21 Weeks

Well all that anticipation, waiting and wanting to reach the half way point, and another week has marched on by! Not that I am complaining.

We had the Morphology Scan yesterday, and it was nothing short of fantastic! Mum, Cameron and I really enjoyed it. It was so good to see bubs and see how much s/he had grown.

We weren't tempted in the slightest to find out if bubs is pink or blue, and that is lucky because bubs had their little legs crossed.

The lady who did the scan was so lovely right from the minute she called my name, she explained everything very clearly and was very reassuring, just what worry wart like me needs!

We all had a good laugh throughout the scan joking about things and of course that made my belly move so the screen went all wobbly. When we left the lady said how much she enjoyed doing the scan so that was good, I also thanked her profusely as this was a much nicer experience than the 12 week scan.

Bubs slept through most of the scan which was good, much easier for her to get the pictures and be able to look at things clearly.

She was very thorough, particularly with bubs heart in light of the complications that Bronte was born with.

She said though that everything looks great and she could see no reason for there to be any problems, in short don't stress Jess, relax and enjoy the ride.

I have my appointment on Monday at the antenatal clinic to go through all the resultTowards the end of the scan bubs woke up and had a drink, so cute! I didn't realise that bubs drink the amniotic fluid.

At one point bubs had their hands up to their face, must be their favourite position as hands were there quite a bit, and the head disapeared and all you could see was this little hand there as if waving to us.

All in all it was just magical, and I am still so amazed by the whole experience, I still cannot believe that this little person is growing inside of me.

Here are a few pics they aren't real clear but you get the idea.

Cameron also collected our pram from the Post Office yesterday. I ordered it online and I am so happy with it. It is such fantastic quality, we also got a matching nappy bag which is also excellent quality.

The only thing that concerns me a little is that the wheels on the front don't turn so I think it may be a little difficult to steer, I am sure I will get used to it thought.

No More Sleeps

Well today is the day.....

I can't believe the day I have been waiting for and dreaming of is finally here.

Last night I lay in bed with Cameron snoring beside me, running through 100's of scenarios of how today might play out in my head. Both good and bad, I can't help it, sometimes I really can be a glass half empty person. This is something I need to work on.

I slept a lot better last night than I was expecting too after it took me a long time to fall asleep, all that nervous energy!

I bounced out of bed this morning when my alarm went off at 5:00am instead of hitting snooze for 20 mins and then dragging myself out of bed.

I am sitting here at 6:07am typing this, so far this morning I have:

• Put a load of washing on


• Folded and put away washing that was hanging on airer


• Done a load of dishes (I couldn't be bothered last night after having dinner after getting home from uni)


• Cleaned living area


• Considered turning on vacuum, however decided against it incase I wake the neighbours!

Of course I have also showered and done my hair, having a shower is the first thing I must do in the morning, I cannot function until I have done that. am so glad I am going to work this morning before my scan otherwise I think I would go crazy.

My appointment is at 2:30 so I am working until 12:00 meeting Cameron and Mum at home and then we are going to the hospital.

I thought it would be fun to add some random old photos that are sitting on my computer to my posts for a while, so here goes.

This photo is a photo of my Mum and I, that night we were going out with family for dinner and to listen to a band that Mum assured me played all sorts of music, turns out it was all OLD country music!

This photo was taken of Cameron and I before my cousins 21st birthday party, I cannot believe how young we look!This was a photo of my brother and I on the same night.

Oh BTW these photos weren't taken in 2003 silly camera! They were in September of 2006. These were taken at our little 2bdrm unit that we rented, our first home together, loved that little place.

Well I better go and put this nervous energy to good use. I can hear the duster calling my name, so is the study mind you!

2 More Sleeps

Wow I cannot believe we have reached and passed the half way mark, how time fly's!

It is now only 2 more sleeps until my Morphology Scan I guess I am nervously excited and a tad anxious that something may be a miss. However I will try to stay positive unless I am given a real reason not to be.

All in all our weekend away was nice. Racing was a bit of a waste of time as firstly the gear lever snapped so they had to do a mad dash into town to have it re-welded and then rush back to fit it before the first race, and then the gearing was all out so they were underpowered and the bike couldn't get any drive off the line, and then lastly the back tyre was ready to pop! So they ended up calling it a night before the last race.

At least it wasn't bitterly cold like last time.

Still it was lovely to get away and spend some time with family, especially Cooper he is just precious. All weekend when he would give me a kiss he would give me two and say one for the 'baaaby' was just so cute.
Mum tricked him into giving her 2 kisses by saying and one for the baby, after he did he said "you silly Nana, you don't have a baaaby'

Every time I see Cooper it doesn't matter what may be happening in my world, he never fails to bring a smile to my face and make my heart melt, I can't imagine how I will feel with my own, to think that I will feel stronger love in a different way for our own child just blows me away, I think also because I was there when Cooper was born and have been there a lot ever since he is just so precious to me.

