Our big holiday of 2017 was Sri Lanka, this was our last foreign holiday for a while with a baby due in August. We wanted to have a far away trip and we were limited as Zika virus was in a lot of countries which makes it dangerous for pregnant women or those trying to conceive as can cause disabilities with unborn children. Sri Lanka was a great location for us to head for and there was no risk there. We were leaving the day before my birthday. We worked from home for half day and dad dropped us to Heathrow. We got a prêt before we boarded and just as well as there was an hour delay to our flight. Whilst waiting for the flight I had a call from Camelot Global which threw me as I hadn't spoken to them in a few months since turning down a role. I kept the call brief and said I would make contact when I was home. On the plane I watched la la land, passenger, fantastic beasts and where to find them and lion. We had a stop over at Dubai and had a Thai curry. When we got on the flight they ended up serving us quickly but I wasn't hungry so didn't finish it. I didn't sleep on the flight which was annoying. When we landed we changed 200 into 36,692 rupees. I was so tired I slept in car journey to hotel, we gave 500 tip to driver and checked in around 11ish. We were so tired and it had been raining so we slept for 2.5 hours until half 2ish. It was a chilled birthday for me. We went to sit in garden and it was very humid and cloudy. The beach were golden sands and a very choppy sea. We walked around the grounds to get a feel for our whereabouts (not that we were venturing far) They had a spa and it was 85 for a pregnancy massage. There were thunderstorms that night which led to power cuts. We checked out the buffet and the soups were quite light and we had pistachio ice cream. They had a cold section and then the usual variety of hot foods. We knew we would enjoy this food on our trip.

On Friday we woke at 9.05 and went breakfast and met the travel rep, he gave us tips about Candy, Galle, Whale watching. We wanted to go on a trip and see some of Sri Lanka but nothing to adventurous with my 20 week old bump. We sat by the pool and it was cloudy but there was some sun and I read the kite runner. We had a pool boy who would pull out chairs and give us towels so we read you tip 50 a day to them. I had mentioned on check in it was my birthday and they asked about organising a cake for me. A cake arrived but it had the wrong name 'Amanda' which was funny so assumed someone else ended up with my name or something. It was delicious and we ate over a few days. We went for quick walk but everything closed due to festivals, our hotel was right near a train line so saw the trains frequently passing. On our walk we met Jackson from Ricky travel who was selling their services. We said we would come another day to check it out. For dinner I ate a lot of fried tempura and onion and potatoes. Lots of Chinese arrived and they were incredibly rude when it came to queuing for food and waiting in line, they would constantly push in. I had a custard type dessert.

On Saturday, we woke at 9 and again were very tired. This bump was starting to pop out and my energy levels were struggling. I had egg dosa string hopper rice and bread. There were some new year celebrations in the hotel, they had set up a big swing and 3 huts: doctors office, coffee shop and chef hut and paddy. They did kids games and adult games and crowned a mr and mrs. We sat by the pool in a similar spot and it was 32 so very hot. We had some lunch in the pool bar and spent 50 rupees. I had birthday cake and in our room the cleaner, our boy put cards on the bed with heart shaped towels and flowers which was sweet. We heard that day Richard's cousin had her baby boy a few weeks early so that was lovely to hear. Our baby was becoming more active and moved around 3.30 which seemed to be a regular occurrence around that time. I took pics on the beach with the big camera. The beach was right on our door step which was good. We took some bumps pics and I shared the news of my pregnancy on Facebook for the first time. There were people playing cricket and we went to the shop to see if open. It was bbq for dinner and they made a nice rice/noodle dish up fresh if you queued and I tried a bit of both. I had a mango juice and Rich had a beer, the juice woke the baby up and I couldn't sleep with acid reflex. They did a club night disco that night as well.

It was Easter Sunday and we had a break from sunbathing and booked a day tour - we ended up booking in the hotel, we did check with the tour place across the road but we thought best to book with the hotel. It started with whale watching and then multiple stops to other places like Galle, a riverboat cruise which was a swamp which had alligators in, a few shops and the tsunami site and a museum dedicated to it. It cost 36,000 which was about 188 pounds and had been 180 across the road. It meant a 4.30 start, yikes. Baby was moving around 11.30/12 and later around 4/5 I read a Street Cat named Bob and sat in front of the hotel, it was really hot and humid. There were loads of squirrels in the gardens as they had loads of big trees. One squirrel nibbled at my toe and a bird pooped on my shoulder so was an eventful day, haha. For dinner I had a nice tandoori fish and mutton curry. We went to bed early for our early start and we had a little lizard in the room.

