Thursday 27 November 2008

Can Coughing Dislodge My Baby? HACK! HACK!

Wow! Lashings of apologies for not posting sooner, all 4 of you which are following my blog. I have been near death with a chest infection, which was ghastly… I think my body was too busy with all the baby-building to help fight it off!

But I’m definitely on the mend, and everything is as it should be. Despite a small flutter of panic over the last few days wondering if there was any possibility that the severity of my horrible cough could somehow ‘dislodge’ the baby – yes, it was that bad – we are moving along quite nicely. I am feeling a bit ropey at the moment, the nausea is coming and going but I haven’t actually been sick yet… which is encouraging; I didn’t puke a lot with Ben and I’m hoping to be the same with this one. I’m also in the funny phase where I’m tired alllllllll the time. I could sleep anywhere, anytime, on anything at the moment. But all this is totally normal, and thankfully I have a very accommodating and understanding husband who has let me come in from work and just relax, while he runs around like a lunatic sorting out Ben, and baths, and laundry and meals. Bliss! What would I do without him?

We have been to see the midwife – the wonderful Lynnette. She was the midwife I had with Ben, and a kinder, more accommodating and helpful woman you will not find. First, a bit of background for the benefit of those across The Pond – here in the UK, people having babies are all handled by midwives, who work at the hospitals in partnership with obstetrics staff. My understanding is that in Canada, if you elect to use a midwife it’s still sort of seen as an ‘alternative therapy’ kind of thing, completely separate from regular hospital and family doctor. But here, it’s the norm.

And yes, the lovely Lynnette, Jason and I had a good hour together on Monday 17th November, filling in forms, etc. According to Lynnette, the baby will be due on 11th July 2009, but sometime during the week between Xmas and New Year, I will have my first ultrasound scan, at which they will measure the baby’s bits and pieces and decide, from how big he/she is, how pregnant I actually am. And then they’ll give me a definite due date. Lynnette took a gazillion phials of blood from me, which I wasn’t too keen on. But she was very gentle and complimentary (she said, “Ooh, haven’t you got nice veins?” to which I replied, “Er… thanks – I really like your hair!” Ha ha.)

So, basically we’re looking forward to the dating scan…which typically happens somewhere between 11 and 13 weeks. I remember how magical our first glimpse of Ben was – and I’m really looking forward to having a peek at this baby. Also, I’m waiting for my Maternity Exemption Certificate to arrive… here in the UK, while you’re pregnant and for a year after the baby’s birth, you get free prescriptions and dental care. Whoo hoo!! So needless to say, I have booked an appointment at the dentist for late January. There’s nothing like free treatment to take the sting out of dental work!

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Ben will be four years old in 3 days’ time. He’s a pretty bright kid, though I say so myself, and I think he’s pretty much grasped the idea that he’s going to be a big brother, because Mammy has a baby in her tummy.

Thankfully, we haven’t been posed with what I’m sure are the inevitable questions about how the baby is going to get out (yet!) but I think he ‘gets’ what’s going on, he is pretty perceptive.

Yesterday we were rolling around on the floor having a bit of a tickling session, and he got a bit boisterous so I said, ‘Mind the baby in Mammy’s tummy; be careful not to squash it too much.’

‘Can I see the baby?’ Ben asked, wide-eyed.

‘Not yet, ‘ I replied, ‘It’s still very, very small.’

‘But can the baby hear me?’ he wondered. ‘Can I talk to it?’

I said, ‘If you like…’

Without further ado he lifted up my t-shirt, but his face to my belly button and yelled, ‘HELLO BABY! MY NAME IS BEN!’

I laughed my head off; he seemed really keen to talk to his baby brother/sister.

Then he said, ‘Mammy, open your mouth wide.’ I dutifully obliged, only for him to peer inside and shout again, ‘HELLO? BABY? MY NAME IS BEN!!!’

Sunday 9 November 2008

We Need a Bigger House!


So, our baby is smaller than a tadpole, and already I'm fretting about where the hell I'm going to put stuff (or should I say, people) when he/she arrives.

