Sssshhh, I'm sleeping...

This 3D picture is freaky but cool at the same time.

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Sixteen weeks and counting

Here are 2 scans from Wk 16, just in case you are interested.  We could have found out the gender that week, but:

1. We don't want to know; and
2. It didn't want to play along, and refused to show us anything other than its bum and back.

Upside down, with a clear view of the spine.

Still upside down, with what I think are two arms either side of the body.

We still have some scans from Wk 12 and some newer ones to scan in and put up here, so stay tuned!

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Wish I had have been there...

Last weekend a group of artists performed a piece in Berlin symbolising the reunification of East and West Germany with massive puppets. Wish I had have been there to see it, but you get a pretty good feel for what it was like by checking out the pictures here.

Picture is Copyright PHILIPP GUELLAND/AFP/Getty Images.

Tschüß,

Brushy

Mein Doppelgänger?

A guy who I was working with at an interop event in Berlin a few weeks ago snapped this picture of a billboard in the capital. It is an ad for an energy company that was sponsoring the athletics world championships that were taking place in Berlin around the time of our visit.
Looks scarily like me, huh?

Tschüß und Grüße aus der Hauptstadt,
Brushy.

09/09/09

Today is the 9th of the 9th 2009. which is cool, but it is also the 252 day of the year, and 2+5+2=9. spooky
I saw online that this is the last time there will be single digits in the day, month and year for 1001 years, but that cannot be right, it must be for 902 years... surely in 1001 years it will be 3010...

B

German pregnany vocab

So every new experience brings with it a new set of vocab we need to learn, and the vocab related to pregnancy has some funny ones...

Mutterkuchen - Mothercake - placenta
Muttermund - Mothermouth - cervix
Fruchtwasser - Fruitwater - amniotic fluid
Fruchtblase - Fruitbladder - amniotic sack
Fruchtbar - Fruitable - fertile

Entbindung - unbind - delivery/birth

Wehe - pains - contractions (that one is actually more honest)

Wann ist der Termin? - when is the appointment? - When are you due?
Ein Braten im Ofen - A roast in the oven - A bun in the oven (we haven't found an equivalent for Brush's favorite - 'up the duf')


A few weeks ago one of Brush's workmate, who knew I was pregnant, commented to Brush that my diet must be bad/lacking since I was so tired... When Brush told me this I got really mad, and told Brush that he had to go back and tell this guy that I was baking a Mothercake and it takes a lot of energy to heat an oven... I am not sure Brush passed on the message though

Being pregnant... in Germany

So the system here for having babies works differently than in Aus. I had had some of it explained to me by a friend here but I was still quite confused. I knew that the doctor isn't in the birth with you, you have a midwife that accompanies you through the process and is at the birth, and does the at home follow up. I didn't think this sounded too bad, but we still didn't really know what we needed to do. So at some stage between our monthly doctor apts we started to worry that we were leaving it too late to organise things, as we know from the experience of friends in Aus that you miss out on good hospital spots etc if you book to late... So after a panicked call from Brett one day that he was getting very stressed that we had no hospital organised so after some googling I discovered that the following week our local hospital was having a birth info evening, so we went along. The inf session was great, the hospital set up is really nice, their philosophy is nice, Brush likes it because he already knows 5 or 6 different ways there depending on traffic, and its close - so we decided that that would be where we would go... but this decision is apparently very early in the German system - according to the staff there we can (if we want) register 4-6 weeks before the birth that we want to give birth there, so that they have my medical info and dietary requirements ahead of time - but we don't have to register... we can rock up when I am in labour without ever having registered... so we relaxed a little :)

Being pregnant...