So here is a couple Cooper pics, just because.
These were taken at the motel.

And here are a couple belly pics. I forgot to take one at 20w so here is one at 20w 1d on Friday morning before we left. Ignore the goofy expression.

And this one was taken Friday night in our motel room.These pyjamas hold a great deal of significance to me. My SIL brought them for me when I was pregnant with our angel baby, they have a lovely roll down waist and are ideal pregnancy pyjama pants. By the time she gave them to me at Christmas time I was no longer pregnant and I didn't want to wear them until I was again pregnant with a baby belly. So I popped them away in my pyjama draw and each time I opened the draw to get something out I would gaze at them and dream of the day I could wear them, I have tears welling in my eyes now thinking about it. To see that photo of me in those pants just makes me so happy, my dream is coming true I am going to be a Mum. Ok I will stop being dramatic now!

People comment to me that I have quite a big belly for the stage of my pregnancy, but do you know what I really don't care, I love my bump and I love it when people look at me and smile or pass a nice comment on my bump, I am proud of it and I am never alone because I am very blessed to be carrying our baby and I hope I am not seperated from our baby for many, many years to come.

We had a couple of special moments on the weekend. On Friday night we were laying in bed and Cameron had his head resting on my belly, listening to the going's on in my belly. I felt a big movement, but didn't say anything as I was unsure of if Cameron had felt it or not. Cameron then said to me 'honey I think I just got booted in the earhole' I burst out laughing it was so funny and special that Cameron could feel it also.

Bubs was a little quiet yesterday, I wasn't very concerned as I know they have lazy days just like us. So again last night Cameron was laying with his head resting on my belly and I felt a really strong kick, so strong it made me go 'Oh'. I don't know if it was so strong because Cameron had pressure on my belly or if bubs is just getting a lot stronger. Cameron also felt it. I just love this time it is so special, I intend on relishing this time as much as I can as I know it is going to pass very quickly, and before we know it we will be nursing our precious bundle. I cannot wait I hope time continues to pass quickly.

So in 2 more sleeps time we get to see our baby again! I bet s/he has grown a lot!

Up until now I haven't had any feelings as to whether there is a baby girl or boy growing inside of me. However the past few days I have begun to feel that we may be having a boy, it is going to be SOOO tempting to find out on Wednesday but I will try to be strong, I really do want that surprise. At least if it is a boy we have a name decided on...... for the time being!

Countdown

Well one week today until the big scan, I am not as nervous as I have been, feeling rather calm actually.

I was worried that the next week would drag but I don’t think it will, we are going away for racing on Friday and won’t be home until Sunday so that occupies a few day, back to work Monday, Tuesday I leave work early for Uni and then it’s scan day!

I am excited because Mum is going to come with us also, she will be so excited to see bubs up on the screen, I am sure she will shed a tear or two, which of course I am sure will set me off.
That reminds me I must ring the hospital as I was told I can request to not have the lady who did our 12 week scan do this scan, I feel demanding doing that but I really want to avoid that experience again if at all possible.

Once we have had the Morphology scan and everything looks good, we will start looking at nursery furniture *bounces with excitement* I have been awaiting this time for so long and I cannot believe the day is just around the corner.
Mum and John would like to buy bubs cot, that is very nice of them, so Mum will come shopping with us *still bouncing*
I would like to get a matching change table and tall boy to go with the cot.
Cameron and I have spoken about this and decided that since this is our first bub and we are in a position to do so we don’t mind splashing out a little bit and getting something really nice, it will also be used for any subsequent children that we have, so I think it is money well spent.

We also will be getting a new pram, however I am in two minds about this I don’t know whether to go for 3 or 4 wheeler pram.

Tonight we are going to Mum and Johns for dinner which will be nice.

One more day of work left, yay for Fridays off!

Here is my belly pic at 19w 2d

Starsigns

I am just reading my zodiac book to get a bit of an insight into what personality our child may have based upon their starsign.
I realise their little personality will be shaped so much by outside influences but it is just a bit of fun.

This is what I have found

• Their colour is blue and turquoise
• Their gems are diamonds and opals
• they have a keen eye for design and are social, they have charm and diplomacy
• They will need to improve upon lacking direction and handing power over to others.
• Their deepest desire is a life filled with romance
• Apparently Librans are constantly receiving a weird blend of mixed and jumbled signals about who you are, what you want, and what you should aim for in life.
• Have been known to be the most undecided sign of the zodiac

Thats as far as I have read in that book, it seemed to just point out what areas need working on, time to find a new book me thinks!

