Much grovelling on my part for vanishing from blogdom, but I hope you might find that the reason why is a jolly good one.

I have been a pale shade of green for three months now. From dawn to dust (not exaggerating) a relentless cycle of throw up, get the shakes, lie prostrate, fall asleep, and wake up in time to do it all again. Every two hours. I have become best friends with my toilet bowl and developed an overly sensitive sense of smell (even my beloved coffee is foul on the nose)... As you may have guessed, I am pregnant! Four and a half months along now, and the nausea finally subsided last week, and this week I actually feel "normal" again.

Considering how often I've been prostrate of late, you'd think I'd have read my way right through my entire To Be Read pile by now. Not so, however, instead I've felt so poorly that they've gathered even more dust, along with the rest of the house. But I have read some, at least, and now that I feel well again, hope to post on all things bookish and African as usual.

I promise not to turn this blog into Mother & Baby central, but I'll undoubtedly be unable to restrain myself from time to time. Like yesterday - I had a midwife appointment (a male midwife-in-training also present - how cool is that?!) and for the first time I heard the baby's heart thundering along like a little racehorse - thrilling!