Volleyball 2012 season

At the end of volleyball season last year, I was glad to have it finished and over with. Coming back to play after having a break in 2010, 2011 just wasn't as good as 2009.

2010 was the year I had off to focus on IVF. 2012 is the year I'm having off as I'm finally pregnant and about to have a baby! So I'm happy to watch from the sidelines although the volleyball itch is always there. I wonder how long it will be before I'm back playing again, as I'm worried about things being loose and jiggling.

But right now, not being able to have a proper game other than bouncing and hitting the ball against a wall, I am missing it! You always want what you can't have ...

Ash managed to get into the UWA Div 2 team this year, which was great. She started in Div 4, moved up to Div 3 last year and was making nice progress. However due to her work commitments, she couldn't make training day so had to settle for Div 3 again.

I was a bit worried as it would be a new team for her, none of her old team was playing this year.  But she has settled in, is playing setter/hitter and best of all, I can see that her game has improved especially serving and hitting. So far, the team is about 5 games up and undefeated.

Pregnancy: 20-week anatomy scan

I've been looking forward to the 20-week anatomy scan as there isn't much else happening at the moment, especially with work ...

It's been 8 weeks since the last scan so I was just ... looking forward to seeing baby again. It was only when the sonographer explained in detail all the things she was capturing - heart, 4 chambers, blue blood flow, red blood flow - that it dawned on me that, as the name says - ANATOMY scan was to make sure that everything was there and in working order.

She also asked us right at the beginning if we wanted to know the baby's sex, and Rob and I both shook our heads. But towards the end, I asked if we would be able to tell ourselves, if we saw the genitals, whether it was a boy or girl ... she shook her head. I asked if she'd seen the sex, and yes, she had ... did we want to know? I was quite excited by then, and I looked at Rob, and I knew by the look on his face that he wanted to know.

I wavered just a little, then said no. A nice little surprise will be waiting for us at the end.

3D scan of face - looks like he/she has Rob's lips, and ... looks like a boy!!!

I've always been a numbers sort of person, going with my head, very logical and practical sort of person. So all through our IVF journey, I've kept a record of hormone levels, egg count, fertilisation etc. I even graphed the ERG to work out the statistics of getting a BFP!

After finding out that our 10th IVF frozen embryo transfer worked, I clung ferociously on to HCG numbers. And now, according to our results and a fetal growth chart , I have more numbers to moon over:

BPD (biparietal diameter) 48mm 75th percentile
HC (head circumference) 176 mm 52 percentile
AC (abdominal circumference) 152 mm 29 percentile
FL (femur length) 31 mm 50 percentile
Estimated fetal weight 357.89g ~29 percentile

Now I know all this is just to make sure that baby is within the normal growth range, and the results confirm that it's all consistent for 20 weeks. But, it sounds like baby's about average, mostly sitting on the 50th percentile. Maybe it will have Rob's skinny legs. I'm guessing a birth weight of about 8 lb + 2-5 oz (3.5 - 3.7 kg)!

Unfortunately I never got such detailed results for my first 2, so I only have these stats when they were born:

Josh - 8 lb 13 oz (4.15 kg), 53 cm, HC 34 cm.
He has been sitting on the 75th percentile since then. He's now 18, weighs 85 kg and is 180 cm.

Ash - 8 lb 12 oz (3.99 kg), 53 cm, HC 34 cm.
She's on the 90th percentile , is 15, weighs 58 kg and is 175 cm (5' 8") tall.

3 days in Melbourne

For Rob's 40th, I got him concert tickets to his favourite band - The Darkness - in Melbourne. A short 3-day stay in Melbourne, flying Tiger Airways, and I had to look around for what we could do there.
And, I managed to get audience participation tickets for the taping of The Project at Channel 10.

It's always a bit frustrating visiting an unknown place for the first time.I really need to get my bearings, figure out where things are, where the city centre is etc. I hadn't been to Melbourne for 20 years - the first and last time being when I was working for the ATO and got sent to Melbourne for work.

As usual, I visit the Agoda website as I score points for booking which I can then use to get discounts. I chose City Garden Hotel as it was in a central location and within walking distance to the Palace Theatre. It looked fine and not too expensive, but it's really hard to tell from photos and reviews.

This is the window view - the brick wall of the building opposite

And, an early check-in at the hotel was soon wasted, as the noise of a rumbling rubbish truck was soon replaced by what sounded like building debris - chunks of bricks, wood and debris - being hurled into a skip bin right under our window. NOT HAPPY. I quickly voiced my opinion on this and we were moved to another room. My overall opinion as it appeared on the Agoda website:

Good location but the room is small and dim. Windows aren't great. We arrived early morning 7am and managed to get early checkin so tried to sleep. But garbage trucks and construction debris being thrown into bin was constant just outside our window. Asked to change rooms and it was better but you can hear the water heater system coming on, whooshing water noises when neighbours shower, heels clumping upstairs. Walls are very thin.

The morning we arrived in Melbourne was freezing (it seemed like that to me anyway), and we had a long walk from the plane to the baggage collection, which was like a large open tin shed - a bit of a joke really. However, the rest of our short stay in Melbourne, weather wise was fine. I found myself walking around in a summer dress with a light top for cover, while the rest of the Melbournians covered up in winter coats.

The concert was held at the Palace Theatre which was a terrific venue. Doors opened at 7.30 pm and as we sauntered up just before 7 pm, we were surprised to find the queue had already formed, about 12m long and snaked around the corner into an alley.

It was here that I showed Rob how to use the "I'm pregnant so can I get in ahead of the queue" trick and it worked really easily. We snagged super-comfy sofa-type seats on the second level which made the few hours bearable. Earplugs saved me from losing my hearing as I smiled indulgently at Rob who jumped up and down near the balcony, visited me to check all was ok and saved my seat when I needed the toilet.

My tip for Melbourne - use the Skybus  to get to/from the airport. We paid $64 for taxi from the airport to our hotel in the city, but only paid $17 each to get the Skybus to the airport. No need to book, it was a short 20-30 minute trip at 7.30 pm.