Reading through those above points I am sure I have enough organisation and direction to provide a strong role model for our child, I am one of those people who is innately organised and has a real sense of direction with my life. Everything is planned to a T there is not a lot of spontaneity here! Which I guess could be a bad thing in a way.

Yay For Friday!

I love this time on a Friday afternoon, most of my work is done and the whole weekend is stretched out before me…. The next two days always go far to quickly.

Not a great deal planned for this weekend, I think Cameron is working tomorrow, nothing unusual, I am really missing him lately.
He works damn hard 6 days a week and we hardly get to see each other, sometimes I just wish he would slow down a little so that we could spend some time together.
When we do get to spend time together it is usually a Saturday night and Sunday and usually we are doing something with family, which don’t get me wrong I love doing, would just like to have some ‘us’ time.
Through the week we get home from work, have dinner and then I usually do some uni work while Cameron watches TV and then it’s bedtime!
Oh well I mustn’t complain Cameron is doing everything he can to provide for us and our impending arrival.

Tonight we are going to go up to Mum and John’s and I think we will take Chinese or something for dinner, no one feels like cooking at the end of the week!

I will do some study and housework tomorrow while Cameron is working and when Cameron gets home we are going to go and look at some cars.
We will be selling the Commodore and getting something a bit more family friendly, the Commodore is way to low and I am sick of having to go sideways into car parks etc as it scrapes out if you don’t.
Not only that we cant even have anyone sit in the back seat without it scraping out it is that low. So if we were to add car seat, pram, portable cot, etc when we go away we would never get out the driveway!
I think we are either going to get a Ford Territory or a Statesman.


Tomorrow night is my Grandma and Grandpas 50th Wedding Anniversary, Wow! That is very impressive.
I can’t wait to give them their present I got Grandma a beautiful wrought iron recipe stand and a gorgeous glass bench protector, she will love them.
As for Grandpa, well he lucked out. I am sure he will get benefit from the recipe stand in the way of my Grandma’s DELICIOUS cooking, oh my I wish I could cook as well as my Grandma does!

Sunday will probably involve catching up with Cameron’s parents which is always lovely, or maybe just lazing around the house, I am sure Cameron will be buggered by Sunday.

So that is my exciting weekend!

Before I know it it will be Monday again *sad face*

A Step Back In Time

I am now just going to go back a few steps in time, I really want to have this moment captured so will write about it now.

At 16w 4d I had my first appointment at the hospital in which I will be giving birth.
She was lovely and I was so happy after the negative experience we had there for my 12 week scan.

First of all I was weighed and then had to give a urine sample and then all the paperwork began.
There was lots of paperwork, I also had to do a quiz which gauged my mental health (Not surprisingly I passed with flying colours!) we also had a chat about appointments, hospital tours, antenatal classes etc, I also got my bounty bag.

Then the part I had been most looking forward to came… listening to bubs with the Doppler.
I was a little nervous as I layed down on the bed, not really sure why.It took a little while to find bubs heartbeat as they were moving around so much and kicking/punching the Doppler away (I didn’t realise that was the interference sound we could here through the Doppler) anyway she then found bubs heartbeat but couldn’t hold it for very long as bubs kept wiggling away.
The midwife said to me “Are you sure you cant feel that” at this point I hadn’t felt any movement, which I told her. She replied that it wont be long and I will be feeling bubs since they are so active.

I was really sick that day with gastro, and was for the rest of the week, I only went to work on the Friday.
After my appointment we had to go to the bank for Cameron to put a cheque in and we also had a look around in Baby Target however I was feeling very ill so we went home.

Later in the evening we were lazing on the lounge watching TV when I began to feel small pulse like feelings quite low in my belly, it took me by surprise and I told Cameron about it we weren’t sure whether it was bubs or not.
About 5 minutes later the same thing happened and continued to happen every couple of minutes for a little while.
When I have explained it to people they say that this is what the beginnings of movement feel like, I was so excited!!!
Sure enough the next day I was sitting on the computer at Uni working on an assignment and I felt the same thing again so then I was a little more convinced it was bubs. Now it is much more definite and in the coming weeks I very much look forward to the movements getting much stronger again.

I hope I see the same midwife next time so that I can tell her she was right, it wasn’t long until I started feeling movements, about 7 hours to be precise!

There Gone

Last night I had my nails removed, both my nail tech and I are amazed with the condition they are in.

This is the healthiest condition I have ever seen my nails in, despite being covered in acrylic for the past 3 years.

There is no lines, yellowness, dents or scratches on them, I really am staggered at how healthy they are.

