After my last look at prams, I looked online for a bit of information and also spoke to a couple of other friends about prams and I’ve decided to go back and get that Mothers’ Choice pram that I like while it’s still on special at Target. I went to a target that is closer to me today but they happened to have sold out (maybe that’s a good sign it’s a good pram?) so I asked them to put one on hold for me at TTP to pick up tomorrow.

While I was talking to her I asked the lady’s advice also on car seats. I’ve been unsure whether to get a car seat or not, since Kaye has offered to lend me her baby capsule for the short time I’ll be here before I go to The Netherlands with Alexander. However I hadn’t figured out how to get around the fact that I’ll need something for on the way to the airport and I’ll also need a carseat immediately upon landing back in Australia, to go straight from the airport. If I borrowed the baby capsule, I would need to organise somehow to return it, then organise my mum or someone to purchase a car seat before I return.

I found out that most of the reversable car seats go from newbie to about 18kg, but I had no idea how old they’d be at 18kg. Apparently this is probably around 3 years or so, or if this baby takes after Alexander with his solid bone structure, that might be at about 2 years, lol. 😉

So while I was at Target, I asked the lady what was the difference between them, like for example there was a cheaper Mothers Choice car seat and also one for $300. She immediately pointed to the $300 one and said “Come back tomorrow cuz that one will be on special for $160, that rarely goes on special”.

Sounds like a deal to me! I’m sold….

I had heard that Toys R Us had a sale on nappies going, so today I decided to go have a look and also research prams a bit. It’s all a bit daunting trying to make a decision out of heaps of different pram types.

So after my classes I headed to Tea Tree Plaza, and after walking around the centre I realised that Toys R Us is actually in the other section in Tea Tree Plus, so I wandered around anyway and had a look at prams in Target. After looking at some of the prams I immediately fell in love with the Mothers’ Choice Cino pram, not sure why but I just liked it. I tried folding it and putting it back together again, not too successfully mind you. So I ended up asking the help of another mother wandering around with a pram and got it back together, lol.

After that, being a bit clueless about what to look for in a pram, I hi-jacked parents wandering around and asked them their opinion. I slowly began to assemble some information. I discovered that some of the smaller strollers, while they SAY that they’re suitable from newborn, they’re not really ideal. Yes you can use them for newborns, but non of the parents I spoke to would use them, they’d use a bigger one with more padding.

So when I finally got to Toys R Us I looked at their pram selection as well as hi-jacking more mothers for opinions. I’m quite glad I did this, cuz I learnt a lot! I didn’t like any of the prams in Toys R Us, and they didn’t have the Mothers’ Choice one that I liked…….except in a tandam stroller but let’s not go there!

I didn’t end up buying a pram though, just wanted to look and research a bit, but I did get 2 boxes of Huggies nappies (I’ve been told that Huggies are the only way to go. I like that sort of advice, I just want somebody to tell me which brands I should buy, lol). I also got a belly support band to hopefully help support the weight of my growing tummy.

I’ve just discovered the joys of baths when you’re pregnant! I normally hate baths and I dunno what compelled me to have one, but I suddenly had the desire to have a bath. My back has been aching quite a lot and once the water filled up the tub around me anI fell in love. It made me feel weightless and took the pressure off my back.

I ended up staying in the bath last night for a couple of hours I think, till I got cold and went wrinkly, but I ended up having a great sleep and felt so much better the next morning and with less back pain. It was fantastic! I think I’m gonna have these more often now!

Saw my obby again today, and the midwife told me that my blood test results from 2 weeks ago were fine, and she said that whatever I’m doing with my diet to keep it up. Which is good, cuz apart from the copious amounts of chocolate, my diet is pretty damn healthy! Although I’m craving a lot of dairy tops foods right now, or anything with high calcium. I can only assume my body really really needs it right now.

The obstetrician was great, I asked her why everyone keeps telling me I’m so small in size and she said it’s cuz I’m tall I just cover it up better and also cuz I haven’t put on excess weight. That’s nice hearing that from her, since I feel like I’ve put on weight, but I guess I haven’t put much on in reality. Baby’s head was down this time when examined my belly, although I think it’s still too early for that to mean anything. At the end of the appointment she said “ok you can get up now” (I was laying down on the bed), and I was feeling so tired that I said “oh do I have to?” She laughed and joked about turning the light off and leaving me there, lol.

