I haven’t blogged since April! The reason is because we are expecting a little Island baby.

I discovered I was pregnant late March and shortly after writing the Elisis Kastros Tomb post I was struck down with really bad morning sickness. It was far worse than when I’d been expecting Goobie and there were many days when all I could do was go back to bed. Matt was fantastic; looking after Goobie, cooking all the meals, doing all the food shopping. The thought of setting foot in a supermarket made me want to hurl. For two whole weeks I only ate crackers.

In the middle of that, we went away for a few days to Protaras for a mini break. Protaras in April is pretty dead and my main memories were of sudden attacks of nausea and hotel mealtimes where all the different smells turned my stomach. I might write a post about it at some point though because the hotel was really nice and we visited a couple of interesting places in the area.

By Week 14 the nausea had pretty much passed, and much of the intense fatigue too. We spent a brilliant week in Malta, where we explored beautiful Valletta, took horse and carriage rides around ancient Mdina, had dolphin encounters and boat trips to sea caves.

Since the pregnancy had been so different to Goobie’s I was convinced I was carrying a girl. So it came as some surprise to discover that we were having another boy. During our week in Malta we told Goobie that he was going to have a little brother.

And for me, that was when our second son became real.

Until that point I’d been so ill I couldn’t get my head around the idea that a new person was going to become part of our family – or even that there was a baby inside me. Goobie was beside himself with excitement. He named his brother Hercules (!) and that’s what we’ve been calling him ever since.

Mine and Matt’s parents came out to visit, we had a couple of great weekends in Kyrenia and, thankfully, I still had the stamina to climb to the top of St Hilarion Castle (which I MUST blog about – it’s my favourite castle on the island).

We went back to the UK for the Glastonbury Festival. I’ve never done Glastonbury pregnant before, but I learned a few things:

1. Not being able to drink while all your mates are getting slowly wasted ISN’T fun.
2. But I don’t need drink to enjoy Glastonbury. It is still one of my favourite places ON EARTH.
3. Don’t jump up and down while pregnant. Not even if it’s Dizzee Rascal doing Holiday. Unless you aren’t fussed about weeing your pants. I was fussed due to point 1.

There was a month or so of feeling nearly back to normal and I had the energy to do some fun things – though never any energy left at the end of the day to write about them.

And then the BIG HEAT hit Cyprus.

Oh my god, there were days when I thought I was going to combust. The extra heat you have in your body when you are pregnant, combined with 40+ degree heat actually made me cry on a couple of occasions. Apparently the heat wave was the hottest Cyprus had experienced in 30 years. We quickly made two decisions that I am thankful for every day:

1. We hired a cleaner
2. We bought a pool

A miserable two-week trip to the UK in July offered some respite and, for about 48 hours, I didn’t hate the drizzle and lack of light quite as much as usual. And then I was homesick for Cyprus. Even in the midst of the most intense heat I’ve experienced in Cyprus, I would still rather that than cold drizzle and grey skies. I had a very big lump in my throat when the plane touched down in Cyprus. Ah, back home!

The rest of my second trimester was spent luxuriating in being home. No more going away. The summer heat has wiped me out, but we have the pool! Whenever I feel like I’m going to combust, I submerge myself in the cool water and feel human again.

We have barely gone anywhere this summer. I have felt too hot for long car journeys and extended periods in the sun. If a day out doesn’t involve water then I’m not interested. The sea is more refreshing than the pool so we’ve spent lots of time splashing around in the waves or taking a paddle board out.

The Fasouri Waterpark was a perfect day out (and they let me in free!). No, I couldn’t go on all the slides. And yes, this was the year that Goobie felt ready to go on all the slides (WAAAAA!!!), but I had my new underwater camera to take photos of him coming out of the flumes. And Goobie has promised me that he will save going backwards down the Black Hole until next year when I can go with him.

I’m now in my third trimester and Hercules is getting bigger and his kicks are stronger. The first trimester fatigue is creeping back but the evenings are getting cooler. And even on days when I’m too tired to do anything, there’s still the pool, the sea and the beautiful sunsets. There is nowhere I’d rather be.