Four months

I'm officially over four months pregnant now, and I never fail to be amazed daily by what a huge blessing it is. We had another scan yesterday and were absolutely spellbound by the wriggling, healthy baby we saw on the scan! In fact the baby was moving so much the doctor couldn't get a clear image of it, so we're left with lots of vague pictures of shapes that may be a head/stomach/leg. Well, no matter, it's still there and it's healthy!

The only fly in the ointment was that I got told off by my doctor for managing to put on 3 kilos in the last 5 weeks (apparently 1.5 is ideal). Clearly all those fry-ups in Scotland were not the best thing! Whoops...

As is usual for me, I'm starting to get over excited about Christmas already. We're hopefully heading back to the UK for a week beforehand, which will be lovely. Christmas somehow wouldn't feel quite right without the requisite cold, miserable UK weather! Then we're back here just before the big day, and unfortunately my husband's been given a trip to the USA on the 23rd of December, flying back on Christmas day! A long way short of ideal.

We felt a bit down about it yesterday, but checked the loads out this morning and it looks like I have a more than fighting chance of getting on the flights. So, Christmas day in Business Class it is for me! This obviously isn't brilliant, but it does mean we get to spend Christmas Eve in the US together, and will both be home on Christmas day in time for an opening of presents and festive meal in the evening. Then we'll do our traditional Christmas lunch on Boxing Day!

If this had happened last year I think I'd have been devastated about it (given how much of a kid I am about Christmas) but to be honest, having seen our wonderful baby on the scan yesterday and realising that we really COULD be cradling a healthy child in our arms next May, nothing could dampen my spirits. Not even a rubbish Christmas roster!

"Us" time

We've just come back from a long trip to the UK, which included a very needed holiday for just the two of us. We realised recently that we haven't been on a "just the two of us" break since September last year, and since we'll be three next year, it seemed like we should make it a priority!

We started our break with a couple of weeks seeing family, which was vital. My husband and his father are still reeling from the death of my mother-in-law, so it was important for them to spend some time together. Sometimes I have no idea what to say to either of them, but I'm trying to help just by doing practical things, and just being there. Seeing them in so much pain is terrible.

It was during our time staying with his Dad that my husband said he planned to spring a surprise trip on me. I was very excited about this (as even our honeymoon was planned by us both!) and I expected it to be a couple of nights in London before our flight home. I was entirely wrong. It turned out to be what my husband entitled "The great pre-bump UK tour", and it was fabulous. We put in some serious miles on the hire car, and drove via my parents' lovely country home to the Lake District, then up to the Scottish Highlands and then on to Edinburgh. Believe it or not, I've never been to Scotland before (despite having travelled across the world many times!) so this was a great opportunity, and the sort of trip it would be very tricky to do with a baby in tow.

We had a wonderful, relaxed time taking in the fantastic scenery and immense breakfasts (whoops). The picture above was taken during our drive through the Lakes - amazing to actually be at the end of a rainbow! (Sadly we didn't find a pot of gold).

Pregnancy wise, things are going well, we hope. We had the 12 week scan before we headed back to the UK, and everything looked ok so far. I'm now 15 weeks and I'm really starting to show. Several people we don't know, like people working in shops, have noticed, and that makes it all seem wonderfully real! There's really no hiding it now, even if I wanted to. I've invested in some maternity clothes, taking advantage of the fact that the UK shops were selling off their summer stock when I was home - hooray! Definitely a benefit of living in a country where the sun shines every day!

Symptoms wise, I have an itchy tummy (which I assume is the skin stretching?), heartburn, occasional muscle pain around my stomach (which I think is round ligament pain), a dodgy back, and I still need to pee ALL the time! Brilliant.

My husband is being fantastic about the pregnancy, more than I could ever have hoped. He's read all the books (and seems to know more facts than me!) and is incredibly supportive, which is so vital when you live so far away from home and you're feeling hormonally emotional.

Of course, I'm already worried that my husband will just have taken off for a long-haul trip to the US just as I go into labour... I'm thinking of asking a friend to be a stand-by birthing assistant. Does anyone who's been there have any advice?