I’ve been not sleeping the best these days, which seems to be completely normal at around the stage I am now at 30 weeks. I sleep well initially (once I get comfy), but then after 5 or 6 hours I get up for the loo which is ok. But where I’d normally go back to sleep I find it hard to get comfy again. Rolling over isn’t quite so easy anymore, and I can’t sleep on my stomach, I’d like to sleep on my back but then I can’t breathe properly (and it’s not good for baby) and I end up aching lying on my side. Then baby kicks me and so I can’t sleep. Then I get starving hungry, so I get up and eat something (my smaller stomach seems to need LOTS of small meals now) and drink cuz I’m so thirsty in this hot weather. Try to go back to bed. Baby kicks. Get up go to the toilet. Can’t get comfy. Get thirsty again….

Eventually I give up and ring Alex and see what he’s doing, lol.

Also, REALLY great news, my 1 hour labour talk I was supposed to have with the obstetrician was booked for 17^th April, but since Alexander is now confirmed to be arriving in Adelaide on the 20^th, we’ve switched the labour talk to my next appointment on the 22^nd April so that he can be there too (which hopefully he’ll be as excited about as I am, lol)!

Ouch, the combatter is back! The baby has been back kicking in full force again, waking me at nights and this morning in pump insisted on practising walking. I’m not 100% sure what the baby was doing, but whatever it was didn’t feel particularly nice………..kicking me where it hurts. Normally when I start doing classes the baby rests, but not this morning! All during pump  I got kicked in the same uncomfortable spot, and right at the end of lunges when I stopped and put my feet together, I was in the middle of saying something and instead came out “Ow, I wish the baby would stop doing that!”

The members laughed and a few of them wouldn’t stop smiling. I said “what you smiling at? It’s not funny, it’s hurts!” and one of them said “we can see it, it’s incredible”.

That took me by surprise and made me smile……..I didn’t know they’d actually be able to see the kicking going on! 🙂

Had my appointment today which also included the Glucose Challenge Test, which involves drinking some straight glucose and having a blood test an hour later. I also had to have my Anti-D injection in my arm which wasn’t fun dealing with 2 injections considering the glucose made me feel a bit sick (apparently it’s normal for it to make you feel nauseous).

Anyway, all was fine, baby’s heartbeat and she also did a brief ultrasound. Baby is currently head up butt down, but this means nothing as baby still has enough room to regularly change positions. It was really reassuring to see everything is fine though, and apparently worried phone calls like mine are quite common. It seems that about this stage, you get used to the kicks, so you tend to stop noticing the small kicks……….so when you don’t remembering feeling a kick for ages it’s normal to suddenly panic. My obstetrician (who was really wonderful and understanding) said to me to feel free to ring the hospital I’m booked into at any time if I’m ever worried. They’ve always got midwives there around the clock.

My blood pressure was a bit higher than it usually is, but since it’s normally low it means it’s risen to a horribly normal level, so nothing wrong with that, lol. She’s also reassured me with some questions I’ve had regarding flying with a baby, since Alexander and I are currently looking into flights for him to come here and for both of us to return to The Netherlands later, so I’m now armed with extra info about what to expect.

I was also let her know how incredibly tired I’ve been. It seems that even after 8 hours sleep, I wake up feeling like wanting to go back to sleep and I spend the entire day exhausted. I know I’ve got some stressful things going on, and being pregnant isn’t easy, but I wasn’t sure if it was normal to feel like this? The blood test I had will check my iron levels as well just in case, but she basically said it’s quite normal to feel so tired. She also feels that it’s an extra culture shock for me, cuz I’m so accustomed to being fit, healthy and energetic, so slowing down isn’t an easy thing for me.

So it’s all exciting and all happening! My appointments with the Obstretician increase to every 2 weeks now. I think either this week or next week I’m officially into the third trimester.  Not really sure if the third trimester begins at the beginning of week 28, or the end of week 28?

I woke up last night in the middle of the night, but ended up unable to sleep again as I was still worried about the lack of much movement from the baby. I did feel some soft kicks which was reassuring, but not any of the usual combat sessions I get going on.

Unable to sleep and a little bit upset I rang Alexander and we spoke for a while which helped relax me and take my mind off it. So basically I didn’t end up sleeping between 3am and 7am. I finally went back to sleep again and then later in the morning I DID wake up to the baby kicking quite hard, with one of the sessions that I haven’t seemed to feel for days. This reassured me heaps, but I decided to ring the midwives at my Obstetricians office anyway.

They said that as long as I was getting 10 movements a day then everything is fine and it’s normal for the baby to have some quieter days. I honestly can’t remember over the last few days, cuz I’ve been so active with the Adelaide workshop, plus inspection on my house……..then I slept most of Tuesday cuz I was so tired. She said if I got dehydrated at all that could make the baby more sluggish.