So in answer to the general questions... I have been doing well so far. I only had a few weeks of morning/day sickness, and as Brush reported on facebook one spew - a few more near misses though. At the time the few weeks seemed to drag on forever - but looking back i can say _only_. Brett was great the whole time(when he was actually home) and was very sweet when I chuck - held my hair and only laughed a little (which is fine - I have never seen him spew but I imagine its hilarious). I have also had the other the normal things of needing to pee ALL THE TIME, indigestion (a new and not so fun experiences), bloating (not so new), overactive sense of smell, metallic taste in my mouth, Brush's favourite - rapidly expanding boobs (though sadly quite sore), and being TIRED (that word cannot be emphasised enough - one of our friends here who knew I was pregnant I think though I was being a little melodramatic, but is also now pregnant and is SHOCKED at how tired she is - I think she believes me now :) ). Most of the things I was feeling I assumed I was imagining just because I was so conscious of my own bdy, but once I started reading up I realised I was basically checking off the list of symptoms...

So we knew basically right from the beginning thanks to an at home early detection test as Brush was scheduled to fly to South Africa, and I was scheduled to fly to the Philippines, and we wanted to know before we were both on work trips... I had assumed knowing would not effect the trip as such, but after the positive result I called a few Women's doctors to get an appointment to check things out. The receptionist at the first place told me they had no apts before I flew, but that I should not fly as it would be against doctor recommendations. I thought this was a bit silly, and was a bit annoyed... I got an apt at another Doc, who told me the same thing... apparently they worry about the extra radiation exposure that you get at the altitude that long haul flights fly at... Initially I thought it was completely ridiculous, but after a day or so thinking about it the fact that more than one doc had said it got to me and I cancelled my trip. In the end it was good though as the few weeks I was quite sick would have all been while I was away, and that was not so much fun at home, but during project visits I think it would be even less enjoyable... I told my immediate boss why I was cancelling the trip, and she was great - she was so excited for me. She said as soon as I closed the door to talk to her she hoped I was going to say I was pregnant. I told the department head in the last few weeks (when he and my immediate boss got back form summer holidays) and the following day he announced it under the list of staff news in our team meeting - very embarrassing, but great because everyone knew all at once.

I haven't been coping at all with the heat, so I am happy that Autumn seems to be coming. Our office has no aircon, so I have suffered. I am SOOOO happy I am at the start, rather the the end, of the 9 months in summer. I did have a bit of a near falling down/passing out incident when we were at the Grand Prix. The weather report suggested it would be cool and cloudy, so I went dressed appropriately, but in the end the prediction was not so accurate, and I got really warm. I decided I would go for a little wander to find some shade and a cool breeze, and a cold drink, which initially helped, but the line for drinks then wasn't getting the nice cool breeze, so I started to get a bit dizzy, and as I got to 2nd or 3rd I must have looked awful because one of the guys who was working at the bar asked me what I wanted. Then things started to go a bit black to I decided to sit down, under the bar. I had assumed I was being served because I was next, but they bought me my drink (on the ground) and I didn't have to pay, and they offered to go and find my friends (which was really nice of them) but after the cold water, and a bit of a sit down with my head between my knees I was ok... After that Brush decided I wasn't allowed to wander off without my mobile.

At my doctors apt the next weeks she wasn't at all happy with my blood pressure (which is always lowish, but was really low) and she said if I had another incident I would have to go on meds for my blood pressure. She suggested that in the meantime I drink some coffee, and that I should warm/cold shower. As most of you probably know I am a tea drinker/addict (though in preparation for pregnancy I had cut down from 10 a day to 1 to 2 - SO PROUD) but I have started having some coffee most days, and doing the warm cold showering, which I now enjoy. Initially I was just turning the shower on to cold and standing under it, which was shocking (!!!) but after talking to a couple of girls at work who happen to do the warm/cold shower I now have a better method. We have one of those very European shower-heads on a hose, and you are meant to make the water cold and then do one leg after the other (from the foot up), then the arms (from the hand up), back, tummy and upwards, then I do face and hair (meant to be great against bags and wrinkles, and make your hair shiny). I do that twice - once after shampooing and once at the end, and it is very invigorating :) And, my blood pressure is much improved... still low but better.

