21 Week Scan

We had a 21 week scan on the 19th of April with Dr.Nel & all seems to be going really well with our little girl! She's really started kicking so that I feel her regularly! It is very exciting to know that she's in there & turning kung-fu style somersaults in her amniotic fluid! Dr.Nel also said that she's a few days ahead of her revised due date of 27 August, so who knows when she'll arrive!?

We've been offered a lot of baby stuff from people which is really great as we don't have to go out and buy tons of stuff. I'm feeling quite 'nesty' but finding it frustrating that I've not got a room to prepare for her - just a space (which we're using right now so it will have to wait).

I've been feeling really emotionally sensitive. I read on BabyCenter's site that the heightened emotional state lasts for 18 to 24 months. Great.

I've also had a lot of back pain & acid, and when I exercise my uterus has started going rock hard so I have to stop...but otherwise feeling well :)

Pic 1: 
Dr.Nel says she has really long legs, arms and fingers! You can see her fingers in this scan quite clearly

Pic 2: 

Its a bit like a weather report, but this is adorable when you know what's going on:
She's got her face turned almost directly towards the 'camera' on the left of the picture & she's rubbing her left elbow (left arm bent & tucked behind her left ear so left elbow visible from behind her head) with her right fingers.


Baby Centre says:
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

First Scan!

We had our first scan on Wednesday! We saw squid's heartbeat & it was ascertained that he/she was 7weeks and 3days ! (This means that we can count our new weeks every Monday)

It was quite surreal to see the little one there...its a real little person, hiding inside me, feeding off its yolk and growing bigger every day (and making me sick!)

I've been really nauseous... I got some pills which the doctor prescribed called ASIC which is especially for the relief of pregnancy nausea. Trouble is, it causes drowsiness & impaired concentration. As if I need more of that!!!

I sent Licia our scan picture & she sent one back of her with her preggie tum. She's not been for any scans....She's moving to England soon so I'm sure she'll have scan(s) done there.

I phoned a lady called Sandy Standish > she's been recommended to me as a midwife by a couple of people so I'm keen to meet her & see if her philosophy on birth resonates with what our ideas are.

The strangest feeling I've been having is that so many women/couples have gone through this very thing & nobody seems to make such a big fuss of just how radical it actually is. I suppose I'll feel differently when I'm feeling less sick and tired & when I start feeling more "pregnant".

Geoff is a complete angel. He's been so helpful and understanding. He's even started talking to & rubbing squid through my tummy which is just the best thing. He's so excited :)

Hungry Hungry

My same-time preggo friend (around the same amount of weeks as pregnant as I am), Eloise, described the feeling of nausea really well: She said it feels like when you're so hungry that you feel that empty, nauseous feeling in the pit of your stomach > and that is really how it feels - I'm so 'hungry', all the time. It just never goes away. Food helps temporarily: if I can decide on something that I actually want to eat.

Most food I can't even think about eating.. and I've totally gone of anything that tastes too strong. So breakfast today was plain yogurt, an apple & some almonds. By 11.30am I was ravenous so I had a slice of pumpkin seed rye with cottage cheese & one with honey.

...and then sleep!
Eloise has a job in an office so she has to go in every day. I don't know how she does it - I never used to sleep during the day & now it is impossible not to.

I'm so exhausted all the time. I actually had quite a good sleep today. I dreamed that we were on an airplane and there were 7 engines. The engines started failing & suddenly someone realised that the engines working were directly linked to our baby feeling happy...so I ran to [him/her] and started rubbing [his/her] tummy. I remember marveling at how comfortable & natural I was with our child... and then I got onto the table (there was a wood & marble kitchen table on the plane) and sat with my legs up on it with the baby lying on the table between my legs. As I rubbed baby's tummy, [he/she] giggled & I remember feeling as though the plane was saved.

How is one supposed to get motivated to drive for 18 minutes over a mountain pass to get to the gym to do exercise when one just feels like sleeping???

Yesterday I skipped ahead to the birth part of What to Expect. I suppose I have to find out about that at some point. I found a bit that says that "how you wear your pubic hair for the birth is entirely up to you" > I think this is hilarious. Geoff was looking forward to the shaving. I also read about delivering one's baby yourself. They make it sound so easy -- there's a few steps to follow and hey presto: baby is born! (sounds to me like a much more cost-effective solution than all the palaver of doing it the responsible way with midwife & doctors & the hospital stuff on hand).

Tomorrow is our first scan. I can't wait to see squid's (yes-that's our temporary name) heartbeat :)

Great News Today

I had to have Beta HCG and Projesterone blood tests again today - just to make sure that everything is how it should be... Dr.Heylen confirmed that everything blood-test wise is looking really really great & we're off to a brilliant start. I'm so happy its like we've found out all over again about our little person! :)

I asked him how far along I am and he seems to think that its 5 weeks and a couple of days at the most...which means that our baby is due around the 25th+ or so of August. Yay.

This is what I look like inside at 5 weeks:

Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point, he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues. The neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel. His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue. The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job. http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-5-weeks_1094.bc


I was a little concerned as I was very energetic and all my symptoms seemed to have disappeared yesterday... I've had a stretching feeling low down & I think I rushed around a little too much this morning because I'm really feeling tired now.

Today has been a big cleaning day with a gardening service to sort out all our ratty overgrown lavenders & other plants. It all looks so bare -- but I trust that as things grow, new colour will start coming through..

Been going to gym a lot to try and get my exercise hours up. So far so good!

I've booked a scan for the 12th of January 2011. Can't wait to see the heart beat!