New theme for 2009

Seeing as Christmas it passed, I thought it time for a new look for the new year. I'm full of the cold so it's been thrown together but I like it!

Winter lurgy strikes again

Yup... I have the cold again So not happy! Last night was hell, my nose ran like water from a tap, which meant I hardly slept any. Thank goodness I'm on holiday from work until Friday, at least I can sit on my butt and do bugger all!!!

The worst of it all is, hubby & I visited my parents at the weekend - mum now has the cold - I spread the lurgy. Why is that such a big deal, I hear you say? Cos she has MS (Multiple Sclerosis) so something as simple as a cold can really affect her badly.

The joys of winter bugs eh!

35 weeks!

OMG!!! Only 5 weeks left?! Scary stuff!! We;ve had a really nice Christmas with hubby's family, and then went to visit my parents yesterday, arrived back home today. I have to admit the 3 hour journey in the car up to my parents house, really wasn't appealing to me, as soon as I get into the car, baby curls up under my ribs making it painful and difficult to breathe! However, he/she was very well behaved on the way up yesterday, and most of the way back today as well. Clever baby!!

As usual, my only gripe is heartburn - I'm still feeling good. Braxtons have been piccking up a little the last few days, but nothing painful, just uncomfy. Can you believe my baby is almost 6lbs in weight? My bump is still really neat. I saw my aunty today for the first time in about 2 or 3 months, she said I looked great and can't believe I'm 35 weeks, my bump looks so neat! I'm at a weight gain of approx 21lbs (approx 1 and half stone), so I've done really really well. I thought I was closer to 2 st. It's completely all bump, all baby.

Time for JellyBaby's update!

Congratulations! You’re now carrying nearly 6 lbs of baby not counting their amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord, or the placenta itself. We’re impressed because that’s a LOT of work non-stop. Are you feeling proud of yourself yet? Well, get to it—you’ve done an amazing job! At this point, your little grower is almost busting out of the womb size-wise, which make their restricted attempts to move much challenging. Of course, your stubborn little sucker is still trying to move around as if they weren’t in a cramped space. And the accumulationg baby fat deposits are starting to level off so your little butter ball will be padded and warm when they head out of their super snug little home.

Holy boobage!!

Well, it's fair to say the old boobage is "working" - they have started leaking milk  They've been quite sore the past few days so I thought something was going on. Hopefully they "work" well once bubba is here!!

34 weeks!

So, what's new this week? We had the midwife on Fri for our 34 weeks check up. All was fine apart from a slightly raised sugar level - she took blood from me for testing. If it shows anything she will phone me tmor, and I'll have to arrange to go do the glucose tolerence test, if I hear nothing, it came back fine. I hope it's fine  I really don't like the sound of the glucose test, seriously think I'd vomit!!Baby is head down and 4/5's engaged. Blood pressure was fine. So all in all a good app.

I've managed to book DH & I on the parenting classes - the start on 8th January and are weekly for 4 weeks... ending the day before my EDD Eek! Supposing we only get the first 2 classes I'll be happy, week 1 is about labour and "normal" delivery, week 2 is about ventouse, forceps and c/sections, weeks 3 and 4 are about feeding and caring for baby.

I still feel pretty good for the most part. I get rather uncomfy if I'm walking for any length of time, and the more I walk, the more baby's head presses on my bladder... making me worried I'll have a little accident Heartburn and achy ribs are still present but I think that'll be with me until bubbs arrives now. It's not bad enough that I can't cope or anything, just annoying! Sleeping is getting a little more tricky, I can only get comfy on my left side, which means by morning my left hip is achy. But it's fine as soon as I get up. 2 bathroom trips through the night appear to be common occurance now Luckily I can get back to sleep pretty quickly after these though. So it's not all bad.

I must pack my hospital bag this week or perhaps next week once Christmas is past!

JellyBaby time!

