Well, today is the due date.
We're exactly 9 months since conception (or whenever they start the measurements).

And still no sign of the wee bairn.

So looks like he/she will indeed be late!

Karin has been having *lots* of Braxton-Hicks contractions, much stronger than before, which I'm sure is a sign that stuff is about to happen.
She also says that when the baby moves, it's a bit like having a large puppy in your tummy!
There can't be much room in there now, so come on little babiche, make your way out.

We can't wait to meet you!

Howdy all.

Another uneventful weekend (labour-wise!) and only 2 days left now.

We filled the pool on Saturday, and had a lovely swim in it on Sat night.

Filling the pool

Nothing new to report today, just a few thoughts.

One of the weird things (for me) about waiting for labour, is how to know when labour has started (yeah, ok, so I'm sure Karin will know, but I'm thinking from the man's perspective here).

Before I started reading the pregnancy books and attending ante-natal classes, I hadn't realised how much mis-information about labour we pick up from movies/tv/books - and how little men seem to know (or want to know) bout labour.

So without further ado, here is Daniel's List of Labour Facts for Men ®
(note: I offer no guarantees...

Well I guess I should have started a pregnancy blog round Week 1, but I didn't think of it! Hey ho.
Anyway, this is just an attempt to keep y'all updated with Karin and Babiche's progress. And it's easier (and less intrusive) than a mass mailout!

OK, so for those of you that don't know, Karin is now 39 weeks pregnant.
The due date is Wednesday 21st May 2008 or thereabouts – first babies are more likely to be late (so I've read).
Ironically, of the 8 couples in our NCT class (National Childbirth Trust - the UK's equivalent of the NZ Plunket Society) five have now had their babies – 3 of them before their due dates. So who knows!

So anyway, a brief rundown...

Dan: Well, Karin has been given the all-clear from the doctors here - turns out she had a touch of dysentery, but a large course of antibiotics have (hopefully) cleared that up!
So we're all set for our 6:00am flight back to the UK tomorrow morning!

Then we have 4 days of rapid preparation (i.e. re-packing!) before we fly out to Tokyo on Monday 5th December.

So, updating of this blog won't happen for a few days - but when I get a chance I'll update the last couple of days with more info and some photos, and hopefully some  info on Tokyo, as that's where we'll be!

Dan: Karin woke me early this morning in a lot of discomfort, and we decided we'd take her to see a doctor.
We rang the British Embassy when they opened to find out where a good doctor was located.
They directed us to the East-West Medical Centre in Delhi, a privately run clinic and hospital.

We went to see a doctor there, and he diagnosed Karin as suffering from acute Gastroenteritis.

So... they have admitted her overnight whilst they do blood and stool tests.
Hopefully it's just a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics, as we're due to fly out in 36 hours...!

We'll find out tomorrow.

Dan: I'm not very well today - I seem to have the same case of Delhi Belly that Karin is just recovering from.
I spent all of yesterday in bed, and today we had to catch the train from Haridwar back to Delhi.

The train took 4 hours, and I knew we'd get a meal.
But I wasn't expecting a four course meal! Especially when I couldn't eat any of it...
The srvice was incredible, they were serving food for the whole 4 hours. And the legroom was great, much better than on any train or plane I've been on.
And all this for £8!! GNER could learn a lot from this...

We arrived into Delhi at 10:30pm, and went straight to our hotel and to bed.
I started taking some antibiotics 2 days ago, and was hoping that I'd get some relief soon, as I'm in quite a bit of pain.
Karin seems much better, although she's been eating more food than she should.

Dan: Karin had a hugh fever last night (39.3 degrees C), and a lot of stomach cramps, so it was decided that I'd go and do teh rafting by myself.
Karin was feeling a lot better this morning, but not well enough to get up.

I have lots of photos from the rafting, and it was a lot of fun, but I'll upload the text and photos in a few days, once you read the rest of the posts you'll understand why.

Dan: Well, the only thing to report over the last couple of days is that we have both been sick! First I got a bad cold, then Karin got a mild case of Delhi Belly, then I got Delhi Belly, then I got a bad cold again, then Karin got a bad cold! It almost sounds like a comedy act when spelled out like that...

Today is the first day that I've been feeling better.
We've both booked onto a White Water Rafting trip for tomorrow, which will raft 36km of the Ganga - I'm really looking forward to it.

Karin has come down with a bad tummy again today, so I went out for a walk to the next village, trying to find the original Transcendental Meditation centre. I couldn't find it, but found a lovely place to sit by the Ganga and meditate.

On the way back, I found another Westerner's shop, run by a lovely Indian woman and her little boy...


Westerner's Shop

I also thought I'd include a photo of the main square at Laxman Jhula, for no other reason than I accicenlt uploaded it!


Laxman Jhula Circle

(Editor's Note: Karin has yet to type up her diary entries from this day forward, so you'll be getting mine alone until she has time to do them... and then they will auto-magically appear!)

Dan: Both Karin and I were feeling quite a bit better today, so we made an early afternoon expedition to Karin's beach (as I know it!).
Karin has been out running and swimming most mornings (at about 5:00am!!! How cold is the Ganga then???!), and she discovered a lovely swimming spot about 1km up the road from the village.

We spent a lovely afternoon here talking and reading, and cautiously watching the monkeys who would occasionally advance towards us (they could smell our tangerines!).
The beaches on the Ganga are incredibly - beautiful white soft sand.
We were confused about this at first (I don't remember having come across many rivers with whites sandy beaches before!), but when we went up into the Himalayas, it became clear - further up the river, all the cliffs are made of sand-stone - hence all the landslides. When the stone crumbles (into sand!) it gets carried down river and deposited on the shores.

On this beach, there was so much sand that a massive sand dune had formed.
So we sat on the sand dune, ate our lunch, read our books, and generally just enjoyed the sun.


Karin's Beach


Karin trying to "surf" the sand dune...