Week 37

I’m week 37 today and if the baby is born now, she or he will consider full term. I measure the small of my back to the biggest part of my tummy is now 43 inches! Basically the baby now will only pack on fat to prepare to come to the outside world and I wonder how much bigger will I be until I have my elective c-section on the 30 Jan 2012.

Chris and I also agreed on the first name last night if it is a girl. We now need to look for a boy name just in case it is a surprise. I’ve started looking into some Chinese characters as well and got some ideas on girls name… but hasn’t confirm yet. That will be my job in the next week

Chris and I outside of cottage

View from the Mountain to Berry

Interesting art work @ Kangaroo Valley

Grand, Mum and Aunty Ro

We took it easy on our last day in Berry, we woke up late and Chris prepared breakfast again. We packed our bags and decided to take some photos before we leave. We said good bye to the owner and head off to Kangaroo Valley. The weather was perfect on the last day – blue clear sky with some white clouds.  We stopped by at Kangaroo Valley for some ice-cream and looked around the shops.

We then drove towards to Moss Vale and bought take away pasta for lunch. I was so hungry that I was eating the pasta in the car while Chris was driving because we wanted to go to Bundanoon to visit Chris’ Aunty and Uncle. Chris’ parents also happened to be in Bundanoon to pick up Grand that afternoon to drive her back to Canberra. So it was a good opportunity for us to catch up with all of them before they head off. After the visit, we drove back to Canberra together and Chris & I ended our Babymoon trip.

I just had a week 36 doctor appointment this afternoon. The doctor is happy with the result of the last week ultrasound. The baby is growing well (in average of everything! And didn’t seem to be overweight due to my gestational diabetes…) and the fluid maintain at around 7. However because of the baby’s breech position and the low fluid reason, they confirmed that they will not try to turn the baby. I did a cardiotocography (CTG) this afternoon at the Birth Suite also the midwife is happy with the result…

I will have a whole range of weekly checks up from now on, to monitor the growth of the baby, the fluid and its position. Chris and I will also attend two evening Parenthood classes at the hospital within the next 2 weeks.

The doctor said that if the baby is still breech by week 38 then they will schedule me for an elective c-section in week 39. The nominated date so far is around the 30th of 31st of Jan… so I guess it will be a late January baby… but Chris wants to be on either the 1st or the 2nd, coz he said it will be easy for him to remember the birthday! 1-2-2012 or 2-2-2012

So far I believe it will be a Rabbit baby, it looks like the doctor won’t let me push the birth day until the 4th of Feb… unless the baby turns herself and I have a late labour/contractions… I’m sure God will prepare a perfect day for my baby to be born… either naturally or by c-section…

Breakfast

The cottage

Chris and I

Alexander Berry statue

We slept in on the second day, and Chris got up and cooked me the country breakfast that it was included in our package. The ingredients were enough for two days and they all from the local produce, including the owner’s chicken’s eggs, local bakery’s sour-dough bread, home-made jam, fresh berry’s flavoured yoghurt, fresh milk and bacon… the kitchen were very well equipped and it was pleasant to cook in the cottage.

Lunch @ Sourdough Cafe

After breakfast, we relaxed a little around the cottage and the outdoor area. It was a sunny day so the scenery was even better than the day when we arrived (it was raining on Day 1.) We walked around the little pond and enjoyed the fresh air. Then we decided to check out the shops in Berry as Berry has few famous antique shops around. I like Berry very much as it has plenty to see and many old buildings that are kept in good conditions.

Dessert - chocolate tart, sour cherry, organic rye bread icecream

We went to the famous Sourdough Cafe for lunch, I ordered “lamb neck croquettes, dijon mustard, radish, orange and watercress salad” and Chris ordered “berkshire pork belly, fennel puree, cauliflower and parsley salad, onion rings, eshallot vinaigrette” and a side dish of “roasted root vegetables with rocket and walnuts” to share. To finish off, we had a chocolate tart for dessert. This restaurant is highly recommended, however they are always busy so make sure you go there early for a table.

After lunch, we drove towards the coast to a little town called Shoalhaven Heads, but it wasn’t much there so we drove further to Gerroa. The beach there was very nice but it was too cold to swim. So we only walked around the beach and enjoyed the salted wind.

After Gerroa, we decided to drive to the opposite direction to Nowra – one of the biggest town centre located South-west of Berry.

We wanted to see if they have any good restaurant for dinner but

At Gerroa

Hi bub!

after driving around Nowra, we decided it was a shit-hole and drove back to Berry for dinner instead.

I went to Hungry Duck for dinner on the second night, we initially booked this restaurant on our first night, but they didn’t check their phone message so we ended up with no table. This time, we called and make sure they answered the phone and luckily got a table on Sunday night.  Hungry Duck serves fusion modern Asian cuisine. I personally thought that this restaurant was quite expensive for its food. We ordered 5 courses and they were:

1. Crab ravioli, seaweed salad and soy vinaigrette
2. Duck three ways – duck spring roll, rare caramelised breast and a crispy sichuan peppered leg
3. Caramelised wagyu brisket, star anise, cassia & blood orange
4. Fried rice with aged chorizo
5. Stir fried green beans with garlic chives and cashews

Duck three ways

The above dishes costed us around A$105 without drinks and we weren’t satisfy, so we went to the local IGA and purchased some cheese and crackers then went back to the cottage for supper while watching DVD.

That was our last night at Berry!

Week 36

I’m week 36 weeks today! Baby doesn’t kick as much, but mostly pushing. I think it is because she doesn’t have a lot of room in my tummy…

I can’t sleep well at night, mostly because I feel hot and need to go to the toilet often. I’m also more aware and alert than before… when Chris gets up for work, I will be wide awake… and ended up getting up as well! Lucky that now I’m at home, I can take a nap in the afternoon.

I can’t believe how fast the time has passed, in about 2-4 weeks I will have a baby in my arms… and my life will be very different… so does Chris! We will be parents! Yay!