Your amazing baby is on the move! They’ve been riding fairly high in your stretched-out womb till now (while kindly compressing your poor internal organs), but now they’re planning on making the big move to your pelvis this week. If you haven’t noticed it already, you’ll be feeling the weight shift that signals that your baby is most likely out of breech position, with their head now resting on your pubic bone. In liver news: although not quite fully formed, your little miracle’s liver is now capable of processing a certain amount of waste. In general, most of your child’s prenatal physical development is pretty much up to snuff and ready for the outside world. Naturally, further weight gain is expected—so you’re still not at maximum capacity despite probably feeling like you definitely are maxed out.

33 weeks!

Nothing new is happening this week, other than baby's movements are beginnging to feel rather uncomfortable... almost painful at times. Especially when the pointy parts move about (Feet? Elbows? Knees?) However, I'm still savouring every moment as I know it will be over all too soon.

It must be extremley odd when the baby is born... the movements took weeks to build up from teeny flutters to soft kicks, to full blown kicks and jabs.... then as soon as baby is born, it's an instant stop of the movements. I've been thinking about this the last few days!

I'm a lttle annoyed though, I'm 33 weeks this week and had to phone the midwife group on Friday as I have neever been told about or offered the parenting evening classes. I'm worried I've missed them now. I wanted them moreso for hubby, for the labour/delivery information and for both of us for the labour ward visit. Just so he knows what to expect through labour & birth, and so we both know what the labour and maternity unit looks like beforehand. The midwife I spoke to said I would have been told about the classes at the 12 week appointment, then will be a leaflet in my medical notes and my midwfie would have asked if I wanted to attend these classes at my 28 week app... no, no and NO! She said the classes typically start at 28 to 30 weeks, for 4 weeks.

I've to phone the class organisers on Monday to see if I can get a space on the course. I really hope we manage to!!

Time for JellyBaby's update:

For all the weight and bulk you’re lugging around these days, you’d think your little champ should weigh much more than a mere 5 lbs and measly 17 inches in height, but nope, that’s about the average size for a baby in its thirty-third week. In terms of appearances, they’re getting cuter and pudgier every minute as they pile on the baby fat for those adorable little wrist rolls and chubby toes. And as we’re sure you’ve already noticed they’re getting stronger with every passing day. Nowadays, it’s possible to observe a well-placed kick just by watching your belly—but you already knew that didn’t you? Although they’re getting stronger, your bigger-by-the-day baby is losing space to move around, so the actual rate of movement will drop off in the last few weeks, despite that powerful drop-kick they’ve been working on. Hey, did you know you’ll continue feeling their movements even during labor?

New Theme for December

I've created a gorgeous theme to celebrate the festive period. I adore the colours - hope you all do too!!

Sooooooo tired

Yup, I'm so so tired tonight. Think it will be a VERY early night for me and lil bumpy!!!!

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!

was woken up this morning at around 7am... in AGONY!!!

CRAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow my right calf was so cramped up!! All I could mutter was "oooooooooooooh ooooooooooooooooooooh ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ooooooooooooooooooh"

DH woke up going "omg are you in labour".... "ooooooooh oooooooooooh ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

DH starts panicking... WHAT'S WRONG!!!!!!

CRAMPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

DH: "Oh is that all, stretch it out"... he rolled over and went back to sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My calf muscle is so sore today How do you deal with cramp? I know as soon as it starts you're supposed to stretch the opposite way, but I literally could not move my foot in order to do so!

32 weeks!

So today I'm pretty much through my cold - feeling a lot better today! Baby has been VERY active all afternoon, must be exhausted now, he/she is off to sleepy-land for a snooze. No new complaints this week, heartburn is still present, but it's really not all that bad - it's at it's worst if I wake up in the night to turn over. YEY for Rennies though - how would one survive without them

So let's see how lil JellyBaby is doing this week:

In the latest womb reports, your amazing baby has now developed sensitivity to temperature! This means you’ll probably get a swift kick if you put a hot pad on your ginormous belly. For the Elton John lovers out there-- yes, baby’s got blue eyes. At this point, all babies do, although depending on their chromosomal disposition, this could easily change after birth (or even between now and labor), but for the time being, blue it is. Thanks to their recently matured lungs and a remarkably strong immune system, over 90% of babies born in their 32nd week, survive premature births. So it’s pretty much a done deal. Even if your little monkey’s planning on heading out early, their survival odds are in everyone’s favor. Time to celebrate (no, no, wait until after the birth to crack open the champagne!) We’re talking baby-showers and alcohol-free punch!

