2nd trimester, first belly pic

Well, it thought it was about time for a belly shot now that there is something that resembles a belly and not just fat!

So here it is - the 14 week belly!

Congratulations

We dropped by Nai's father's place on our way back from Ballarat, for a feed and for VV to do a bit of play-doughesation.

John was kind enough to give us a lovely bottle of Kreglinger from Taswegia. We'll pop that a few days after Nai pops, methinx.

2nd visit to the OB

We just had a quick visit to Nicola, the obstetrician today to confirm that last weeks scan and blood test results were all good. My ferritin (stored iron) has gone from 18 to 48 and my haemoglobin has gone from 11.7 to 12.6 which is great. She was really happy with the measurements and the risk factor that came out of the tests so there is no need for any additional ones.

Genevieve came with us and was pretty good after having a tanty about wanting to sit on Daddy's chair but once she got past that it was all ok. She helped the OB take my blood pressure and got involved so that was cute.

She tried to find a heartbeat but said that it could be too early at 13 weeks to find it with the doppler thingy, which it was so we didn't get to hear the wisha wisha sound.

So quite an uninteresting visit but all good. I got my referral to book my 19 week scan and go back to the OB in 4 weeks.

What's the male equivalent of being 'clucky'?

Jeez I hate that term. It just makes me cringe.

And when I see people do all the goo-goo gah-gah business... I dunno... I just don't see the need. The kid is cute. Congratulations. What's with all of the weird noises?

But I can see it, and I can feel my own version of this. After we were first expecting VV, I started looking out for pregnant bellies, and looking at kids. I thought this was like when you first buy a type of car, and then you notice all of those cars on the road (have there always been this many VW Golfs?) Instead, it's kids/bellies/Phil & Teds prams.

This time around, I'm a little more aware. And I'm still feeling it. Kids look cuter (OK... at least some of them). I noticed the child-care centre next door at work (looking down at it from the 10th floor, at the kids on the rooftop playground and I just got really excited - both at noticing, and at the prospect of being able to see the little heads running around on the green-rubberised faux path through grassy areas.

I was originally on here to watch the video of the scan (again, see below). And then, I'll probably go and watch the video of VV's reaction to watching the scan. Perhaps I should shoot some footage of me, watching VV's reaction to watching the scan...

So yeah... us guys go through it too - perhaps just a little differently.

Hello!

A milestone

Well, tomorrow we have the 12 week scan. This is the big one to check that the little-un is all OK. It also seems to be the official-unofficial time where, if you get the thumbs-up that all IS OK, you go public with your news. We're both going to be there (me via CargoBike, and Nai via train/tram) so that's a good thing - I've hated having to miss things, and it's only been by good fortune that I've been at some of the other appointments.

There's some people who know about BB2, there's some who have guessed, but most people we have yet to tell.

I've actually found it quite hard this time keeping my mouth shut. Or... alternatively, when we've been around people who DO know, I've had to do the double-think before I speak. I mean, if we do let someone know, I don't want it to be through a 'slip'. So, at times, it's been quite taxing (I did have a hideous virus for three weeks, sapping what little brain I have).

So... I'm looking forward to hearing good news, and I'm looking forward to being able to tell people and relax a little.

I'm thinking this blog is gonna get a lot more hits very soon.

Big Sister Dora

We were at the stupormarket yesterday and I spied a Dora the Explorer DVD where she becomes a big sister. We thought it'd make a good purchase, and it would help explain things to her, when the time comes.

The episode is standard Dora fare, and the cover wrecks the big surprise (ie: no-one was expecting twins). They obviously don't have ultrasounds in Doraland. The good thing is it has been written to provide some management of expectations of potential big sisters. All of Dora's friends tell her how good a big sister she's gonna be, and the reasons why.

A few interesting things though. Take a look at the pic below. No ultrasounds, but they do seem to be pro-disposable, and pro-bottle feed however. Hmm...

Deprogramming birth

A great article. We think sorta similar, excepting HypnoBirthing did work for us...

...I sensed that birth didn't have to be this traumatic, and took myself on a journey to discover how to deprogram my Western ideas of birth...

...I felt so relaxed that I figured it was just prelabour. At around 7am I started to feel disorientated and asked my mum to take my toddler out for breakfast, contractions were suddenly coming two minutes apart so I called my midwife.

I got in the bath and felt instant relief. There was now a definite desire to be vocal and I let out a loud but comical, sing-song "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" with each contraction. My husband and I joked that our son would enjoy imitating the noise.

It was about thirty minutes after I called the midwife. She hadn't arrived and my husband was in the kitchen making a cup of tea. I remember looking out the window at the sky during a powerfully intense contraction, feeling utterly euphoric. There was a mild stinging and I put my hand down wondering if I would feel the baby crowning - instead, to my amazement, I found his entire head had emerged...

Read the whole thing at essentialbaby.com.au

11 weeks

Well I am 11 weeks today and it seems that my nausea and extreme fatigue is becoming less - although now I will probably start worrying about them not being here as they have been reassuring signs of still being pregnant. I will be having the blood test for the NT scan done tomorrow morning and then Thursday week is the day for the big scan.

If all goes well from there then we will start telling people outside of the immediate family and close friends.

Two for Two

If the technology is correct, it appears that I'm two for two. Meaning, the swimmers only needed to be brought into their intended use twice, in my entire life.

With Genevieve, it was easy for us to pinpoint it. Without putting too fine a point on it, there was only one occasion (the weekend before we went on our trip around the world) where the dates indicated conception would have happened.

With the trip to Thailand, there were... err... many other possibilities, shall we say. ;) However, if the dates the ultrasounds come up with are to be believed, it was again a one shot deal.

So what does that mean? That we only had to do the deed twice in our entire parental journey? I prefer to think of it that was it all the practice that made gave us our 100% hit rate.