We’re well into March and now that autumn has arrived, the days are starting to get gentler. The mornings and evenings are mild, the leaves are changing colour and maybe it’s just me but there’s a calmness in the air that wasn’t there a few weeks ago. Which is kind of nice after coming back from our overseas trip – it’s definitely made it easier to settle back into routines and not miss being outside so much.
Japan:
Our unintended babymoon has come and gone and I couldn’t have wished for a better last trip before our bub arrives. We got away from the crazy Aussie weather, ate boatloads, and despite having been to Japan once before, we got to see a whole new side of the country that we hadn’t experienced previously.
Highlights of our trip included:
- Snowwwww – Coming from Sydney’s oven-like heatwave, Japan’s winter was a breath of fresh air. Every day. Right in the face as you stepped out the door. Haha there was no escaping the biting chill, but it was a wonderful contrast to what we’d left behind and best of all, it meant we had metres of snow to play in!
- Food – I could go on about the food until your ears bleed but you might never visit this blog again so I’ll refrain. Suffice to say we didn’t have even one bad meal in Japan. The seafood is so fresh. The cream buns are to die for. And eating hot ramen on top of a snowy mountain is hands down the best experience in the world. Also, if you missed it on Instagram, I found a gummy bear chandelier! #lifegoals
- Revisiting old haunts – This sounds super corny, but going back to places we’d been to last time felt a bit like coming home. I love this country so much I could visit over and over again and never tire of it.
- The Asian Winter Games – We’re not planners. But failing to plan isn’t always planning to fail – we somehow managed to rock up to Sapporo just in time for the Asian Winter Games without knowing they were on. Heck, there were even some athletes on the plane when we flew in! I loved the atmosphere and festivities of the games… we made sure we caught a half-day event and an awards ceremony, both of which were ace.
Baby update:
I’m not sure if I’m the only one who’s experienced this, but my body clock is so punctual I swear it could run the Big Ben. Our second trimester ticked over into the 3rd just as we were arriving back from our trip, and BOOM. Practically overnight I went from having no complaints to a long list of interesting new ailments. And when I say ‘interesting’, I really mean ‘whyyyyy is my body doing this to me?’.
So far, I’ve had the joy of experiencing:
- Constant bloating (that becomes especially bad after I eat)
- Heartburn and reflux
- Backache
- Leg cramps like you wouldn’t believe. I didn’t know it was possible for cramps to be this painful.
- A general feeling of heaviness. This little one is suddenly weighing me down something fierce.
I can’t tell you why less than a week made so much difference to how I feel, but what I do know is I’m reeeeeallly glad we went away when we did because this mama couldn’t tolerate sleeping on futons and schlepping through the snow in her current state!
Crazy body stuff aside, everything else is coming together slowly but surely. We assembled our cot the other day (yay!), I’ve ordered paint samples for the nursery and we went on our first Babies R Us shop last weekend to get essentials. We’ve also had an antenatal class and we’ve got another coming up on Saturday – it feels good to up our knowledge on what it takes to be a parent because I know nothing.
With each small step things get a little more real, which is both exciting and super scary. I’m trying not to freak out about the fact that we’ve only got 2 months and 2 weeks to go!
I hope this post hasn’t been too baby-heavy – it’s a big part of my life at the moment, but I promise I’m not going to turn into one of those people who talks about kids 24/7. On the flipside though, if you’d like to join in the convo, I’d love to know about your experiences planning for your first bub. Because as you can see, I’m kind of just winging it as I go along!
xx Steph