A Belly Photo - 15 weeks 3 days

Here is the first official (published) belly photo. I am actually in shock because I look the same as I did at 20 weeks with Josh.

I think I felt the first movements on Easter morning while waiting for Kel to wake up. I was just lying there and I felt little bubble movements... but then again, it could have been gas!!!
But I did feel it again this morning.

Today I was sorting out all the baby clothes into different sizes. It was so weird to look at all these tiny clothes that Josh used to wear, and I could even remember the first time he wore some of the outfits, or I knew straight away what size it was.

We will definitely be right if we have another boy! We have got Josh and Riley's old clothes. We do have a few girls outfits that we had bought last time, or that used to be Hayley's. But anyway, girls can wear blue right???

We really don't need any bibs... I think we have got enough to wear three a day for a month before we would have to wash any! And we have lots of hats, and HEAPS of shoes (thanks to Riley's donation).

Fifteen weeks - and maternity pants already!!!

I am in shock today... I went to get dressed this morning and the pants that I wore one week ago don't fit me anymore. So I had to get out my maternity pants! I am only fifteen weeks and already wearing maternity clothes!!! My belly has just popped right out over the weekend. The other thing that is wierd is that my old maternity pants were too big! Like, even the thighs were baggy, so I must have lost weight since I was pregnant with Josh - strange because back then I was going to aerobics twice a week, and all I have been doing this time is going for a walk at lunch time. I haven't put on any weight yet, but I have a bigger belly and boobs!

I have been doing lots of reading lately. A book that I just finished was called "You don't have to have a repeat cesarean". Reading that book has made me feel confident that I should be able to attempt a VBAC. I read in two places that when a baby is brow presentation it is impossible to deliver naturally! It makes me wonder why they couldn't work that out earlier for me. And having a posterior baby (the baby's back on my back) makes for a very difficult labour. I knew last time from 38 weeks that Josh was posterior but they didn't tell me anything to do to try and get him to turn around. I have now read a whole heap of stuff about 'Optimal Fetal Positioning' to encourage a baby into the right position. The most important thing is to sit with my back perfectly straight - not slouched. Since I spend most of my waking life sitting down (at work and on the train) I had better keep that one in mind.

Everybody Knows!

On Wednesday we had our 12 week scan. It went really well, and the Ultrasound (US) guy was very good. He obviously loves his job - he just got so excited when the baby moved around!

I can't believe how much the baby has grown in three weeks! It has arms legs now, and was rolling around onto it's stomach, then back onto it's back.

Then we headed for the OB. It was a long wait this time, and a pretty uneventful visit, except for us trying to talk him into giving us a referal for the US so we didn't have to pay the $60.

The next US is at 18-19 weeks. Then we see the OB a week after that.

Today I finally told everyone at work. I printed a copy of the US and put it on my wall at my desk. It took two hours for anyone to notice (that is what it is like working with a bunch of guys!!!). And of course they noticed when I wasn't there! Lenise said that she thought that I was the week before, and another couple of girls made the same comment! So I guess I couldn't hide it much longer anyway! I actaually got sprung on my lunch break last week by someone from work while I was looking at baby stuff at Big W! Luckily I think she just thought I was looking at stuff for Josh, coz she was there buying stuff for her boy.

Nothing much else to report... no morning sickness, I have started to put away the clothes that I won't be wearing for a while, and I bought a few pairs of pants and loose tops.

Ten Weeks

Well things have been plodding along nicely. Slowly we have told more people. Now I just have to tell the people at work. Though they probably have started to guess already - we had a drinks night on Friday night and I was asked why I wasn't drinking. I said that I was trying to be healthy. I don't think they bought that one! I will probably tell them in a couple of weeks time, when we hit the twelve week mark.

I told the rest of the family at Ben and Anna's wedding. I wasn't going to, but I had been getting some comments - I actually think this was the world's worst kept secret! And it turned out that half the people at the wedding knew and were coming up and saying congratulations, so after all the formal wedding stuff, I told the future great-grandparents the news.

I have been taking a photo each week in the same position in the same clothes, so I will be able to see how I grow each week. This week I think the belly is really starting to show, my pants have been getting tight, especially by the end of the day. Oh and those nightly toilet breaks have started already. It seems to be 2am every morning.

I think I will go and update Josh's website now, and put in a link to Blob's website. How exciting, it means I might actually get some comments to my messages!

I can see you Blob!

Today we had our first scan - to try and work out dates. I was amazed to see proof that there really is something in there! Blob certainly lived up to it's name - looking like not much more than a blob with little buds for arms and legs. The sonographer was able to show us a beating heart, a stomach, a bladder, the cord and we even saw the baby move a little bit. I am in awe that all this has already been created at 9 weeks and 2 days of age - that is the date that came up after he did the measurements. So that means I am a little bit ahead of where I thought I was... hmmm interesting.

Here is a photo - the very first photo of Blob!

