Holy sh*t!

My waters have just broken. Was feeling crampy all yesterday and my waters broke about 20 minutes ago at 1.45am. We are off to St Georges now to check all is well. Will hopefully then come home and wait for the next stage. Eeeek!

Bx

Baby shower

Hello

I've just returned from my (or should that be Bump's?) baby shower at Carlene's and have had a fabulous afternoon. There were baby balloons, banner, napkins and even confetti. I've been very spolit with lovely presents - at times like this being pregnant isn't so bad! Andy has spent the afternoon moving furniture around. Don't feel too sorry for him though, he has managed to get drunk the past two nights.

Bx

Ooo - a new look website!

Hello

As you can see, Andy has been doing lots of work to make our website easier for us to post comments and photos. One would think that as I'm home all day that I'd be doing it but pregnancy has shortened my attention span to miniscule levels and made me rather stupid (temporarily I hope) so poor Andy has been stuck doing it. Hurrah for him! It means that in future we should (note the should) keep it more up to date and be able to put more photos on.

We are just playing the waiting game here. I've been eating lots of curry, walking up and down the stairs loads and having reflexology but Bump has yet to get the hint. I'm not actually due for another two weeks but have had enough. I'm sure Andy has too, particulary as he's been staying sober in case he has to drive.

Time for me to cook dinner. Being at home hasn't exactly turned me in to a model housewife but I am getting pretty good at ironing. Well, maybe not good but better than I was.

Bx

New post archive

Hello

I'm trying to make it easier to post updates on to the website, by incorporating blogger software. This is the first post on the new system. Hopefully I can transfer across the old posts onto this archive if the new system works well, but at the moment you can access old posts using the menu on the left.

Andy

We’re having a girl!

Here is the latest scan:

We are just back from a lovely four days in Venice. It was hot hot hot resulting in plenty of siestas and generally lazing but we also managed to fit in some site seeing and visiting of nice restaurants. Travelling around by water bus and water taxi was an unique experience and the absence of cars made for very relaxed wandering. Upon arriving we did the obligatory walk through St Mark’s Square which was packed and over run with manky pigeons then spent most of the time avoiding the packed tourist areas.

Things didn’t get off to a great start with the first thing we ate being dodgy pizza and salad which made both of us sick. The next day, on the advice of my hospital in London it was off in a water taxi to Venice Hospital (no holiday this year has been complete without checking out the local A&E) where I was quickly taken for a scan. Although the obstetrician’s English was much better than our Italian we still had some trouble understanding each other. However, he managed to convey that all was well, the baby was fine and we were having a girl! Well, we think we are having a girl but given the language barrier there is still some element of doubt…

The next day we visited Murano, a short boat ride away and where all the Venetian glass is made. It was filled was glass shops and had lots of jewellery which kept me happy.

All in all, it was a great trip away. Venice is falling down, incredibly dilapidated and teeming with tourists but still exudes charm, beauty and a unique way of life.

Other than our holiday, we haven’t been up to a great deal. We had a good night out at the football where we saw Chelsea beat West Bromwich Albion 4-0. We’ve been to theatre in Regents Park - HMS Pinafore, very camp and lots of fun and we’ve been seeing friends when I’ve been able to drag myself off the couch.

It’s Friday today and we are still on holiday which is lovely. Andy is currently moving furniture around and I’m thinking of all the pink things I can fill (what will be) the nursery with.

Bec

I'm Pregnant!

We are both thrilled and it is amazing to finally be able to share our good news with family and friends. We had our first scan on Friday 22 July and despite me thinking it might all still be a big mistake our baby popped up on the screen and proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes wriggling, waving it's arms and legs and generally bouncing around.

Here are the 12 week scan pictures:

I've been a bit sick but that is to be expected and and I'm looking forwards to the onset of the second trimester and I'm ready to glow! Andy will be thrilled for me to get back on form as although he is getting pretty good at making mashed potato, I'm sure he'd still rather give the kitchen a wide berth. Especially when the cricket is on.

