieces for the pic. Jordan went untouched. Lesson learned.
Chinatown
Darling Harbour with a view of Downtown Sydney
Since there were millions of people in Sydney for the festivities, we had to secure a spot early to get a prime view of the fireworks. The best spot is near the Opera House and Bridge. The problem was that they were only letting a certain amount of people into the gates to this spot, so we had to reserve the spot early. We sent my brother in law Ben and nephew Gabe over to save our spot while we ran back to the hotel and toured the city a little more. By the time we got back to the spot, it was literally over 100 degrees and they had been sitting in direct sunlight for a few hours to save the spot. It was like they were in the twilight zone or something... totally out of it and exhausted. We sent them away into the shade and to eat lunch. They people directing the gates made it sound like there would be plenty of things to keep us entertained and fed while we had to sit there... WRONG. There were 2 food stands that were serving disgusting old pizza and some sort of meat concoction. We were stuck there until the fireworks started and it was only 1 pm at this point! Only 11 hours to go... Luckily the sun shifted and we were finally in the shade, but it was still hot and miserable. Not to mention, EVERYONE was smoking. I was breathing through sweatshirts all day.
Waiting for the fireworks... probably about 3 pm at this point.
We definitely had the best view. Harbour Bridge in the front. Opera House to the right. Did I mention that it was 100 degrees with humidity that day? Pretty sure my makeup melted right off.
FINALLY getting closer to show time. They did a preshow at 10 for the kids, so we got a little preview
Boats all lit up in the harbor.
It was pretty incredible being there on New Year's Eve. The fireworks show definitely lived up to the hype with fireworks shooting off the bridge and around the Opera House. Although waiting there for 12 hours in the hot hot heat was not very fun, it was worth it to me to be there for a once in a lifetime thing! Don't ask Jordan if it was worth it. He doesn't have the same reaction :)
A short vid of the fireworks. This isn't the best one, but I lost track of time with the other vids and they are like 3 minutes long...
Poor Gabe didn't even make it to the big show. We were all so exhausted having gotten up at 3:45 and he was literally dead asleep. He slept through us trying to wake him up and all of the commotion from the fireworks.
By the time we walked home, it was about 2 or 3 am. So we were up for a lovely 22-23 hours straight. Hotels were ridiculously expensive ($600/night, but we were lucky that we only had to book for one night... most required a 3 night stay), so we only got one room. And there were only two beds. Two twin beds. We squished the beds together and me, Jordan and my sis shared the bed, Laine slept on the miniature couch and Ben and Gabe slept on the floor on a bed made of pillows. Needless to say, we didn't sleep great that night.
Remember when we went to Australia over three months ago? It was probably the best trip of my life and I haven't even documented it! When you are gone for 2 weeks, take nearly 500 pictures and about 45 minutes of video, the task becomes a little daunting. So I am posting on here to hold myself accountable to get the motivation to start blogging about it.
Seriously, our trip there was HELL. As if a 20 hour travel time is not bad enough, we were delayed about 24 hours because of our airline. We were supposed to leave from Las Vegas on Sunday night. We only had about 2 hours from the time we left Vegas and flew to LA. Due to some mechanical issues with the plane, it was delayed so much, we had already missed our connecting flight in LA to Sydney. They only fly out of LA once a day, so we had no choice but to stay in Vegas for the night. They put us up in the junkiest of junky hotels. I was afraid I was going to catch something. And to make matters even better, our luggage was already on it's way to Australia. So we literally had the clothes on our backs, a few snacks and some DVDs. Awesome. Our flight from LV to LA was supposed to leave at about 10 am the next day, so we were up and at the airport at 8 (that was the only shuttle time). We made plans with friends and family that lived in LA, but lucky for us, that flight was also delayed. So we sat in the airport for HOURS on end just watching Friday Night Lights. Thank goodness Jordan thought to bring that or I have no idea what we would have done all day. We finally arrived in LA and Jordan's sister Shauna picked us up at the airport so we could shower, wash our clothes and relax. She was heaven sent. Then we were off to the airport again for our LONG 17 hour flight. The flight itself was better than I expected. I was in the middle of still feeling sick, so I was nervous about how I would feel. Since the flight leaves at about 10 pm, we got on the flight, ate a meal, I popped a unisom pill and was knocked out for a majority of the flight. I just put a blanket over my head and kept sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. I was so uncomfortable having to sleep straight up. There was an empty seat between me and the lady next to me, but she decided she needed to store her books there. So annoying.