Our bedroom is a little weird -- smack bang in the middle of one wall is a jutty-outy bit... it kind of looks like a column. For ages I didn't know what it was, and I presumed it was holding pipes or wires, etc. but then I realised it is the chimney flue for the fireplace in the living room directly beneath it downstairs. At the minute, there is enough room between this jutty-outy bit and the footboard of the bed to pass through, but as I get pregnant-er and pregnant-er, I won't fit through the gap. So just before I went to bed last night, I said to Jason, "We're going to have to put the bed on the opposite wall in a few months."

"Eh?" he said, creasing his brow. He didn't say anything for a second or two, and I thought he was formulating some feng-shui excuse to get out of it like needing to have his feet facing the river when he's asleep, or similar. "But then we'll have to move the shelf that the telly is on to the other wall."

"Yes, I know," knowing the thought of any DIY or household alterations give him hives, "But pretty soon I'm not going to be able to fit around my side of the bed."

And it's true -- I won't. I was looking at some pictures of myself from my first pregnancy last night, and I was giant. We're talking medicine-ball-stuffed-up-my-shirt giant. From the side, I looked like the prow of a ship, my bump jutting out at gravity-defying angle... and if I get another one of those, I am likely to wedge myself between the bedposts and the chimney.

Hilarious/horrific mental images invade the mind... the emergency services would have to be called. Maybe a local news crew would arrive. A crowd would gather.

"Put some butter on her sides!"

"You pull, I'll push!"

"Breathe in... and HEAVE! HEAVE! HEAVE!"

Ye gods! Sounds like labour!

Probably just safer to swap the bed around the other way, hm?

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Week 5



Well, aren't I sneaky? Here I am starting this pregnancy blog and publishing it for all and sundry... and yet we haven't really told anyone yet. We found out on Sunday that we are expecting Baby Number 2 around about 12 July 2009.

How did that happen, you say? Well... we have been sort of half talking about it for a while, and then in the last month or so, we realised that we were facing a pretty big age gap between Ben and his would-be brother/sister, so we thought we better get a move on. Ben is going to be 4 in two weeks (yeah... I'm not sure how THAT happened either!) so by the time Baby 2 comes he'll be almost 5, and that's just a good gap, I'd say.

So, we thought we'd give it a 'go'. I'll spare you the details, but needless to say we didn't exactly expect it to happen on the first attempt! Along comes Sunday morning (2 Nov 08) and Ben and I head off to Tesco to buy a test. I had a little feeling it might be positive, but I we bought a two-pack, I suppose as we were officially 'trying' it's better value for money, donchaknow. Anyway...
I did the test (pictured above) when we got back from Tesco and sure enough, before too long there came a plus sign in the window. I carried it into the bedroom and said to Jase, 'Well, I needn't have bothered wasting money on a two-pack.'

Whaaa?????????

Yep. So Jason told Ben, 'Mammy's got a baby in her tummy!' to which he furrowed his little brow, mashed his hand on my right boob and declared, 'Well, I can't feel any baby.' Heheheh... then asked if it was a girl baby or a boy baby, and we tried to explain to him about how we weren't sure, we didn't know, it's only the size of an apple seed and too little at the moment to tell, etc. etc. Then he said, 'I don't like girl babies. I'm a boy, and boys should have brothers. I want a boy baby called James.'

Well, we'll see about that! I'd like a little girl this time around, and I really want to find out the sex before he/she arrives but Jason doesn't want to. I guess I've got another 4 or 5 months yet to try and talk him round. For the moment, nothing much is happening, I don't have any symptoms yet or anything, no nausea or puking, I'm not really very tired like I was with Ben at the very beginning, but it's early days yet I suppose.

So watch this space! I hope you will enjoy my pregnancy blog. Don't worry; I won't go into the gory details and describe the consistency of my vomit or anything, but I thought it would be fun to capture my thoughts and feelings this time round. When I was having Ben, I always meant to keep a diary but was seemingly too busy sleeping/feeling like sleeping/feeling sick to get around to it.

Until next time...
n.
xo