Also while I talking to her I discovered that my next appointment is actually tomorrow, which I didn’t realise! Somehow I’ve lost a few days in my mind. So tomorrow I’ll get checked out and I also get my 28 week blood test (which includes the Glucose Challenge Test) plus afterwards I have to have my anti-D injection (due to incompatibility between mine and Alexander’s blood type).

So tomorrow I have to go to Clinpath laboratories first, drink a glucose drink…….then go across the road to the Obstetrician and see her……..then go back to Clinpath and have the blood test an hour after the drink……….THEN go back to the Obstetrician and have my anti-D injection.

oh, I love injections………NOT!

Mind you, I’m looking forward to this blood test just to make sure everything is ok with the baby………maternal instinct is too strong!

Maybe I’m being paranoid I dunno, but it seems the last couple of days I can’t remember the baby kicking quite as often as usual. I know that there’s supposed to be periods of less and more activity, but now I’ve got myself worried cuz I can’t remember when I last felt the baby kick? My poor memory is compounding my worries.

I seem to be sleeping so much the last couple of days aswell, so maybe the baby is active while I’m fast asleep and it hasn’t woken me? Although I did have a tiring weekend and didn’t always sleep well, over the last 2 days I’ve been pretty much getting 8 hour sleeps, PLUS sleeping 2-3 hours in the afternoon. I guess the heat hasn’t helped much either.

At the end of the day though, I can get over being tired, but I just hope the baby is ok. Cuz I wasn’t sure I looked up some info on a pregnancy website and started reading about the horrible process if the baby dies. I didn’t know this could happen! I wish I didn’t read it now. On the other hand, I think it’s natural for every pregnant woman to worry about these things, so maybe I’m just worrying about nothing. I’ve made a mental note though to try and remember the next time baby kicks.

well, I was at my horse vet’s place yesterday fixing her printers and computer for her and she tried to get out of me the sex of the baby. I refused to tell her (cuz we’re keeping it a secret) and so as a joke she threatened to get out the horse ultrasound unit and scan me….lol.

So, just for fun we did 😉

I was holding the scan bit while she adjusted the buttons on the unit and I have to say that doing an ultrasound is a hell of a lot harder than it looks! I was standing up which probably didn’t help and it wasn’t as strong or as good quality as the hospital scans, but it was still kinda cool trying to figure it all out. The conversation between us was kinda amusing:

Mel: oh wow look that’s cool!
Vet: yeah it’s awesome isn’t it
Mel: I wonder what part we’re looking at?
Vet: I dunno….

hehe…….EVENTUALLY we found the head, quite low down and we did find the heartbeat and the baby’s spine. We never found the legs though, so no chance to peek between the legs. 🙂

It’s incredible how you can move the thingy and still be looking at the same picture. I didn’t quite get it. And if you move the thingy up and down, the picture goes side to side………….I think?

I have a new found respect for sonographers though, they make it look so easy. Guess they know what they’re looking for.

The last week or so the kicks I’ve been getting from the baby have started to take on a regular pattern. It’s not just the odd kick here or there anymore! Now I’m definitely feeling them regularly everyday. It’s kinda nice having them, although sometimes it gets mildly distracting. Especially when baby decides to kick when I’m trying to sleep.

But most of the time it’s a really reassuring feeling and it helps me when I’m feeling alone without Alex.

As per my regular blog I met with some of the forum members and Janne brought along her Doppler machine so we could listen to the baby’s heartbeat. I have been able to hear the baby’s heartbeat with the obstetrician but it was awesome to be able to share this with Alex. 

We captured this moment (55.5 meg) with the video function on my digital camera.

It was a lot of fun to be able to hear the heartbeat, although Vicki kept teasing me about there being two babies (to which I kept trying to hit her)! There is definitely only one, to which Janne assured me that my uterus is at the right height (at my belly button) for one baby.

Then my belly embarrassed me by making some tummy rumbles, which through the Doppler sounds very ……….er……..ahem, well……..you can hear what I mean for yourself on the video. Just go easy on me, it was just a tummy rumble ok!

I finally had my ultrasound which I was looking forward to finding out the sex of the baby!

I invited mum to come along with me, so she got to enjoy the experience aswell. Both of us felt the same way about the sonographer (that’s what they’re called aren’t they?) who was pretty emotionless. I was trying to ask questions about things as she did the scan and she just replied with short answers and no enthusiasm and didn’t want to give me any info. At one point I asked her where the placenta was and she would just say “I haven’t looked at that yet” then when I asked later she said “I’m just looking at it now” and then I asked is that the placenta and she’d reply “I’m just looking around the outside of it” with absolutely no emotion. In the end I gave up asking and she never told me where it was….grrr.

