The stuff nighmares are made of...

I was shocked to read that a Russian woman has given birth to a 7.75kg baby - that's 17.5lbs and more than double the average newborn weight! I thought perhaps I'd misread the headline and it should have read Russian woman gives birth to toddler. This is the type of story that makes us expectant mums very nervous...

Read the whole story here.

Bunny Bump

Hubs and I have chosen a name for our little girl, but we're not advertising. If it was up to Miss Almost 3, her name would be Suzie (Siouxsie, perhaps?) or Charger but I don't think those pass muster.

The ever-cute Kendra, of Girls of the Playboy Mansion fame, is expecting as well. She's due on Christmas Day - about 11 weeks after me. That makes her about 21 weeks at the moment. She's recently found out that she and her football player husband, Hank Baskett, are having a boy. What are they naming him? Hank Baskett IV, of course.

Here are a couple pics of Kendra and her hubs as she shows off her new bump.

If you want to keep up with Kendra's development, you can follow her blog, her facebook page, or her twitter!

The Pregnant Pin-Up

Some time ago, I posted about my friend Shayna Kerrie of Shayna Kerrie Photography who has done some great pregnancy and newborn photography. As I get bigger, I have days where I hate my body but other days when I marvel at the amazing shape and proportions. I'm about 80% certain I'd like to get some professional photos done while I'm pregnant, but I don't think the style that Shayna favors (and it seems similar to most of the local photography websites I've found featuring a pregnancy gallery).
Instead, I'd like to have a bit of fun with the whole thing. I'm into retro and pin up art and think it would be great to do some photos styled in a 1940's Vargas girl theme. I've found a local photographer who specializes in pin-up photo shoots including hair, make up, and wardrobe called Miss T Pin-ups. Their gallery looks good, but I'm hesitant about the $470 price tag for the package I think would suite me.
I've been mulling this idea over for a while but haven't been able to decide if I thought it would "work" to have a pregnant pin-up girl. Today, I did a bit of searching and came across some great images...

I'm enjoying the lingerie and parasol in this one.

A cool illustrated Pregnant Pin-up.

A very cute classic pin-up pose.

Food, Glorious Food

Hello, my name is Angelle, I'm 6 months pregnant, and I'm addicted to food.

I suppose being obsessed by food is normal for a woman when she is six months pregnant but I am starting to wonder about myself. I've always loved food but am not sure I've ever been so food-centric. I get asked if I have cravings and I answer honestly, "no, no particular cravings." I just crave food, in all it's forms. I spend my time tweeting about what I'm eating, looking up photos of beautiful foods, and researching recipes.

Recently Raspberries featured quite heavily in a dream...


Savory and sweet ethnic foods including Mexican, Indian and Asian have been on the radar.


We went to a craft fair recently, and my favorite purchase was a cupcake...and a cross stitch pattern featuring a CUPCAKE.


Even foods like this cous cous salad get me salivating and thinking about the perfect accompaniments.

My favorite websites at the moment are:
Smitten Kitchen
AllRecipes.com
Jamie Oliver's Official Website
Martha Stewart's Food Section

Products for Preggies that bring on the LoLs

Ages ago (okay a few months ago), I was complaining about belly bands and my pants falling down. No one came to me and told me there were garter belts that would keep my pants up. When I saw them today, I burst out giggling. Would I actually attach suspenders to my bra to help keep my pants up? They seem really funny but at the same time, useful. Hmm... If you're interested, you can find Belly Ups here.


So I suppose I'm at the stage when people are going to start touching my bump. I'm not sure how I feel about that. When I teach classes now, to avoid being bombarded with questions about the bump during breaks, I've begun to add small details about the bump in my introduction (it's a girl, due Oct). The bump is certainly quite big now and there are times when you can't just feel the movement but see this little monster kicking me. These temporary tattoos are a good novelty item if you're into exposing your belly. These tell people where they can touch, what the sex is, or on a bad day tell them to get lost. If you want them, you can get them at Perpetual Kid.

23 Weeks

At 23 weeks, I have dull hair, carpal tunnel syndrome along with swelling in my hands and feet, occasional bleeding noses, and the attention span of a fruit fly. Overall, I feel fine and can't complain too much; I did sign up for this after all.
The other day, I was reading a synopsis of what is happening when you're 23 weeks here. Yes, I am starting to feel better about my body - looking pregnant is preferable to looking fat. No, I'm not having back pain or sciatica. Good news! Apparently, baby is about a foot long (30cm) and weighs about 1 lb (just 440g) which gets me wondering how I've gained so much but that's another train of thought all together. Over the next few weeks, baby is working on developing her lungs, practicing breathing (sucking in amniotic fluid), and gaining fat. The article recommends cherishing your sleep ins - I'm so there - and looking for options for baby's sleeping arrangements (done and dusted).
So here I am continuing to plod along. I've managed to pick up some more day to day clothing and find some things in my wardrobe I'd forgotten about. I even purchased a new wool jacket for the winter - a wonderful fit in the shoulders and arms and plenty of room to grow in it (it's a swing style jacket from the label Bahaus which is sold in Jet stores in New Zealand). I might start using some sort of shine enhancing product in my hair and go see the physio for wrist braces to wear at night to help with the carpal tunnel. Next midwife appointment at the end of the month to ensure things are going as well as they seem and hopefully a couple dates with hubby over the next few weeks also.

