“This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She’s sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby’s brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don’t bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.”

From the Baby Center

It just keeps growing… 

but there’s still a dip.

I’m hoping one day soon it will be nice and round and people will stop telling me (believe it, or not) I just kind of look fat. I could live without that.

For reasons only my husband (and perhaps a few ex-roomies) will understand, I must have this onesie.

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I thought a few snapshots of my recent shopping excursions would be telling:

A Paris toy shop

London’s Spitafields Market, fashion Fridays

Shakespeare and Co. Bookshop in Paris

More London fashion

Kids clothing store in Oxford’s covered market 

New Westminster’s Kiss a Frog children’s store

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I am happy to report the baby is winning out.

Trying on dresses at Spitafields Market in London. I snagged this gorgeous number for only £10.

Here are a couple of shots of the baby bump (at around 22 weeks.)

It has definitely become more pronounced in the last little while! I finally feel like I look pregnant. One thing I’ve noticed is that the dip in my tummy hasn’t smoothed out. I thought that pregnant bellies were always nice and round. Not mine. Perhaps the roundness will appear in the coming weeks. I’ll keep you posted. ;) 

Sorry this space has been silent. We arrived home on Saturday and besides nursing some nasty jet-lag I’ve been a flurry of activity. Most of this week has been filled with unpacking, sorting, purging, and reorganizing our whole house… I’ve been dreaming about it for months.

I am officially nesting!

A bump has emerged.

As I’m sure other parents will tell you, words can not describe what it’s like to see your baby moving on the ultrasound screen for the first time. My heart was aflutter. There the tiny heart beat steadily. Its body shifting to and fro. My baby. Safe. Healthy. Growing. Inside of me.

I am overwhelmed. God, I thank you for this gift. 

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And just an hour before I met with a hero of mine. One of the country’s best interviewers. With dreamy eyes and a stature settling just below my 5′8.5″ frame, I stood with George Stroumboulopoulos in the CBC Atrium interviewing him. It’s a wild story. On Monday I happened to stumble upon a posting for a lifestyle TV host position with the CBC in Vancouver. The description read like my DNA. I already had tickets to see The Hour that night so, feeling particularly ballsy (and eventually egged on by Annie, my date for the night) I asked George if he’d do a cameo in my demo reel. And (by some miracle) he said YES. The one hiccup was it had to happen before Friday, hence the interview/ultrasound afternoon.

George knows me from my days working for the CBC in Vancouver. I was the special projects coordinator on his first live taping which took place at the Firehall Arts Centre on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. I’ve been to a few of his shows since and check in each time with a friendly hello. But really, he went out on a limb for me and I am incredibly grateful.

I can’t wait to show you the footage.

And girlfriends, I asked him the question we’ve all been dying to ask: “What are you looking for in a woman?”

Today is an enormous day for little ol’ me. First, by some incredible twist of fate, I interview George Strombo. An hour later, I meet my baby at our first ultrasound.

Send me some love.

One of the best things about being a mama so far has been the thoughtful gifts I’ve recieved from family and friends. At Christmas my mom gave me a little stamp that showed the size of our baby’s foot at ten weeks. Annie and Paul gave us a gorgeous Pierre Belvedere journal to put down our thoughts. And Avital sent me Mama Goddess tea in this lovely wrapped package! Even though I’m so far away I feel in a small way that I’m nesting.