We found out the sex of the baby which was quite exciting! Although the sonographer was a wet towel about that too. I asked her how sure she was and she just said “We can never guarantee 100%”, and I told her I realised that but I just wanted to know how confident she was to which she again replied “we can never guarantee 100%”.

Geesh, she was like I robot. I think people in that sort of job should have more personality than that!

Then there was a point where she walked out and said she was showing something to the doctor. She gave me very little explanation and then the doc came back and they were both looking at the scan. I didn’t know if this was normal procedure or not and I wasn’t sure if something was wrong. They didn’t explain anything to me and eventually at the end the doctor smiled and said “great, everything is fine”. Although the doctor didn’t address me much, she at least had more personality than the other lady!

Despite all this, I was still excited by the scan. I just couldn’t believe the attitude. It might be a common task for her but this is an exciting time for us!!!

I did get another DVD though which is only a part of the scan. The entire scan was about 40 mins, but the attached mpg is only about 15 mins or so.

And no………the critical bit where they look “between the legs” isn’t on there 😉
That info is a secret except to close family.

18 week scan (71.6 meg – itunes format)

I’ve been having huge predicaments lately about what to have for dinner, I just don’t seem to want the stuff that I’d normally cook!!!! I tend to mull around the kitchen trying to decide what to have. My latest “phase” seems to be canned soups with toast…….hmmmm (thanks Jo). Except today I’d already had one of those for lunch.

Been going through the usual “dunno what to eat, therefore I’ll have some chocolate” mood, so tonight while I was cleaning I found a little book that I’d bought when I started my last job. It’s a recipe book on “lunches”. I was just browsing through it and it’s mainly sandwiches and soups and odd stuff.

However, I found this really odd salad that I wouldn’t like. Chickpeas, tomato, olives, capsicum, onion, cucumber, parsley………with a dressing and tzsatiki (however you spell it!). I didn’t have the tzsatiki and so I just used the lemon juice and olive oil as the dressing (the recipe had some extra herbs) and I managed to find a can of chickpeas sitting in the cupboard.

I can’t stand olives in salads, and I’ve never really had chickpeas before, but despite that….yum!

gawd it’s fun being pregnant! 😆

dammit, I shoulda got some more chocolate icecream today while I was at the shops, that would have been just perfect to top it off……….grrrrr.

I wasn’t supposed to see the obstetrician till next week, but I got in for an early appointment with her today cuz I’ve been having some dizzy spells and been pretty stressed out. It’s probably nothing to worry about, but cuz I’ve only got a bit over a week before I board the plane I’ve been getting a bit anxious with all the stressful stuff that’s been happening.

When I had my appointment I saw the midwife first and cuz of what I’ve been through I had to struggle to hold back the tears. I managed, but then as soon as she left I burst into tears. So I was a bit teary still when the obstetrician came in. She was really relaxed and reassuring, she’s really comforting to have as an obstetrician. She gave me some advice and stuff and we listened to the baby’s heartbeat again which was reassuring.

As it turned out my blood pressure was 120/50 which probably explains my dizziness. I’ve never had it before when 1 number is quite a lot lower than the other, normally I find they go up and down together. I know a little bit about the difference between the numbers in blood pressure, but I don’t really know the affect they have.

I asked the obstetrician if I should keep my next appointment and she said keep it for now in case I have some last minute panicky questions before I leave overseas. She said I can cancel if I don’t feel I need to see her. It felt fantastic that she made it ok for me to come see her for whatever reassurance I need.

I’ve got my next ultrasound next week aswell on the Friday, so that’ll be exciting. Hopefully we’ll be able to find out the sex of the baby!

I received a phone call today from the Obstetrician, and it’s all ok to have my scan just before I leave for NL, which will put me at just over 18 weeks pregnant. I’m leaving Sunday and so I’ll have the scan on the Friday just before I go.
Wow, I can’t believe it’s only 3 weeks till I go! I so looking forward to being in my loved one’s arms again 😉

I’ve just edited and uploaded the pics for the week by week section for pregnancy weeks 12, 13 and 14 (I’m now 14.5 weeks pregnant) and I have to say it’s left me feeling a little bit down.

I’m trying hard not to, but it’s getting really hard to come to terms with my change in body shape. I keep telling myself it’s for all the right reasons, but I still can’t help but feel a bit of dismay. My weight is something I’ve had to work hard for I guess (ever since the day I injured my back and put on weight), so it feels horrible to suddenly feel like I’m getting it all back again.

