My growing belly - 27 weeks

Aaarghh, how slack am I!? Start a belly series, then stop after only three weeks.  Four weeks on since the last belly post, and I'm growing well!

Sleep? Pretty good really. Alia is ok most nights now, just a quick tuck back in bed once or twice a night. It's the 5:30 mornings which are a bit annoying, but not really all that bad.

Food? Still super hungry, but definitely eating smaller meals now I think. No specific cravings really. In fact most of the time I have that annoying feeling of wanting something specific but not knowing what it is exactly.

Movement? Big rolling movements have started and he now has big kicking parties as I lay down to bed each night.

Weird Stuff? I must be doing something different this time round and not in a good way.. I'm sure I can see new stretch marks already. I didn't get those till week 36 last time.

Looking forward to? Alia's new duvet cover arriving! I'm in full on nesting mode, but don't have enough time or money to do everything I want to do. But I have ordered a duvet cover for Alia and I'm WAY too excited about it!!!  

Names? Sorted. First name and middle name chosen.

Thanks Orewa and husband for the photo 

Meryl #2 sunrise maternity!

I still can't believe I managed to convince these guys to come for a sunrise photo shoot on (what felt like) one of the coldest mornings of the year! Beach, beautiful light, lovely family... what more could you ask for? Here's just a few to feast your eyes on.

Talia

I had to share this gorgeousness - she is just so amazingly cute! I got to go back and get a little snuggle from Talia a week after photographing her birth... how gorgeous is she!? She was pretty happy to see me too I reckon (when she had a full tummy of course) x

Maddox

Maddox is one of my favourite little men! And his beautiful mum is super cool too. We had sun, rain, sunshowers AND rainbows which made for a whole lot of really amazing photos in the ever changing light! What a perfect session for these two awesome people (oh, and Charlie the dog too!).

Lots of kisses for me and his mum!

the birth

As I mentioned on my facebook page, a month or so ago I was asked whether I was interested in doing birth photography for a new friend.  To be honest, the thought hadn't occurred to me before then, but as soon as she mentioned it, I was obsessed with the idea. Being her third child, and a home birth close to where I live, I was certain we could make it work. And I'm so so glad we did!  She called me at 5am to very calmly tell me she was 9cm dilated. 15 minutes later I arrived at her door and heard a baby crying. I missed that moment, but caught plenty more after that. 

I felt so privileged to be there to capture the exhaustion, the excitement, the love, the curiosity and the relief of the morning.  And with zero natural light, I had to rely on whatever ambient light was available - which wasn't much - hence the grainy quality to the photos. I think it just lends to the drama of the occasion.  Thank you so much for letting me be part of this.  Due to the personal nature of the images, only a small selection have been chosen to be put on the internet.  A brand new baby.

What a glorious morning to be born.

Meryl

The weather wasn't playing nice for our maternity session, so rather than postpone, I decided to go ahead anyway. Dark rainy day photos inside with this wee family turned out perfect. And little miss 19 month old pulled out all the poses I asked her for! I so can't wait for her little brother to be born in a few weeks!

 

Oh and their PUPPY!!!! She is SO cute :)

My growing belly - 23 weeks

Sleep? Crazy vivid dreams the last few nights and lots of waking because of Alia means I've been super sleepy the last few days! I have added a second pillow for neck support, and have been thinking lately that I might add a belly pillow one day soon... maybe.

Food? Much healthier this week in terms of fatty foods and takeaways, but have eaten LOTS of baking and sweet stuff... didn't help going to a 4 year olds birthday in the weekend!

Movement? Lots and lots of movement lately. The kicks are big enough for the husband to feel them now if he is patient.

Weird Stuff? Other than the crazy dreams I don't think there's much weird stuff. Maybe the itchiness is weird. I have an itchy belly. No rash or anything, just itchiness. 

Looking forward to? When Alia decides she wants to stay in her bed in the early hours of the morning. She used to just hang out in her cot, and chat away if she woke up early... but now it's straight in to see us! 

Names? Still haven't thought much about a middle name. 

When we got to the beach for our weekend visit this weekend, it looked like this out the window.

But we waited a while and had a wee walk along the very edge when the rain stopped. The tide was really really high at Red Beach and there was hardly any walking space.  Thanks husband for the photos!