Checking out the facilities

We are coming along nicely at about 8 or so weeks now. I have been to see Dr Samuels on Thursday. We had a nice chat about birthing options - I don't think that I have mentioned yet that I am hoping to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After cesarean). A lot of people think along the old lines of "Once a caesar, always a caesar" but there has been a lot of change in that area in the last twenty years. I have been doing lots of research so I know all my options. I can probably go into that another day, today I just wanted to talk about my first OB (obstetrician) visit, and the visit to the hospital.

Dr Samuels is a man who looks like he is in his 50's and he has a strange accent that we can't quite place. The best part is that he fully bulk bills all his visits and the ultrasounds. He told me that we can talk about VBACs more when we get closer to 30 weeks. Hopefully this baby won't be posterior (babies back lying against my back) or big (like Josh was). Otherwise it is quite likely that I will have an elective cesarean.

I am booked in for an ultrasound next Wednesday to try and work out dates. They aren't too sure of dates at the moment and they want to nail it down a bit more accurately. I'm not really too fussed about the dates, but I will be very happy to catch an early glimpse of Blob.

Today we took a tour of the Bacchus Marsh Hospital, where we are planning on going this time around. I really wanted a change of scenary from Werribee, plus Bacchus Marsh is a lot quieter, and I am more likely to get a room to myself. They have two birthing suites (with double beds) which look like hotel rooms. They are new rooms built last year. Then there are two labour rooms, which are pretty basic rooms to have the baby in. Then after the baby is born, you spend 24 hours in the birthing suite, then you are moved to the ward. It sounds like a lot of moving around to me, but anyway... Another plus about Bacchus Marsh is you don't have to pay for parking! And it is only 15 minutes drive from our house.

Those wierd pregnancy dreams!

You have got to laugh at some of the dreams you have when you are pregnant. I was reading over some that I had with Josh the other day. I'm glad that I wrote them down, because there is no way that I could remember those dreams now!

I had a dream last night that I was hugely pregnant, and the baby was pressing its face against my stomach so you could see the impression through the skin. Then I told Kel to get a camera. While he was gone, suddenly the baby was lying on my belly, it was a girl with dark chin length straight hair, and she looked like she was a two year old! I put her on the boob for a feed and she started talking to me, complaining that I was doing it wrong!!! Cheeky thing!!! I was not happy that I had given birth to a 2 year old!!!

I'm about 7 weeks now, nothing much happening yet... I have been getting up to pee the last couple of nights, and I have been more hungry, but that is about all. Oh and I think I noticed a new stretch mark yesterday. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but I was in the change room at Target with all those mirrors and lights. It is a darker colour than the other ones. Boo hoo, I guess that I will be getting lots more of those over the next 8 months.

Big Brother

Over the weekend we told most of the family (and a few friends) about Blob. Kel made a thirt for Josh that said "I'm gunna be a big brother". Then we just let Josh tell everyone! It was funny waiting for them to notice the tshirt!

I'm at the weird stage now where it doens't feel real. I haven't really got any symptoms yet, so I just keep hoping that everything is ok. At least when you get morning sickness you know everything is ok!

Tick Tick

Here is my ticker. It will tell you how many days along the little blob is.
Hopefully if it works properly, you should be able to come back to this over and over and it will be on the current date.

Hmmm only 246 days left according to my ticker! That just seems like so long away! Not much has changed on the outside, nobody else can tell that there is a little Blob growing in me... but I have noticed that my sense of smell is really sensitive at the moment, my back is aching (not sure why) and my boobs are sore!

A funny thing happened at work today. Well I should start at the start... I woke up in the middle of the night with the feeling that somebody was poking me in the ribs from the inside. It hurt and it was keeping me awake for about an hour. I asked Dan at work about it (coz he is studying to be a nurse), but I didn't mention the fact that I am pregnant. I will tell them at about 12 weeks. Anyway, he took my blood pressure, and it was good, and he suggested that maybe I was pregnant and that the baby was trying to get out! :) So funny, I will have to tell him that story in another 8 weeks!!!

Introducing - The Blob

Wow - This is my first entry for Blob's Blog. Today is the 1st February 2006, and at 5am this morning, after waking up with a bursting bladder, I did a pregnancy test. It was a test left over from last month, because I just didn't believe the tests last month and ended up using three before I actually believed that it was negative. Anyway, this time I wanted to make sure there there would be no need for squinty eyes, or magnifying glasses, so I waited until day 35. It was a mean feat, and I must thank my buddies and chocolate for helping through it! I did the test, and I swear it was only 30 seconds later that this bright pink line showed up! Amazing! What is even more amazing is that the faint line in the test is the 'control' line, and the dark line is the 'test' line. So there is no doubting this test result!!! Not that I needed to test anyway... I had a feeling that this was the month for us.

I took some measurements today - my vital stats, so that I can compare them when I get big and fat. The main ones are: 63.2kg, and a bellybutton measurement of 86.5cm.

Oh and if you are wondering, we are due in October 2006. That is all I am giving away... since nothing is set in stone anyway, and I have been known to go 10 days overdue anyway!

It feels so weird that by the end of this year we will have another addition to our family. I have already started to get ready, by doing up the back room for Josh. We will leave his room as the nursery and move him into the back room when he goes into a 'big bed'. Now that will be an adventure!