I feel so hungry all the time and it reminds me of the days when I used to be terrible with controlling my diet and binge eating too much. Again, I KNOW that I’m hungry cuz I’m growing a baby, but I can’t help it affecting me, I don’t know how to not let it affect me emotionally.

But I know to do the right thing and there’s a baby growing. In 6 months time I know I can work hard at getting it all back again.

Had my obstetrician appointment today. It was fairly brief, she listened to the baby’s heartbeat (I could hear it too!) and measured my stomach.

We’re waiting to find out what Alex’s blood type is so that we know whether I need to have anti-D injections or not. If he’s a Rh+, then I’ll need them since I’m RH-.  I also found out from my blood test that I don’t have aids, nor any other STD. That’s quite reassuring to know, lol.

My next scan I’m supposed to have between 19-20 weeks pregnant, but I’ll be flying out to NL when I’m 18.5 weeks, so at the moment I’m waiting to find out if I can have the scan earlier. My obstetrician needs to ring the ultrasound clinic and speak to the manager there, cuz the initial response was “no”. My obstetrician (who shares the same name and birthday as me!) assures me that it won’t be any problem.

Spoke to her about my intention to travel overseas, and she’s given me the name of a safe anti-nausea medication that I can take while I’m flying, so I’m happy about that.

All in all it was a fairly brief, but reassuring appointment.

I’m going through a vegemite and toast phase at the moment. I know they talk about these “cravings”, but it’s not quite like you’d expect it to be. So that’s why I’m calling them food moods instead……..a period of time, possibly days, where you just want nothing else but that same food.

What will it be tomorrow…. 😆

I just ate 8 small vegetarian sushi’s…….then an hour later and got 3 large vegetarian sushi rolls.

I don’t even like sushi! 😯

Apparently, according to Jo,  evidence proves with regards to determining whether a baby will be male or female, that if you have heaps of sushi, it means I’m definitely, 100% absolutely, am having either a male or female
baby!!!

So I had my next scan which was to screen for the likelihood of down syndrome, and typical pregnancy brain struck again.

I lost my referral for the ultrasound and so I was a bit stressed and up till past midnight trying to find it. No luck. I couldn’t quite remember where the clinic was, but I knew it was right near my Obstetricians. So great plan in mind, I leave slightly earlier and go to Obstetrican, get another referral and on to clinic. Plan worked well initially, got to the clinic for my appointment at 8.45am………..which they then informed me it was actually at 8.25am (ugh, well I couldn’t be blamed too much since I lost the referral letter, with the appointment time, remember 😉 at least I got the right day!). But they were fine to do my scan anyway.

Thought it was quite amusing that it didn’t take long for the receptionist to work out that she had done my balance classes before. Small world huh?

Anyway, on to the scan. I hadn’t been able to remember exactly how much I was supposed to drink before the scan, but I knew I was supposed to have a full bladder. In the mornings liquid seems to go straight through me and I fill up quickly, so I was careful with how much I drank. I had 1 glass about 7.30am, then I had sips of water from my drink bottle on the way. I was busting by the time I got there, although that doesn’t always mean much, cuz baby seems to press on my bladder all the time.

Sooo, when I got there the scanner lady asked me if I’d had 2 glasses of water 1 or 2 hours beforehand……….ugh, not really, but I said I was busting. She was worried and said I may need to wait if my bladder wasn’t full enough. Turned out there was absolutely no worry, cuz my bladder actually matched how I felt…….it was very full!

The scan was beautiful, it’s amazing seeing bubs on the screen. Wasn’t quite as active this time and I think baby might have been snoozing. If baby takes after mum and dad that’d be no surprise that it’s not a morning person!

The problem only came when scanner lady needed to measure the back of the neck for the down syndrome screening thingy. Baby was in the wrong position, so she starts poking my belly trying to get baby to move. No luck. Neck, she has me doing different things to make baby move……..lift up my hips and drop them suddenly on the bench, rotate hips vigorously side to side and then finally she got me to go to the loo to empty HALF my bladder (do you know how HARD this is?).

All to no avail. Baby was fast asleep it seems. It’d move for a bit but then roll right back over into the same position. So more vigorous hips rolls and lifts, laying on my side, another trip to the loo to empty HALF my bladder again (????). Finally it seems we managed to get baby in the right position for the measurement.

Scanner lady commented that our baby was being stubborn……..doesn’t sound like it’s mum or dad at all! 😆

The good news is at the end of this all, not alone did we get a little bit of it on DVD, but also there’s a very low risk of down syndrome, so no need to do further testing. YAY!

Download Video in itunes format (16 meg)