Sorry about the long post, and the lack of posts in general. As I have been so wiped out I haven't been blogging (or doing ANYTHING for that matter) and Brush has had to do EVERYTHING so he hasn't had time either. The last week or 2 I have been feeling a bit better so have been doing some things around the house, so the posting has started again. We will also post about some other things too for the non baby crazy among you:-)

B

B + B + me makes 3

Dear World outside,

Sorry that this message took so long to get to you, but the mail doesn't get picked up that often from in here. Maybe I need to talk to the mailman about that.

So, where am I, and more importantly, who am I. These are questions that you may well be asking yourselves.
The "where am I" is relatively easy to answer - I am in a warm, dark place, swimming around and enjoying the development process, as I have been for the last 15 weeks now.
"Who am I" can't be answered right now, but that question will start to be answered on 2nd March, 2010, when I see the light of the world and you guys for the first time. On that day I will receive my name, which will help start me on the journey to defining myself and being able to answer the question of who I am. Hopefully you guys will be able to help me out along the way. :)

So you recognise me later on, I thought I would send you a few pictures.

Week 7

Week 11

Look forward to seeing you soon-ish!

Love,
Me.

Yeah, we were there...

Thanks to GkT for his exceptional generosity, Bel and I got to attend the "Großer Preis von Deutschland" at the Nürburgring and see Mark Webber drive his first pole position home to victory.

George, you're a bloody champion, and it was awesome having you here and experiencing the 4 hour traffic jam on the way to the Nürburgring with you. :)

In August, Bel and I also went to see Tracy Chapman perform at the Stimmenfestival in Lörrach in the south of Germany.

The gig was opened by Scott Matthew, and ex-pat Aussie who has been living in NYC for the last 12 or so years. This guy (and his band) have a really interesting and crazy sound, that just has to be heard to be understood - sometimes melacholy, sometimes happy go lucky, sometimes with a ukulele. The dude has a soft, smokey, kick-arse voice that you can also hear on his website (linked to above).

Between Scott's set and Tracy Chapman coming out on stage, the heavens decided to open up and deliver us with torrential rain for about 30min. Given that the concert was in the market place in Lörrach, there weren't many places to run and hide, but we managed to take refuge under a canvas awning attached to the ice cream parlour, that decided to dump its contents in one big gush at regular intervals over those who weren't lucky enough to be standing underneath it. Funny stuff.

After the rain delay (and the cleanup effort of the roadies on stage), TC came on an delivered a great concert and encore set. I think that it's rare these days to hear an artist whose voice is just as powerful and flawless on stage as on their records, due to the over production of the majority of shitty pop albums, but Tracy is just as good, if not better vocally live as on her discs. Sure, she doesn't deliver a gimmicky stage show that lots of people love to see, but she just plain and simply doesn't need to. That being said - when she wants to rock, she knows how to rock, as she proved in her covers of Proud Mary [Ike & Tina Turner] and Money (That's What I Want) [Barrett Strong].

Bel really loved this gig (and really loves TC in general), and if you get the chance, you should really check her out live.

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Outdoor rock climbing in France

In June, Bel and I decided that it was time to enrol in a rock climbing technique course at the local gym that we have been frequenting. The course was a basic introduction to a few key techniques and ran for 2 x 2 hours during the week after work, with a week gap in between so that you had time to practise what you had learned.

After finishing up the second night of the course, Björn, our climbing instructor, asked Bel and I if we wanted to head out with him on the weekend to France to try outdoor climbing. The opportunity was too good to pass up, so we piled into the car, picked up Björn and another girl in Mainz, and headed off to France.

Björn preparing the first climb

Buggered Bel brooding

The conquered crevice

All in all we had an awesome day, with us both learning a lot about keeping your balance, your center of gravity, and climbing up crevices. Both Bel and I left a little skin behind on the sand stone in France (the French national anthem says something about spilling the blood of their enemies on the fields of France...), and I had already left a sizable strip of shin-skin on the wall the night before in the gym, so after this weekend we looked like real pros. :)

Björn lead roping the crevice
The view from the top	Brushy preparing for a route that beat him

Thanks to Björn for taking us out, and hopefully we will get the chance to go again and experience climbing in the great outdoors.

