Carter's birthday party

Carter's birthday party was on Saturday at the Reptile Centre; it was a little belated as the centre was unavailable nearer to his birthday - but we knew it would be worth waiting, and it didn't disappoint. Carter had a fantastic time, and so did Linc, Mum and Dad!

He was amazing, holding all of the animals without issue, and made sure everyone got to pat each animal/reptile.

Pregnancy update - 19.5 wks

So... do I have a story for you...

It all started on August 31, which was our second appointment with the obstetrician; it also marked 17.5 weeks, which meant it was possible to determine the sex of the baby. So obstetrician has difficulty finding the bits (or lack thereof) as baby has their legs crossed. A few other checks later, the baby is doing well, but still not playing ball (excuse the pun). Anyway, OB asks Mum what sex she thinks it is; Mum responds we are pretty sure it's a boy; OB says, yep, I think you're right - about 90-95% sure. Cool. We are excited - over the moon actually - and relieved as we have done alright with the two boys we have, and know what to expect...

Fast forward two weeks to today's appointment with the Fetal Medical Assessment Centre for the 4D scan of our beautiful boy.

And there's no doodle.

The sonographer (who, it turns out, used to work with Mum in retail!) is convinced it's a princess; a number of checks, double-checks, and triple-checks later and she is as certain as can be - we're having a GIRL! She's about 300g, so around the 40th percentile for weight (which is no real surprise given how little the boys were). But there's five fingers and toes and everything is in the right place - including her beautiful little nose and big-ass lips (just like her Momma!)...

So Mum is in shock (and thankfully already laying down!), and Dad reverts to an instinctive 'fight or flight' response and starts backing away towards the door. In hindsight, probably reacting to the clear and present danger associated with our whole world being turned on it's head by a mini FEMALE version of us!

A few hours on and we're coming to grips with it; but it's still one hell of a shock. We had bought some boys clothes, and even had a top five list of boys names. Back to the drawing board!

No doodle!

Incredible image of baby's spine

Five fingers on each hand!

Lenses present in both eyes...

A bit freaky looking, but amazing nonetheless

Isn't she beautiful! Look at that cute little nose and full lips (takes after Mum!)

Happy Birthday Carter!

So proud of you kiddo; turning into quite an assertive young fellow, as you grow and make your mark on the world. Five years has flown by, and watching you develop has been an amazing experience.

Dad's famous Snowman

Today it snowed in Canberra for the first time in almost a decade. While it wasn't enough to settle on the ground at home, it was definitely enough at higher elevations to make snowmen! But being a schoolday, the kids were trapped in school, and it was up to dad to go and make the obligatory snowman. So up to Mt Ainslie I headed (elevation: 846m), made the snowman, had a blast, and then headed back to work!

Little did I know what a stir my snowman would cause. He's a social media sensation, made the front page on the Canberra Times website, and was even on WIN News! Crazy stuff...

In other news, Linc has been complaining of itchy bumps on his ears; Google diagnosis: Polymorphic light eruptions...!

Polymorphic light eruption (PLE) is the most common of the photodermatoses. It is more common in women then men, affecting 15% of women in the UK. Juvenile spring eruption is a variant of PLE, affecting only the ears. PLE can affect any age but is more common in teenagers and young adults. Juvenile spring eruption affects mainly boys aged 5-14 years...

Exciting news...

We are pleased to announce that we are having a baby! Yes, we must be mad...

Due early February, the bub is 13 weeks and going strong (aside from making Mum very crook!).

We had an early hiccup with some stomach cramping, but after some precautionary blood tests and two ultrasounds two weeks apart, all looked good.

5.5 weeks, and all that can be seen is the yolk sack!

8 weeks - a little bit bigger now - about the size of a kidney bean

This was confirmed on Monday at our 12 week scan, with all the right bits, in all the right places (except for a missing nasal bone).

63 mm!

Cute already!

A very healthy 163 beats per minute

Today was our first appointment with the obstetrician; for $3k, let's hope she's actually around to deliver this baby (the last OB didn't make it for Carter!)...

The results of the Combined Risk Assessment tests (chromosonal defects etc.) were very good - i.e. risk of down syndrome went from 1:182 (high risk purely due to age) to 1:1658 (takes into account nuchal fold, blood tests and age). The only non-text book bit was that the sonographer couldn't find a nasal bone (a identifiable nasal bone further reduces the risk of down syndrome).

So, given that there wasn't a nasal bone identified (although the obstetrician didn't seem to care) combined with Mum's history of pre-eclampsia we have been referred to a high risk fetal assessment centre for an 18 week 4D scan - noting there is nothing to worry about, it's just a precaution (as is the aspirin a day that is designed to reduce the risk of early onset pre-eclampsia)... Oh, and we should be be able to ID the sex at this ultrasound!

Here we go again...!

Real nature bushwalkers

As the kids love to say, we're in nature, real nature...! The kids and Dad have been doing quite a bit of bush walking lately. It started with finding a baby Scorpion near the park on the hill; then when we lost that Scorpion (yes, literally, lost him... in the house...*) and Dad found another, much bigger one, the kids were convinced bush walking was a cool thing to do, and wanted to find more Scorpions - they especially love how they light up under UV light!

So we have been to a number of rocky bush land in the area, and have found quite a few interesting things. The highlights include: two Spotted Marsh Frogs, four Legless Lizards, a Stone Gecko heaps of Black Rock Scorpions (we now have three as 'pets'!), heaps of Centipedes (of which we now have a Giant Centipede!), spiders of all sizes, a bunch of Common Garden Skinks and countless other unidentified creepy crawlies!

Today we went up Black Mountain; it was steep, but even after two hours the kids were still keen to explore!

Black Rock Scorpions

*Scorpion found later that evening... (-:

Traditional winter coastal escape!

Exactly one year ago we also made the trip down the coast to South Durras; it wasn't much of a success with everyone under the weather meaning +100 on the grumpy scale; however, this time was much more fun as we headed to Dalmeny for two nights.

The weather was awesome. While it poured down the first night, it cleared the next day and didn't rain again. And while it was cold, the kids still hit the surf and had a wild time.

Unfortunately on the final day (today) Carter put his neck out and is in quite some pain. Oh, and Dad got attacked by Ticks - Mum removed three. Stupid bush, wilderness thing, with ouchy wildlife...

But we saw Dolphins, Whales and Seals... but no Stingrays this time...

Hanging out with the Seals!

Drenched and freezing - but having fun, so who cares?!

And then I managed to catch a lovely series of photos where Linc caught Carter after he got knocked over by a wave...: