Home alone

Hi family and friends,

Early this morning I had to say goodbye to Jason as he is off to Australia for a week. Baby and I will miss him so much!

I had a midwife appointment on Friday. The best part was hearing baby's heartbeat, which was soooo nice and strong, especially compared to the last time I heard it with the doppler back in July, when it was quite soft and difficult to find.

I left the appointment pretty disgusted with the whole midwife system here. She doesn't seem to know anything, and honestly I don't even see the point of going to the appointments (I will, of course, continue to go). In the end - they aren't doctors, they aren't nurses, just people who take a midwifery course, so I guess I should keep my expectations pretty low. I brought up labor and birth and asked if we could start talking about my options, and she said I'd learn about them in my NCT class. NCT (National Childbirth Trust) is an organization in the UK that offers classes on pregnancy/ parenting, but it's something that is optional (most people who can afford it do it) and we paid £275 for. So the midwives should NOT be telling me I need to wait until these classes to talk about birth. The worst part of the appointment was when the midwife tried to take blood from me. She tried THREE times without success, stabbing me in the arm and moving the needle around trying to find a vein and said I had really difficult veins and would have to go to a clinic. I went directly to the clinic and when I told them what happened they said it was ridiculous as I have really really easy veins to find. Within 30 seconds they had the blood they needed. I asked other questions and she just didn't seem to know anything. Good thing I am a fairly intelligent person and read up on these things on my own. I've talked to some friends who have had kids recently and get the same general feedback from them about the whole process.

Anyway, that's my giant rant for the week. In other fun news, Jason and I ordered our pram yesterday morning, so in the next few weeks we should have it in our flat, all ready to transport our little baby!

How far along?: 28 weeks, 3 days - new bump picture on the right!
Total weight gain: I don't know as haven't stepped on the scale for ages... but last time I was at 23 gained. I'll just be happy if I can stick within the 25-35 range.... clearly on the higher end of that scale!
Pregnancy symptoms: Indigestion/ heartburn, my new least favorite friend. I'm pretty sure I've been getting Braxton Hicks contractions, that 'stitch' below my bump that I mentioned last week in the blog.
Sleep: Fine! I heart my giant pillow. Pillow's photo debut on the right.
Movement: Baby moves lots and lots. I love it. Jason gets to feel it all the time, although sometimes when I think baby is kicking/moving strongly he doesn't feel it. I think my layers of fat are growing thicker making it harder for baby to reach Dad's hand. (:
Food cravings/ weird crap I'm eating: I am eating a lot of almond croissants.
Gender/ names: We are officially down to 2 girl names and 2 boy names! All 4 of them are great. Not sure when we'll get it down to the final 1 and 1, but potentially within the next few weeks.
What I miss: Being skinny, but even as I type that I know I love my bump and am amazed by the little life growing inside me every day. It's pretty amazing, no matter what chaos it's caused my body.
Best moment this week: As we narrow our name search down I can really start to imagine having a child, not a nameless, faceless baby, but a little person, half me and half Jason, with a name and a personality and a nice little spot in our family.
Weekly Wisdom: Nothing too new here, just that I really really need lots of sleep each night (and often don't get enough!)
Milestones: baby can open her eyes and will turn her head towards the source of any continuous light. Fun! Also, baby is almost as long as she'll be at birth (about 7.5cm to go) - the next 11 weeks will just be about getting nice and fat. (:

Hope everyone has a great week!

- Chris

I love the couch.

Hi all! It was a good but long week for us. Back to work for the full week... tough. Jason has been working some pretty tough hours, and mine haven't been exactly easy (for me, anyway).

Yesterday we went to see Ben Hur Live at the O2 Centre. It was.... different. The best part might have been the chariot race at the end of the performance, but 'best' is a strong word, probably. Anyway, something different to do on a Saturday afternoon! We also went to Harrods yesterday to spend a few gift certificates left over from the wedding. Was really good fun! Had a long walk and that was us done for the day. Exhausting! Today we are looking forward to a really nice relaxing day at home. I have an exhaustion hangover.

Here's my update:

How far along?: 27 weeks, 3 days
Total weight gain: A pound more than last week. Like clockwork.
Pregnancy symptoms: getting slower. Sometimes when I'm on my feet for too long or walking too fast I feel a stitch or little bit of pressure right below my bump. That's when I know I need to slow up and sit down.
Sleep: Not too bad. Slept 10.5 hours last night and it was awesome. Made it 8 hours without a bathroom break!
Movement: Lots of movement! Felt and saw some good kicking last night while we watched a movie. It was Drumline and I think the baby liked the drumming. (:
Food cravings/ weird crap I'm eating: Can't think of anything crazy, although I'm sure my husband would have something to add here.
Gender: These days we are trying calling the baby a different name every day, to see what kind of ring it has to it. We're not making too much progress in the name department, but we still have a few months to get there.
What I miss: Having more than a few shirts and a few pairs of pants that fit me.
Best moment this week: spending £200 in gift cards at Harrods. Some useful baby stuff but mostly fun baby stuff. There were definitely smurfs involved. (: Oh yeah, and I'm looking at a bouquet of nice sunflowers Jason brought home last week. Nice husband!
Weekly Wisdom: when you buy a delicious pastry with your husband, do not, I repeat, do not eat it all the next morning without offering half (or even a bite) to said husband. It will get you in trouble, baby or no baby.
Milestones: baby could start dreaming this week. Baby is probably 2 and a quarter pounds and almost 15 inches from head to heels. Cute!

-Chris

Sunday update

Hi all! Here's my update for the week. We did a bit of baby shopping today - some clothes and little things like a little baby hairbrush and nail clippers.

Hope everyone is doing well!

How far along?: 26 weeks, 3 days
Total weight gain: 21 pounds. Wow. Still - within the 16-22 window given for this point in pregnancy..... but... wow.
Pregnancy symptoms: tired with intermittent back pain thrown in for good fun.
Sleep: I missed my giant maternity pillow in Mallorca! With it my sleep is not bad. Clearly still have the middle of the night bathroom breaks but that is the norm these days.
Movement: Baby was much more active when we were lounging by the pool in Spain, but I feel him really regularly and so does Dad. What's fun these days is feeling baby move from two different parts of my belly - we imagine baby stretching arms and legs at the same time. Cute!
Food cravings/ weird crap I'm eating: Again, not really things I didn't want pre-pregnancy, I just let myself eat it now. Chocolate with some peanut butter - yum! Home made reeses peanut butter cups. (:
Gender: Still no idea which it'll be. We are taking a break on the name conversations as we are at a bit of a stalemate... in 2 weeks we'll possibly try again and see if we can narrow it down to 2 names for each gender.
What I miss: grace
Best moment this week: huge baby acrobatics in Spain.... and in general hanging out in the sun by the pool. Ahhhhh.
Weekly Wisdom: got nothing.
Milestones: baby is 'breathing' - not air but yummy amniotic fluid. Also, baby's eyes are beginning to open.

love
Chris

Last day of 2nd trimester....

Wow - just read in one of my baby books that week 27 starts the 3rd trimester... so I am officially in the last few hours of trimester 2. Crazy! Time is officially flying by now and I can't help but think of all the stuff I have to do before baby arrives - at work to wrap up my current role and handover, to prepare for baby and a zillion other things like get a new visa so I don't get kicked out of the UK, new passport with new name, and lots more.

Baby was super active while we were in Spain. Little peanut cooperated really well and gave Dad plenty of great strong kicks... and me too. I love feeling baby move around and remind me she's there. Which is good, because otherwise pregnancy is causing total chaos in my body. My skin issues are unending... horrible veins, dry patches, lots of things that I will NOT go into as no one really wants to hear about them. Hanging out in a bathing suit for a week just reminded me of my extra layers of love. Diet starts in January?? This bundle of joy better be the cutest thing EVER! Just kidding... it's all worth it, etc etc. (:

A few Mallorca pics on the right, for your entertainment. We'll give our official update this weekend.

-Chris

Warm, sunny, beautiful Mallorca

Hi all

Just a quick n0te as we've neglected the blog (and anything online) since we've been enjoying a wonderful, relaxing, sunny week in Spain. The weather has been gorgeous. We are staying in a beautiful giant house with a ridiculously breathtaking view of the Mediterranean. W0w.

Baby has been enjoying our time in the pool greatly, and has likely been evesdropping on our very productive name conversations! After 2 major name negotiation sessions, we are down to 5 girl and 4 boy names. Tomorrow, our last full day here, will hopefully get us down to 1 or 2 finalists!

Must run now and help get dinner together! We will give a full report on baby status when we are back in London on Wednesday or Thursday.

love
Chris, Jason and baby