She said that I must be glowing with good health as our nails are a reflection of this, well I am giving the credit to my pregnancy vitamins as they have every vitamin under the sun in them.
Also I think I recall reading somewhere that your nails are healthier through pregnancy also, either way I am wrapped.

After I had my nails removed Cameron and I did a spot of bubby shopping, (my favourite kind) well little one, you are becoming quite spoilt, this is what we brought you.

You got

• Photo Frame


• Winnie The Pooh cot mobile


• 6 bibs


• Teddy Bear


• Face washers
  
• 9 suits (you are going to have to have an outfit change every half an hour to get use out of all your clothes!)
• Cot Blanket

This morning as I was jumping in the shower and Cameron was leaving for work I asked him what he thought of the name Thomas, I really like the name.

His answer was a flat out "Can't stand it", oh dear, I said to him that we should have begun to name our child before they were even conceived! It will take us that long to agree on something we both like, I guess it is something we should begin to take seriously as we are approaching the half way mark.

Bye Bye Nails

Well tomorrow for the first time in over 3 years I will be without my french acryclic nails....

I am so excited! To me this represents acceptance and anticipation of the changing role in my life, I am going to be a Mummy, just saying those words makes me so happy.

I think both my nail technician and I will both shed a tear, we have forged somewhat of a bond over the past few years, I guess I will now have to go and have manicures! I am sure in a few months time I will not have the time nor the inclination to have my nails done, I am not sure I willl be able to prise myself away from staring at our baby.

I also said that at 20 weeks our kitty will begin to sleep in the laundry of the evening, I will not run the risk of her getting into bubs bassinete or cot when they come along.

Rather than dump her in the laundry when bubs comes along and have her resent bubs for no longer sleeping with us.

So my dear kitty you have been my baby for a year and a half and in a capacity will continue to be, I am sorry but you will no longer be able to sleep on my pillow or nuzzled into my neck. (From next Thursday) Wow it really is happening isn't it.

I also like Thursdays as it means I am a week closer to meeting our much loved bundle. Today I am 19 weeks, nearly half way!

The weeks are certainly marching by and I can only hope they continue to do so.

So bye bye nails, I am not sure when we will cross paths again, I am too excited about the next stage to even contemplate it.

I am not sure why I took this pic in front of the fridge, nor why my pictures are looking "grainy" they don't in real life.

I've been slack!!!

Well blog haven’t I been incredibly slack!!!
I am now 18w 6d, nearly halfway! I am having my morphology scan on Wednesday 28th of May.
My 12 week scan was a disappointing experience, the sonographer was extremely rude and un caring we both walked away feeling upset.
Due to my previous miscarriage and confusion with my dates I had had two early scans at which both scans bub was just a blob, I knew at my 12 week scan that baby would look like a baby complete with arms and legs and that we would be able to see he/she moving around.
The lady who conducted the scan barely uttered two words the whole time and did little to reassure me that our bundle was ok.
I don’t want to dwell on that too much so will just leave it there. My downs results came back low risk at 1 in 9744, I was hoping for a lower risk given my age but I am happy with that.

I have now begun to feel bubby moving so that is very exciting, up until now it has been ooh was it or wasn’t it, however yesterday I felt 5 very distinct kicks, it was amazing.
Last night laying in bed Cameron also felt movement while pressing gently on my belly so that was also exciting, hopefully that will begin to make it more real for him, who am I kidding it isn’t even real for me yet!

The last couple of days I have been feeling quite anxious, just worrying that something may be wrong and also that abnormalities will be found at my Morphology scan, I am trying to tell myself to relax and that everything with our bundle is just fine. Much easier said than done! hopefully after the big scan I will feel more confident, however I am worried that I am setting myself too many benchmarks and that this pregnancy will fly past me which it already is and I wont fully relax and enjoy this amazing time.
So each day I try to revel in the amazing process that is happening inside my body, I am growing, supporting, nurturing another growing life, it doesn’t get anymore amazing than that!

Now I will share some photos from Mothers Day 2008 my last Mothers Day without being a Mummy, I consider myself a Mum now but every Mothers Day from now I will be nurturing and adoring our precious bundle.

My bump at 18w 4d

My Mum and I

Cameron and I with Cooper, he had to be in all the photos, check out the pose with the hip action!

I just love this picture of Cooper, oh my is he growing up too quickly.

I also love this picture of Jamie, Lisa and Cooper, minus the dagginess of Jamie, it was an impromptu photo shoot!

This is Cooper riding his motorbike with Dad's assistance, he is such a little revhead, thankfully the throttle is very governed so it only putts along and someone is always holding the bike, I fear if we have a boy they will follow the same path!

And lastly Cooper with his helmet on, he absolutely loves his helmet, always lines it up next to Dad's at home, together with their goggles and gloves.