On Easter Monday, we had a 4.15 wake up call and they provided us a breakfast box. It was a good drive to the location. Unfortunately for me it was not a good experience on the boat. I have got better in years with being on rocky boats if I have fresh air and on top deck but they refused to let me up and said it was for VIP. VIP? WTF!! I had been told also it was only about 1-2 hours.. well try 5 hours later once we got off the boat. I was SOOOOO sick I spent most my time with my head in my hands and lots of others weren't doing much better. We saw the whale briefly come up but as there were 20 boats it soon went down and did not come back up again. It was a total waste of time, just glad I saw the brief glimpse! I was seriously pissed off and felt like s***. We got picked up and headed for Galle, I felt marginally better and we walked towards the fort but I felt so bad so had to sit down and wait for Rich to take a look. We were both pretty fed up so we then walked back to have food to try and settle my tummy. I stuck with chips and Rich had a biryani and then decided to head on as I felt a little better. We went on in the car and went to Sri Lankan memorial - I took pic of a buddha but couldn't get out at the second site as felt terrible again. There was a tsunami museum but I didn't go in as felt so rough. He then took us to a moonstone place but I said to go hotel as felt so bad and couldn't face much else. He then took us to a turtle sanctuary which we agreed to and was very cute. It was right on the beach and they had 1,2,3 days old turtles. They bury eggs that fisherman brought along to them.. they had a blind and albino turtle and deformed turtles they keep otherwise they wouldn't survive on their own. Rich held a massive one which was 3.5 yrs old and we bought 2 turtle magnets which cost 800 and left 200 in the donation box at the sanctuary. We had to skip two other stops on the tour which was the river cruise and spice lounge as I didn't feel up to it. We went back to the hotel and met tour booker who was waiting to greet us and see how the tour went. Sadly it wasn't a good review and she felt bad when she heard about the boat experience and how unwell I felt. Later we had a small dinner and slept 12 hours apart from waking at 7. We spent 790 on lunch and 160 plus we tipped the driver 500.

On the Tuesday Rich got us a good sun lounger spot. The manager and tour guide came to speak to me when we were in the pool and asked us to visit the office when free. We went and they offered us free tour of the river cruise so we booked in for the Thursday. I was reading Lucy Sullivan gets married. For lunch, I had a sarnie of chicken and ham with water and Rich had a coke. The lunch wasn't great really.Our baby was kicking loads at 10ish, lunchtime and 4ish. I had another incident with the birds and they pooped on my leg and Rich's towel. They had guys with little slingshots to try deter them but clearly it wasn't working so well. I had brought some sweets with us and opened them and stupidly put back in bag and the got swarmed by ants. We went and watched the sunset on the beach. I did natural curls in my hair (sheer laziness) and had Chinese style food seafood tempura which was yummy with some water - rock and roll.

On the Wednesday we had a chilled pool day again and we we went to book a spa but they couldn't do a pregnancy massage which was disappointing. Baby moved about 9-10 4ish and 6ish. He/she was getting more active on the holiday. The holiday was agreeing with them

Thursday was our tour day take 2. We got taken to our location for a boat cruise which was a 1 hour trip. He first of all went towards the ocean and a nearby beach but turned back and went around near the trees. We headed for some river mangroves and saw these big river monitors swimming and hanging on to the tree, kingfishers, bats, crocodile baby and bigger one. It was a nice boat trip and I was so glad we got to do it. We gave him 400 tip, he was a nice guy and spoke some English to us. We stopped at a beach stop with a fish harbour in the background and then another isolated beach with a beautiful sea and golden sands for more pics. We also stopped for big bottles of water 260 for 4. We left 400 to our driver and spent 1849- pool bar. Our baby moved at 9ish, 4ish and kicked at 9pm

On Friday I woke and hadn't slept well again and there was rain in the morning but the sun was out by half 9. We spent it again by the pool and spent 1639 on lunch of wedges sarnie and 2 cokes. It was another day of bird poop and it happened a few times they bloody loved pooping on/near me, the hat and towel - The guy who was meant to stop them was useless, he seemed like a temporary guy and had a little bottle of alcohol. Guess he needed that to get through his work! Rich had a beer for dinner and it was our last night :( We packed up and headed for bed for the flight home.

It was Saturday and it was our last day. I was awake around 7.45 and we had breakfast and were out by the pool for 9. We wanted to make the most of our last day as we were being picked up at 1. The normal more diligent bird man was back on duty. We got a Burger King meal which cost an expensive 28 dollar and we were charged for large even though we didn't ask for it. I watched Arrival and Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children. We had another stop in Dubai and it was a longer stop over which was a bit boring and was late there so most shops were closed. When we landed I got the message my cousin Martina had Zachariah which was lovely news to return to. It was a lovely trip and Dad picked us up again (good Dad!)