Monday, April 11, 2016

Babymoon in Mallorca

Everyone says a baby brings the greatest challenges to a relationship, no matter how strong it is. I think this is the idea behind a babymoon; a couple gets one more chance to build bonds before the little one arrives. I'm already quite an enthusiastic traveller, so it came as no surprise to my poor husband when I started bringing up the idea of a babymoon and researching places to go. The goal of this trip, however, was very different from most of my travels. Usually I plan jam-packed days with constant movement, trying to get the most out of my time in a new place by seeing and doing everything possible. This time I was looking for nothing more than rest and relaxation, and time to spend a whole week with nothing to do except enjoy Paul's company, eat good food, and relax. After lots of searching, I decided Mallorca was the place for us - not too far, somewhere new, decent weather and decent prices. After even more research, I settled on a nearly all inclusive - breakfast and dinner, flights, transfers and hotels all paid for in advance. I was not looking to have to plan or negotiate or discover anything, I wanted an easy trip.

Now on our last day of holiday, I think that this has been one of the best decisions during my pregnancy. My job, which I absolutely love, keeps me quite busy during the day and means I am generally away from home for eleven or so hours every day. Add to that the attempts to keep fit (yoga, spin, gymnastics, strength training) and my second job of teaching online and most days I'm too tired to spend quality time with Paul or thinking about my baby. Even the weekends are not restful, as our list of things to do to the house before Wriggles arrives grows every week. The solution was this babymoon, a week of uninterrupted me time, couple time, and mommy and baby time.

What have we done on this holiday? Honestly, not much. Most days when the weather was fair we would go for a walk to the end of the promenade and back, stopping for lunch and drinks and sunshine along the way. We chose panoramic cafes overlooking the sea and sand, listening to the rhythmic crashing of the waves on the sand and rocks. We had long periods of laying on the top deck of our hotel soaking in the sun and reading, and long game sessions of all our favorites that we brought along (Dominion, Dead of Winter, Splendor, Castles, Fluxx, Hive, Lords of Scotland, Catan, and more!). Sprinkled in there were naps, chats, more reading, movie binges, massages, pictures and snuggles. These are all things I know we will have much less time for once our little Wriggles arrives, so it feels good to get our fill of them. 



 

Wriggles' first time on the beach and in the Mediterranean

  

Wriggles can sense light now, so I took my belly out for some sunshine

 

I ordered this frozen yogurt with 4 toppings - but I didn't want so much yogurt! Ah!

 

I nearly finished it all in the end :)

 

Games, relaxing, walks and drinks!

 

I found lots of pregnancy friendly non-alcoholic drinks!

 

One of our favourite games, Dead of Winter, was great during rainy spells

 

So many walks along the promenade! 

 



 
Lounging on our top deck, it feels like we're on a cruise ship!


The best part of this holiday has just been the ability to BE together, without exhaustion and stress and preoccupations. To share Wriggles kicks every time they happen, to talk about anything and everything that pops into our minds and to take lots of quiet adult time of reading and walking and playing games. We know everything is about to change, so it's great to have one last little adult hurrah, while also enjoying having our little one with us to share this special time. Who knows, maybe we'll bring him/her back with us when they're older to share this special place with them.