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Dresden and the Sächsische Schweiz

The end of June saw Bel and I take advantage of one of the last long weekends for the year, and we headed off to spend some time in Dresden and surrounds. We had been toying with the idea of camping in Dresden, but decided relatively last minute that we wanted to find a Ferienwohnung (holiday apartment) to rent instead, and ended up finding an abolute gem within walking distance to the Altstadt. Ferienwohnungen are one of our new favourite things, as they give you a certain amount of freedom (no set breakfast time) and the ability to cook for yourself if you want.

Dresden and the Elbe River by night

Now, Dresden pretty much had the living bejeezus bombed out of it at the end of the second world war, and still finds itself in an ongoing state of reconstruction, but is still a very impressive city none the less. Especially impressive is the reconstructed Frauenkirche which was rebuilt using as many of the original stones as possible. You can still see which of the stones are the originals today due to their discolouration, but this will slowly disappear with time, which is kind of a shame, IMHO.

As is typical on our holidays of late, Bel and I managed to:

1. Sit in traffic jams for ages on the way there and the way back (thanks to the economic stimulus package that has resulted in road works all over the country); and
2. Get rained on...a lot! (Luckily we had a few days to play with and could reschedule our planned hike to a sunnier day)

Other than being architecturally spectacular (in the Altstadt), Dresden also managed to entertain us on the cultural (in the Neustadt) and language side of things.
The Neustadt is the newer part of town, though it is barely older than the older part of town - the Altstadt. This part of town is really the heart of the alternative scene and is full of interesting shops, restaurants, punks, graffiti, etc., all of which are completely harmless (my impression anyway).
As far as the language goes, the Sachsens don't speak Hochdeutsch like we learned, but rather their own Sächsisch dialect. This resulted in many false starts, misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and funny looks from both sides, and it generally took us a couple of sentences before both sides had found the lowest common denominator and were able to progress with a conversation with a relatively acceptable level of understanding.

The Sunday saw Bel and I take the train out into the Sächsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland), which is the playground of all outdoor sports fanatics, offering hiking and mountain biking trails, outdoor rock climbing possibilities, and much much more. We chose probably one of the most popular hikes and did it in the reverse direction (less people that way), taking us from Stadt Wehlen up to the Bastei (pre-medieval fortress) and back again in a leisurely 13k loop. If only we had have realised how much up and down was included in those 13k...

The final day of the long weekend saw us head out to Schloß Weesenstein before piling back into the car for what turned out to be a hell of a long 5+hr drive home. And boy did we need a holiday after that long weekend...

Schloß Weesenstein

Scary goat...

Tschüß,
Brushy.

PS: Sorry for the long post...

Schängel-Stadt Koblenz

A week after our weekend touring Bamberg and Coburg, Bel and I headed to Koblenz for the weekend to watch some friends go crazy and run in the Koblenz half-marathon.

The Altstadt in Koblenz lies nested between the rivers Mosel and Rhein near the so-called Deutschen Eck (German corner). If you take a look at the pic that I just linked to, you will see that the flags of all of the 16 german states and the flag of the Republic of Germany are all present here, as well as a massive statue to Emperor Wilhelm I (Wilhelm the Great).

Ehrenbreitstein by day

Ehrenbreitstein by night

Overlooking Koblenz is the fortress Ehrenbreitstein which was built by the Prussians to guard this area which was continually under attack from the French. And is it because of the French that Koblenz has the "Schängel" as its town symbol.