And how about the size for 8 months?!



YEY big healthy baby!!!

32 week midwife appointment today

I had a great app! Blood pressure was fine, peepee was fine. She made a note in my records about my having the cold

She measured my bump It's 31.5 cm, she said it's 0.5cm less than "average" but it's perfect. Baby is perfect, and is head down still. I asked about my achy right-side ribs, she asked if I feel my movement in the same place all the time, I said yes, and did it feel like baby's movements were in that same place whilst she was prodding my bump - yes. She said, ok, it's a foot in your ribs I was so cnvinced it was a butt!!! She said our bottom rib is classed as a "floating rib"?! And baby's bits can often get stuck in between it and the next one up. Nice to know

Baby's heartrate was 140.

I had trace glucose in my tinkle, but she said it was my jammy toast I had for brekkie - oops!! All in all, a perfect appointment. back in 2 weeks

We have winter lurgy

Yup, I have the cold I feel rotten! Can't stop sneezing  Which is MEGA sore on my ribs. Funny how illness hits so much harder whilst one has a baby on board. I just hope it clears up quickly as we're supposed to be going to my parents this weekend... Not if either of us are sick though

Not a happy camper!!

mmmmmm look what I baked today!!

I'm feeling quite proud of myself for my baking efforts this afternoon!!:



Click on the image to see a bigger pic of it!

Melting Moments:
250g softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
80g icing sugar
125g custard powder
150g plain flour
1 tblsp icing sugar - extra

1. preheat oven: 160 C (140C for fan assisted). Grease oven trays, line with greaseproof paper
2. beat butter, extract, sifted icing sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy
3. stir in custard powder and flour in 2 batches
4. with floured hands, roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls. Place about 5cm apart on the baking trays: flatten slightly with a floured fork
5. bake for approx 15 minutes
6. Stand for 5 minutes
7. Cool on wire racks
8. Sandwich with butter icing (see below)

Butter Icing:
60g softened butter
120g icing sugar
1 tblsp milk

1. beat butter in small bowl with electric mixer until as white as possible
2. Gradually beat in half the sifted icing sugar and the tblsp milk
3. beat in remaining icing sugar

31 weeks!

Yup, 31 weeks! Still doing fabby! Getting heartburn as usual, but it's nothing too horrid really. Considering what I could be going through compared to other women's pregnancies. Baby is moving lots and lots, and appear to love lying in such a position whereby their head or butt is under my right hand side rib cage, and the opposite end of their body or limbs perhaps, are at my left hip. I constantly feel a little rubbing inside just above my left hip. It's quite comforting, like he/she is letting me know they are ok and loving growing inside me Although the body part under my ribs makes me feel very achy in that area, it's comforting to know I'm growing a precius little soul.

7 more weeks to work! I'm looking forward to finishing work. I'm beginning to get the physical tiredness - it's odd, it's not a sleepy tired but a tiredness where my body is telling me I need to stop and rest. I'm still sleeping well, have stated using a small cushion to rest my knee on - I'm a left side sleeper, so I'm finding now i need something to rest my knee on so my leg doesn't put weight on my bumpy.

How about JellyBaby!!

Your not-so-little-one is just a bit closer to their birth weight and height at around 4 pounds and 17 inches. With each added layer of baby fat, your baby's skin starts to look more and more like it will when they finally get to see the light of day. The heavy news: you can expect your miracle-gro muffin to gain about a half a pound of weight per week from now until about two weeks before birth. Great. That's just what you needed. Even more weight to carry around!

