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Sunday 31 January 2010

21 weeks - scans and hormones!


This was a big week - we had our detailed 20 week scan on Thursday! It was also our first time in the maternity unit at the Borders General and I was trying my best not to look at the labour ward as we passed it - I'm still pretending that part isn't going to happen!

We had long enough to get used to the surroundings, as they were running about an hour late for the scan...not really what pregnant ladies with full bladders want to hear!

I ended up having to give in and go for a pee and then drink some more water and I'm glad I did!

The long wait was well worth it when we saw little baby B in so much detail. The first view we saw was a little foot flat against the screen - it was so cute! It made me laugh, and when I laughed, Baby B gave me a hefty boot, which I saw as well as felt, and the sonographer said even she had felt it!

We could not have found out the sex even if we had wanted to, as Baby B is such a little wriggler. The poor woman had quite a job trying to get him or her to co-operate but she did manage to see everything she needed to, and Baby B seems perfectly healthy. Looks like we have quite a little bundle of energy on our hands though! We saw the heart beating really strongly, and we also saw the kidneys, arms, legs, feet, hands, stomach, head, ears etc etc. We caught a little glimpse of his or her face during one of the many somersaults! We both felt quite emotional seeing our little baby so clearly!

We got some beautiful pictures this time and we can't believe how clearly they have come out, unlike our first scan where Alan had to take a picture of the screen on his phone because there was no printer!

Baby B seems to have a leg at a really strange angle on this picture....takes after his or her mummy in that respect!

There was one point where there was a leg folder underneath, in the exact same position I like to sit in!

I couldn't believe how drained I felt after the scan - must have been all the excitement, and the long wait!

Baby B has become much more active this week and I have been getting some really strong kicks - always after I eat or drink and at bedtime. Daddy-to-be felt his first kick the night before the scan - I had put my hand on my stomach to see if I could feel it yet when it was kicking like a little fiend, and I felt it so I got Alan to put his hand on my stomach and after a good long wait it happened again. I will be interested to see what happens with the kicking when I play the piano!

The bump has grown again this week, and the pregnancy hormones have arrived with a vengeance! Yesterday I got so worked up over a lightbulb that Alan said you would think the house was falling down, and I also nearly lost it with two annoying assistants in Marks and Spencers....I really wanted to thump them! Finding nice maternity clothes seems to be quite a problem...I am fast outgrowing my normal clothes and I'm really going to have to have a good search for some maternity tops.

We did venture into Mothercare and had a look at the pram that we have our eye on and we have also started eyeing up some baby clothes....so many cute things out there!

Some sad news this week is that my granny passed away in the early hours of this morning. We had been expecting it for three weeks, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with. I wish she had lived to meet Baby B, but at least she knew that he or she was on the way and was really happy for us. RIP Granny Sinclair, we will never forget you :(

Sunday 24 January 2010

20 weeks, and we are half way to getting a baby!

I can't believe I am now at the half way point...although in another way it seems like an eternity since that day 16 weeks ago, standing in the kitchen and saying to Alan "Don't get your hopes up just yet but I think there is a chance that I might be pregnant"! That was after two cheap and nasty tests which had very faint lines on them, and some searching on the internet told me that a line was a line! I did a proper test later on and it was definitely positive but I was still a bit scared to believe it was actually true! But here we are, 16 weeks later and very definitely pregnant.

It's been quite a week. I had a little bit of a scare on Monday night which sent me into a panic, but our lovely neighbour who's a nurse came straight round and checked me out, listened to the heartbeat which she assured me was very strong and regular, felt my stomach and said she could feel the baby moving. Mum and I went up to Berwick Maternity Clinic on Tuesday so I could hear the heartbeat for myself and put my mind at rest so at least I got to hear Baby B an extra time - and mum got to hear her grandchild for the first time, which she loved!

I am now being watched like a hawk both at home and at work after being told to take it easy...lots of people looking after me!

The heartbeat was very loud, and the midwife spent a long time listening to it and telling us what Baby B was doing with each little noise. We could even hear it kicking the doppler every time she moved it! It's certainly a very active baby...possible even slightly hyper, like his or her mummy (sorry Alan - hope you can cope with two of us!)

I've been getting much stronger kicks this week and can feel Baby B somersaulting around every time I have something to eat or drink or try to settle down for sleep! Last night I was getting very definite kicks as soon as I went to bed - it's a lovely feeling though. Part of me still thinks "ooh, what was that?!" when I feel it kicking but I am getting used to it and find it very reassuring.

I think I am about to grow again...I've noticed that I get slightly achey round the stomach just before I expand again. I have grown a little bit this week and can see less of my feet when I look down. I can still see my toes though!

Mum has been in hospital for her long-awaited hip replacement this week, and I am trying to convince her to hang onto her grabby claw thing that she was given for picking things up - could come in very handy when I am the size of a house! I do have the very useful skill of being able to pick things up with my feet, although my darling husband finds that creepy...I can't think why!

We are off to the Borders General for the 20 week scan on Thursday afternoon so we are looking forward to seeing baby B for the first time in 8 weeks. Hopefully I might have a picture to post with the next update!