This area belonged to the French for 20 years, and the most common name for children of german mothers with french roots was derived from Jean, which the Koblenzer couldn't pronounce. So Jean became Schang then finally the diminutive Schängel, and this cheeky little kid can be seen all around town on all of the manhole covers, and even has his own fountain dedicated to him, which spits on passers by. :)

The Schängel fountain

Bindy checking out the local art offerings

So, thanks to our nuttier than squirrel shit friends who wanted to run the half-marathon (and did a bang-up job), we got to tick off another beautiful and famous german town (which we then proceded to take GkT back to a few weeks later).

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Smokey Beers and Daunting Defenses

A few weeks after getting back from France, Bel and I decided to check out one of the gems in Germany - the town of Bamberg in Oberfranken, Bavaria. An important point for the unaware - although the town of Bamberg is in Bavaria, the inhabitants ARE NOT Bavarian, they are Franken.

The town of Bamberg is well known for 2 things - one we got to enjoy, and the other that we chose not to enjoy. The first is the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) which sits perched on its own little island in the middle of the Regnitz river. The second of the two is smoked beer, but this just isn't our beer (meaning it's just not our thing).

Bel and I spent a fair bit of the day following a cache around town, which lead us to most of the interesting points and places to see...but didn't lead us to the cache itself. We're not really having too much luck with caches as of late.
Towards the end of the day we stumbled across a market in the middle of town which just happened to have a "Bio" stall where we were able to find all manner of things sugar and yeast free (yes, we are back on the diet again). Nearly 50€ later we had stocked up on spreads, breads, pestos, etc. and the weekend was well and truly saved (I had my sads on about not being able to eat anything...).


The next day we had planned to go to Nürnberg for the day, but a quick browse of our "Germany on a Shoestring" book the day before had revealed a fortification in the nearby town of Coburg that I wanted to see - die Veste. So we packed up our tent and headed off to see these daunting defenses that were never defeated.

After having a look around the fortifications, we walked down into the heart of Coburg to check out the palace, chill a little in the town square, and generally take in the ambience.


If you get the chance to come here, both Bamberg and Coburg are worth a day trip, IMHO. But make sure you have a designated driver, so that you can try out the Rauchbier in Bamberg - they say it's pretty good, but what would I know?!?! :)

Tschüß,
Brushy.

Mayday! May Day!

Yeah, this posting is a little late, but better late than never. We have been quite busy lately, and haven't managed to get around to posting about the various goings-on in our lives, where we have been, what we have seen, etc. It's finally time to do something about it.

So, as a sequel to last year's May Day long weekend in Paris, Bel and I piled onto a plane and flew back to Paris to catch up with Stéven and Emilie one year later, and to celebrate Stéven's 30th in Brittany.

Parisian Café life	Best Falafel in Paris
Pretty flowers in a Parisian park	Soccer and Pétanque in the Colosseum

This time around we managed more than just the long weekend, which allowed us just to relax, take things easy, and enjoy Paris for what it is, rather than rushing around to see the sights.

Old guy getting his Pétanque on	Evil Mr Tumnus...
Tennis Pavillion at the Petit Trianon (Versailles)	Part of the village in the Petit Trianon

Before heading to Brittany for the start of Stéven's long weekend of birthday fun and frivolity, we took a day to head out to see Cháteau Versailles, where Marie Antionette lived, and where the Treaty of Versailles was signed at the end of the First World War (which arguably lead to the Second World War, according to Bel who is sitting on the couch reading HP 7 for the 5th time).

Cháteau Versailles from the back	Fountain at Versailles
Part of the village in the Petit Trianon	Part of the village in the Petit Trianon

After Paris, Versailles, and a really good Côte de Boeuf at Baignoire (the Bath), it was off to Brittany to Stéven's parents' house and the beginning of his weekend of birthday celebrations. Unfortunately we were only able to stay for the first night of festivities, and therefore missed seeing Stéven soil his newly purchased white Converse boots with the insides of his own stomach... But who knows, maybe he will do us the honours of repeating it next year, if we manage to make it to Paris again.

Brushy in a tent

Bel and Stéven in Brittany

Tschüß,
Brushy.