Your baby's still-developing immune system has gained substantial strength over the past few weeks getting them in full gear to face our disease-ridden world o’ wonders. Obviously, a large majority of your child’s immune strength will be derived from exposure to breast milk as well as the outside elements. Their cute little noggin’ (which could already be covered with luscious locks or just purty peach fuzz), is still soft because the skull bones have not yet fused together. As much as that sounds a little too vulnerable, their “skull softness” allows for a much smoother passage through the birth canal during labor—something both you and your little swimmer will appreciate when it’s finally time to “go!” Also, some babies will have that “soft spot” on their head for up to one year after birth.

30 weeks!

So this is it, we're into single digits for our countdown to birth... It's coming round so fast!! Baby has been a lot more active yet again this week. This morning, he/she seems to be feeling very comfy with their butt under my ribs... Glad baby is comfy, cos mummy sure isn't

We had a flutter of snow through the night, not enough to brag about and it's probably gone by now, but oooh!! Our first snow!! Hopefully it wont last as I'd planned my trip to my parents next Saturday - if it snows, I wont be going!

JellyBaby time!

The light is visible at the end of the tunnel! Your oversized self and amazing growing baby have finally reached the single digits (in terms of weeks till birth)! The fine lanugo hair that has been growing all over their little monkey-like body is going to start falling off this week in preparation for the big day. But don’t be shocked if they’re hairier than you’d anticipated, some babies keep their lanugo until after birth. Still, it’s not any cause to be concerned as it will fall off eventually. No surprises here: your little porker is getting even cuter with increasingly pudgy arms and legs this week thanks to the ever-growing layers of subcutaneous fat. In terms of numbers, your baby should be weighing in at around 3 pounds 12 ounces (or more!) and be nearly 16 inches long.

29 weeks

Almost into the 30-odd weeks Where is time going?? This week I have really felt baby has had a major growth spurt. I can tell the top of my bump has grown, and is making my ribs ache a little. So how is baby's movement? NON-STOP!!! We certainly have a littl gymnast in there. Making full body movements for hours at a time, I'm surprised he/she has the energy what with having the hiccups so frequently as well!!!

I can no longer sit on a chair which has no back support, it's just way too uncomfy for me. I suppose it's not a bad thing though, having one's back supported is always a good thing!

So how about lil Jellybaby!

If you’ve been feeling butterflies moving around in your belly, it’s not just your run-of-the-mill pre-birth performance anxiety. No, it’s your amazing baby with a case of the hiccups: a fairly common occurrence at this point resulting from practicing breathing for their big birthday. In addition, to getting a round of butterfly-like hiccups, your little swimmer has arduously managed to accumulate enough baby fat to account for nearly 3.5% of their overall body weight. Yeah, compared to we adults, it’s not a lot, but when they’re little like that—it’s certainly a healthy (and warming) accomplishment in its way. Another fantastic accomplishment: your baby's spleen is now in charge of hematopoiesis—the 10 dollar name for the process involved in building up certain important blood components. Another fantastic-accomplishment: your little monkey has been peeing into their amniotic sac for a little while now (this is why potty training takes a while) and if you didn’t know, actually swallows it along with the rest of the amniotic fluid. Although the concept is nasty, their urine is sterile and as part of the amniotic fluid base, is replaced several times throughout the day. So if you didn’t know before, now you can tell people, that yes, you drank your own urine—you were still in the womb, but nonetheless, you’ve been there.

Happy Birthday to me!!

LOL Happy 30th birthday to me!!

28 weeks - welcome to the 3rd trimester!

Gosh, we're into the final trimester! How scary but oh how exciting! I'm feeling much stronger kicks and rolls the last week or so, and it's VERY visual on the outside now Such a clever baby growing so big!! According to baby-gaga.com, he/she is currently 15 inches tall! How does that fit inside my tummy?! LOL!!

So this is my last day in my 20s... yup... tmor I turn 30 years old! So 30 years ago just now, I was inside my mum's tumtum, and now here I am with a babba inside my tumtum. How sweet!!

Jellybaby update!!