Sunday 17 January 2010

19 weeks and I've grown again!

Baby Baxter is now approximately 15cm long and should weigh around 8oz...and I definitely look pregnant now, no doubt about it! Everyone got quite a shock at the sudden expansion half way through this week...to quote my boss, "Bl**dy h*ll, you really ARE getting pregnant, you weren't this fat yesterday"!!!



Some people are convinced it's twins, most were thinking it was a boy earlier in the pregnancy but now I've had quite a few thinking it might be a girl - including one person whose theory was that it's a girl because I'm really girly and she could see me as a girl's mum! We're not going to find out the sex at my next scan which is in a couple of weeks...we are keeping it a surprise. I might try the wedding ring thing though, for a bit of fun!

I'm definitely more aware of the expanding belly and it's much harder to bend down and also to leap out of my chair as fast as I used to! It felt a bit funny at first but I'm getting used to it - and slowly getting used to seeing myself looking pregnant, which did look really strange at first!

I had my first ever episode of morning sickness believe it or not, at 18 weeks and 2 days! I'm hoping it was just a one-off. I've been fine ever since, so fingers crossed.....

Baby Baxter is getting more active as the days go on, and I'm much more aware of stronger movement now. I'm not getting proper hefty kicks yet but still little gentle ones that feel more like little pokes and prods. It's really reassuring to feel the movement, even if he/she does always get up around 11pm when I am just trying to get settled for sleep!

Baby brain is still a big problem - my memory is absolutely shocking and I am doing and saying the most ridiculous things! So far I have put Alan's deodorant in the fridge, written not one but TWO other people's names on the Christmas cards that we were signing at work instead of my own (that has to be the most impressive thing I've done yet!), gone looking for someone at work when I had just taken tea and coffee in to her in a meeting, and have forgotten many many things! I'm going to definitely have to start carrying a notebook around with me and making lists. I'm told that it's only going to get worse and that my memory will never return to normal!

Halfway next week....eeshk!

Sunday 10 January 2010

First bump picture - 18 weeks exactly


Here it is, the first bump picture, as promised! I will try to post one each week...

18 weeks and definitely expanding

Well, here we are at 18 weeks already and it seems no time at all since we found out I was pregnant, 14 weeks ago today! We told close family almost immediately and a few close friends in the weeks after that, but kept it to ourselves until our 12 week scan at the beginning of December.

The scan picture isn't very good, as it was just on a little mobile scanner at our doctor's surgery, and they didn't have a printer, so Alan had to take this photo on his mobile - but you can make out little Baby B towards the right of the picture, in a kind of "sitting up" position! It was so amazing to see the baby backflipping into view, after hiding to start with!

I've had a really good pregnancy so far...touch wood! No morning sickness or any other nasty symptoms. I do feel very queasy when I have to go near a bin - "the bin boak" as it's called in our house! I had to have my own carrier bag on the cupboard door to use as a bin for a while, and I still can't empty the kitchen bin without gagging! I can't say I'm missing that task - or changing the cat litter, for that matter! Being pregnant does have its advantages :) The kitchen at work also makes me feel queasy, for some reason, but other than certain smells, that's all.

It's been much easier at work since I told them I was pregnant when we had the 12 week scan...I can now make my many trips to the loo without them wondering what kind of hideous disease I have, and can gag to my heart's content in the kitchen!

I have now had two midwife appointments. The first one was at 9 weeks and was a 2 hour appointment with lots and lots of questions, blood tests, height, weight etc etc etc and the second one was at 16 weeks, where it was just one blood test and we got to hear Baby B's heartbeat! It was so quiet to start with then all of a sudden really loud...the midwife said Baby B had come to the front of my stomach to see what was going on! We both felt quite emotional hearing it so clearly.

Baby B chose Christmas Day to start making his or her presence felt. I was peeling the potatoes for the Christmer dinner when I felt three little thumps and a lot of fluttering! I'd been feeling a little bit of fluttering for a few days before that but this was different - and an amazing feeling! I felt my first little kicks this week, at 17 weeks 4 days. Very gentle and not very often but definitely different from the fluttering and backflipping I'd been feeling up till now!

I have started to expand a lot - before the Christmas holidays there was the tiniest hint of a bump, but in the middle of the holidays I suddenly noticed that it was growing and I was just beginning to look pregnant rather than podgy round the tummy! I had to give in and brave the Next sale and managed to get one pair of maternity trousers and a pair of maternity jeans. My sister-in-law has also kindly lent me her button extenders which are very handy! Just over the past couple of days, after a bit of cramping and backache, a proper bump has suddenly appeared and I most definitely look pregnant at last! I'm just glad I told them at work before the holidays, as they'd have got quite a shock!

I've had a few cravings - always for savoury things - cheese is an ongoing one, also apples together with cheese, tomatoes, chutney and for a while, salt and vinegar crisps, which I used to hate! I have completely gone off coffee which isn't a bad thing!

We've had lots and lots of snow this week so I've had to pick my way around in case I slip - but have been loving the snow :)

Bump pictures coming next....