We've had a busy time since we returned from honeymoon and have had Ness and Bob staying plus visits from Fraser, Pete and Sogol. Mum has also been around which is always good. We had a weekend trip to Baden-Baden in Germany a couple of weeks ago which was great. It is beautiful town on the edge of the Black Forest with lovely people and a great spa. We have just returned from seeing Andy's school friend Paul marry his lovely (now) wife Racheal. The got married in a castle in Gloucestershire and it was a great weekend.

It all looks a bit splodgy but I can assure you that all arms, legs and organs are where they should be and if you look closely you can see arms, legs and even fingers, eyes and a nose. Freaky!

Bec

The Honeymoon Post

Our first day as Mr and Mrs Ellis was spent at Rabbit Island barbecuing with friends and family. It was a lovely day but neither of us were ready for the goodbyes which we had to make all day. It's definitely the worst part of any trip and had me sniffling most of the day.

We flew out of Nelson early on Monday morning and arrived at our first destination, Brisbane, a few hours later. We only had one night in Brisbane but had a good look around and both really liked what we saw. Our next destination was Byron Bay where we spent a very relaxing three nights at a spa in the bush. We found a wonderful restaurant called Boomerang and we ate there every night. If anyone visits Byron Bay, it's a must visit place! Byron Bay was beautiful, we drove out to the most easterly point of Australia which had stunning views and spent a bit of time on the beach. Most of the time though, it was relax central!

Out next stop was Coffs Harbour which we arrived at after a lovely drive down the coast. We were both pretty tired and I wasn't feeling well so had an early night but in the early hours I took a turn for the worse and ended up in Coffs Harbour hospital in the morning. One lumbar puncture (negative for meningitis), many tests, a few bags of fluid and one missed flight to Sydney later Andy made the decision to drive through the night to Sydney. He managed it like a trouper and we arrived at Rob and Justine's in Sydney in the early hours. We had a great few days with Rob and Justine and their hospitality and tour guide duties were much appreciated. We also saw Blake a couple of times which was great. I put a bit of a downer on things with what was now diagnosed as a virus and spent an afternoon in Sydney Hospital having yet more tests, fluid and x-rays. I must say that hospital care in Australia is excellent.

After bidding Sydney goodbye we flew to Singapore and got a taxi to Raffles where we were staying. It was very luxurious and a lovely place to be when ill as our room and the hotel were so beautiful there was no need to leave. We had a butler who took me to the doctor when I needed it and apart from that we chilled out, afternoon tead, dined and I rejuvenated in their spa with treatments. Andy had the obligatory Singapore Sling. We did make it out for one afternoon for a bus tour and a fantastic visit to the Botanic Gardens. Two days later it was on to our next destination - Hong Kong.

We flew in to Hong Kong in all of it's high rise murky glory and taxied to out hotel in Wan Chai. We spent the next few days sight seeing, shopping and generally enjoying the great vibe that HK has. We did a trip up The Peak to take in the views and had a great day visiting the outer islands. Discovery bay on Lantau Island then to Ping Chau for lunch and Lamma Island where we walked over the island and took in the views then had dinner over looking the sea. Hong Kong is an indescribable place. It is so big and loud and hectic everywhere you look skyscrapers tower over you. I fell in love with it on my first visit five years ago and it was great to find that Andy shared my enthusiasm.

Our trip was drawing to a close when we set off for out final destination - Shenzhen in China. We got the train there and were very pleased to discover that our hotel was a short stroll over a square from the station. Shenzhen was busy busy busy! We (or rather I) shopped plenty although I was still hampered by illness somewhat so my credit card had a lucky escape. We ventured one afternoon in to downtown Shenzhen - quite an experience. Two days later and with bulging suitcases we headed back to Hong Kong for our flight to London.

We touched down in London in the early hours and it was sad to say goodbye to our holiday but great to be home. It was an amazing trip, we came back feeling like we had, seen, done and experienced so many new things. And I had a new name! It was exciting to return as a newly married couple with out future together to look forwards to.