A Sling, A Marvelous Thing...

Along with some other much appreciated baby gear, my husband and I were given a baby backpack. You know, the type that looks very much like a rucksack with a frame. Looking at it, I think it would be a good idea but just not something I'd ever wear. The plan is for Hubby to use it from time to time and see how he likes it.
It got me interested though, in what alternatives there are to baby backpacks out there. As I surfed around the internet, I came across many types of contraptions - from elegant to ugly- that people use to "wear" their babies.
I was unaware there was a whole community and heaps of research on the idea of "baby wearing" so I did a Google search and found TheBabyWearer.com. This website has heaps of information about baby wearing and I am certainly interested in learning more and trying it out. According to research, wearing your baby is good for baby's physical, mental and emotional development, and will help them cry less. Sounds good to me! Now to find a baby carrier that suits my style...there are some even worthy of celebs out there so I know they exist - if I can't justify the price the one I like I may even try making one myself.


TheBabyWearer.com has a whole page of links to help you sew your own baby carrier. There are ring slings and pouches, mei-tais and man-tais. Everything down to doll slings for older children to use with their toys and no sew versions. My favorite link from the links is to KarmaBaby where they sell pouch-style carriers in fabulous fabrics and even give you instructions to make your own in case you're like me and would rather make something than buy it.
So, once I'm finished the quilt I've started for our older girl, I'll go ahead and try one of the KarmaBaby pouches - wish me luck!

Bundeling the Bump

It's June and it's COLD. Despite the lovely blue sky and shining sun over the first days of June I have been able to recognize winter is here. Each morning this month there has been a layer of frost on my car requiring a good scrape or for the car to run 10 minutes to defrost it.
I grew up in Canada and am so used to heading into summer around this time of year. This will be my 3rd winter here in New Zealand and although I know and understand summer can't last all year, I still subconsciously expect nice weather in June.
I have said before that I'm finding dressing during pregnancy a challenge. The the colder weather, one of the biggest challenges I'm finding is keeping warm enough! I have a long wollen coat that I've worn in years past that has always been a bit roomy...unfortunately, only the top 3 buttons do up at the moment and it's a wee bit drafty.
I thought finding a maternity coat would probably be like looking for any other maternity clothes - lots of them out there without many suiting my style or budget. What I've found, however, is a distinct lack of cold-weather coats for those of us "in bloom" at the moment. Many of the coats I see in maternity shops are not lined or they are cropped-sleeve jackets (which I love the look of, but can't rely on to stay warm).
Why don't I just buy a larger sized regular coat a friend asked me. The thing is if you buy a winter coat several sizes too large, it may be too long and look frumpy; also, the sleeves may be too long and the shoulders probably won't sit in the right spot. Right now I'm looking at cape and swing style regular coats to get the right fit in the shoulders and arms with a free size around the belly.
Online, I've found several reasonably priced options in America but once shipping is added (sometimes as much as doubling the cost of the item) and the exchange rate calculated, all illusion is shattered and I'm spending as much as $500 for a coat. If you're in America, however, A Pea in the Pod seems to be a great source for a range of maternity and they have a lot of sales on currently.

It's a Girl

So we were lucky enough to have baby in a good position for our ultrasound on Tuesday and to find out that baby definitely looks like a girl. Grand-daughter #8 for the Lockie's!

Although a boy would have been a welcome change, we are very excited for another girl. Shopping for baby thing is so much better when you know the gender of the baby. I've already been and bought several pink things I'd been eying but putting off until we knew the sex of the baby.

What if baby wasn't in a good position for the ultrasound? Well, there's all those old wives tales I mentioned in the last post but unfortunately they are not very accurate (about 80% of those were saying we were having a boy). Just today I found an interesting product called IntelliGender which uses a urine sample to predict the sex of your baby.
I thought it was pretty cool and looked at the website http://www.boyorgirl.com.au/ to find out more. According to the website, this test is 90% accurate and works by testing levels of certain hormones produced when mum depending on if babe is a boy or girl. Sounds pretty good so far. Unfortunately, the price tag seemed a bit silly to me $95 Australian dollars plus shipping (or I could purchase it locally for $139 NZD). Perhaps my thinking about the price would be different if I was one of the 25% of of people whose baby was not in a good position to see the gender on the 20 week scan...

Sun damage is like pregnancy...

I was surfing over at Brooke Burke's website ModernMom and this quote caught my eye:

Sun Damage is like Pregnancy. The only true form of prevention is abstinence. And just like sex, it is unlikely we will stay away from the sun.

Too right! And very funny. If you'd like to read the entire article, it's here.