Pregnancy diaries || Week 12 & 13 - First ultrasound scan

Week 12

Week 12 started on Christmas day and our baby is now the size of an apricot, which are delicious but are horrible to throw up! (too acidic)
I'm still getting a bit of morning sickness every few days, but generally having 2-3 good days in between. We told more of our friends who were all very excited for us.

How far along?: 12 weeks

Gender?: Unknown

Maternity clothes?: Nope, but getting closer to needing them

Stretch marks?: No

Belly button in or out?: In

Sleep?: Sleeping all the time, anywhere, anyhow

Best Moment of the week?: Telling more of our close friends and Skyping Chris's family

Worst Moment of the week?: Having a weird relationship with food, as nothing appeals

Miss anything?: Not feeling sick

Movement?: No

Cravings?: No

Queasy or sick?: Yes, but mostly just throwing up in the mornings now.

Looking forward to?: Our first Ultrasound

Mood/emotional state?: Happy and excited

Week 13

We got to see our baby! We had our first ultrasound to check our due date and scanning for Nuchal Translucency (NT) which can help predict if your baby will have down syndrome or not by measuring the width of the spine. We were both surprised at how developed our baby was, it looked like a real baby (funnily enough) as opposed to an alien or a mass of cells which we had kind of pictured previously. Our baby was swallowing amniotic fluid, bouncing, turning and waving at us. It was an experience I will never forget and made my pregnancy feel so much more tangible. There is no denying it, there is definitely a little baby in there. The due date got adjusted from 9th July to the 11th of July after doing the measurements. We also found out that I have an anterior placenta (anchored at the front of my womb) which means that I may not feel the baby until a little later than other pregnancies.

Here is a quick recording of the first ultrasound. Absolutely amazing to see!

I went to my cousins baby shower and told my extended family about our baby. Emma (my cousin) was so thrilled when she figured out what I had actually said. "Our babies will only be 6 months apart" it took her a few moments but then it clicked, haha. "What did you mean when you said?..." We ended up talking and sharing our pregnancy symptoms well into the afternoon.

How far along?: 12-13 weeks (after the due date adjustment)

Gender?: Unknown

Maternity clothes?: I caved and got some under-bump maternity jeans. Ahhh.. finally something comfortable.

Stretch marks?: No

Belly button in or out?: In

Sleep?: Sleeping well but need a lot of it

Best Moment of the week?: Seeing our baby. This is really happening!

Worst Moment of the week?: Keeping my pregnancy a secret when I want to tell the world

Miss anything?: Not feeling sick

Movement?: No

Cravings or aversions?: No cravings but can't stand chocolate or mushrooms

Queasy or sick?: Yes, but mostly just throwing up in the mornings now.

Looking forward to?: Telling more people

Mood/emotional state?: Happy and excited

Our wedding anniversary in Bath || Travel diary

Last weekend we celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I can't believe how fast the last two years have gone. This being said, we took the opportunity to do something a little special and took a trip to Bath, Somerset. A place we had heard great reviews about from our friends. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Filled with good food, activities, sightseeing, relaxing and terrible Bath puns (because we couldn't help ourselves).

We caught the train from Brighton to Bath at 9am, so we arrived at lunch time. We instantly had good first impressions of the city. This was definitely helped by it being super sunny and everyone around us was making the most of it. We took a minute to have a picnic (lovingly prepared by M&S) lunch in a park nearby.

We then loaded up our packs and went to find our Airbnb accommodation. We stayed in the top story of a three level home. Our host, Mary, was lovely and accommodating and instantly made us feel welcome.

The Hairy Coo "Free" Tour || Scotland | Travel Diary

On our first full day in Edinburgh, we took a tour with The Hairy Coo Tour company. This was a "free" tour, in that we put our own value on our experience and pay at the end accordingly. Allowing anyone on any budget to get a great experience.

At 8:45am the sun was just rising and we jumped onto the bright orange mini bus, designed to look like a Highlands hairy coo (a.k.a cow said with a Scottish accent). Our tour guide and driver was Donal, the founder of the company and a proud Scotsman.

Our first destination was the Firth of Forth bridges, all three of them. Quite a confusing tile for a newbie to the region, but to clarify: there are three bridges over the estuary or "firth" of Scotland's River Forth. To add another alliteration to the mix, they all cross from Edinburgh to Fife.
Each bridge was built in a different century and in a very different style, this was to accommodate for the previous bridges "short comings".

So you have the Firth of Forth bridges leading to Fife. Phew...I reckon they might as well add another bridge into the mix just to make it more difficult.

The two bridges from the 19th and 20th century are easily visible in the picture below, and if you look closely over on the far left side you can see the 21st century bridge starting to take shape.

Incredible Bonfire night in Lewes || The Brighton side of life

Lewes is the Bonfire capital, boasting the worlds largest Bonfire Night celebration on the 5th of November, with 3,000 participants and 80,000 expected spectators. This small town of 16,000 locals, grows immensely for this annual tradition.

"Imagine a head-on collision of Halloween and Mardi Gras and you're well on your way to picturing Bonfire Night, Lewes style – barrels of burning tar, processions of thousands of fiery torch-bearing crowds, massive bonfires and firework displays" —Rough Guides, Daily Telegraph

We left Brighton at 4:30pm to catch the train to Lewes. The trains were crowded but running regularly to accommodate the mass influx of people. We arrived early and trekked our way up to our chosen vantage point, where conveniently, the Pelham Arms Pub was right across the road.