Here are some pics from one of our first days in Melbourne. We were still a little jet lagged, so we just kicked it at the beach and around town.
"We're in Australia!!"
Jordan and Gabe bonding on the beach
View of the boardwalk
View of the city/kite flyers
Gabey riding his scooter on the boardwalk. He is AWESOME at riding his scooter... he's going to be professional someday. And yes, his shorts are on backwards. He dressed himself.
Another view of Melbourne. My sister's apartment was just right behind some of those buildings. She had an awesome view and was just a walk away from the beach!
(I got a little behind, so you might have to click on the picture to see it better)
A few thoughts...
I have "popped" within the last two weeks. I have seriously gotten so big out of no where!
Candy is literally my life saver these days. There are times when I just feel a little queasy, but I KNOW that I am not hungry and that's not the reason for my nausea. I find that if I just eat a little candy, it helps settle my stomach. I realize this is probably not the best for me to be eating so much candy, but hey, it's better than feeling sick all of the time!
I have a love/hate relationship with my maternity jeans. I love them cause they are more comfortable than what I was wearing before, but sometimes they are such a pain! I don't like wearing something tight on my belly, so I have to put the little elastic part underneath so sometimes they really start to sag like halfway down my butt! I feel like I am constantly readjusting and pulling on them. Also, they don't have front pockets which I did not realize until I was wearing them the first time. Apparently pregnant women don't need front pockets. I just picked up another pair of jeans from the Forever 21 line this past weekend and they also don't have front pockets. What is the deal??
Everyone talks about how their babies kick them in their ribs. I thought I was going to be lucky since he has always kicked really low, but I can tell he is kicking higher and higher each day. It's just a matter of time before he's up there! I was talking to my mom about it this past weekend and she told me how I used to get stuck up there and she would have to lean back and work my little foot out of my ribs. Something to look forward to...
Ok, he has found my ribs (I update this as I go along each week). He hasn't kicked them hard yet, but it's more like he is just realizing they are there and has started exploring them. Jordan says its like he is giving me a knuckle noogie. I am going to have to agree. It literally feels like he is just rubbing his foot back and forth... "This is fun..."
Most people would probably be really embarrassed about the next thing, but eh, I don't care. My stomach has gotten HAIRY. Not like fuzzy. Jordan is constantly telling me I need to shave it. Um, pretty sure that prickly, coarse hair on my stomach would be 10 x worse. I have heard this can be kind of common anyway, so I'm not too worried about it. It's just kind of strange to see my stomach all hairy.
At my 24 week appt (I was 24 weeks and 4 days), he was measuring like he is 26 weeks. So either I am running ahead of schedule or I am going to have a BIG baby. I was only in the 6 lb range, but Jordan was 9 lbs. Please bless it is the first option.
I wish I could say I am done with the "throwing up" part of my pregnancy. But I seriously can't get past the 4 week mark. I will have a few great weeks (although a few rough days in between) and then randomly one day I will be really sick again. It's so weird and I can't figure out anything that triggers or prevents it.
I *think* my ideas for his nursery are finally starting to come together. Buying boy's bedding sucks. There's just no better way to put it. I feel like everything has one of three things: sports, huge cartoon animals, airplanes. And those things can be cute in nurseries, but I was having the hardest time finding something that I love. And it doesn't really help that I have no idea where this nursery is going to be geographically.
I have 15 weeks left. It seems like it will come soon, but seems forever away at the same time. But I am excited that we have lots of milestones in our personal lives to make the time pass by quicker.