You know how you’ve been feeling a bit like a barn with legs? Well, that feeling won’t subside before… well, you know, when you finally give birth. For the time being, you’ve got yourself a baby in the business of collecting fat and lots of it! In spite of the dubious joys of being a human-barn, this baby fat business is very serious and you’ve got to put up with it because it’s going to keep your little porker warm and healthy after birth. Other good stuff from inside: their eyes are doing lots of blinking this week because they’re now able to respond to light and dark. Also, their industrious little bone marrow is now a major construction site for developing red blood cells, while their super-cute adrenal glands are actually producing androgen and estrogen—which will stimulate your hormones to begin milk production. Can you say, “Moo?”

And we get a picture this week!! I'm not too sure what this is! Some type of melon perhaps?!

28 week midwife appointment today

All is well

She took my bloods, to test for iron, antibodies and something else which I can't remember. Then she wanted to check bump and baby, so I hopped up on the bed, and she said "oooh you have a very very neat bump"... way to scare a girl...

She had a good prod and figured baby is head down, after her poking of baby's head, baby gave a HUGE kick, the m/w got a shock "ooh you didn't like me touching your head, did you!!" laugh.gif She said despite bump being little, it's all baby so she was completely happy. Heartbeat is perfect.

She asked if I am getting at least 10 movements in a 24hr period... I said, umm yeah try 10 in 1 hour

Back in 4 weeks, then it's every 2 weeks thereafter.

Upgrade & Winter Theme

I've just done a software upgrade (hate when they are released! but it's always for good reason!), and I've uploaded the new winter theme to get us in the winter season mood! Have to say I love the theme (courtesy of The Faery Tale)

Leave a comment to let me know what you think of the theme!!

27 weeks!

Wow!! Another week passed?? How scary! Not too much to report this week. Still feeling really good, baby is moving about just fine, right at this precise moment I have a craving for tea and biscuit... you know what I'm off to make when I finish posting this?!

We have a midwife appointment this Friday (7th). Bloods will be taken, I assume this will be for iron level checking etc. Also, she said from this week onwards they'd start measuring my bump - how exciting!! I guess we'll find out if baby's growth is on track or not. I still feel quite neat, so I'm interested to see what the outcome of that is.

JellyBaby:

Your not-so-tiny-anymore brilliant baby (about 2 pounds and 14.5 inches long!) is slowly rotating in preparation to “head out.” Obviously, this doesn’t happen overnight, but when you start to feel an unfamiliar pressure on your cervix, you’ll know you’ve got a fully flipped baby locked and loaded for the countdown to their birthday! Even now, at the beginning of the third trimester, their little lungs are already capable of breathing air while the pulmonary vascular system can provide sufficient gas exchange and the central nervous system can generally regulate rhythmic breathing as well as their basal body temperature. For what it’s worth, at this point in a healthy pregnancy a premature child (with intensive care) could easily win on the show: “Survivor: The Early Years.”

26 weeks!

I'm a little late with this week's update, due to being at my parents for the weekend. So here we go...

Little JellyBaby scared me last week! On Thursday, my alarm went at 6:40am as per usual, baby was very busy unti I got up at 7:10am as per usual! Then around 2pm at work, it suddenly dawned on me that i hadn't felt JellyBaby all day The panic set in! I gave things another hour, and at 3pm I decided it was time to phone the doctors for advice - the docs office was closed!! By 4pm panic was really bad, and just as I was about to phone the hospital, I got a HUGE kick! Such a mischevious baby!! just glad all was well.

Throughout Thursday, aside from no movement, my IBS was quite bad again. Also I kept feeling regular intervals of what I can only describe as muscle twitchy type movements. When the episodes occurred, the movements were approx 2 seconds apart and lastine for around 2 minutes. I assumed it was a muscle, until someone suggested it was baby having hiccups How sweet!!!

Movement has returned to normal. And baby is very very active when I snuggle down in bed at night, ready for sleep. Not kicks but full movements! It's like my entire tummy morphs around!! I still find it difficult to comprehend this is a little person making all these movements.

And for JellyBaby:

At long last, your little swimmer can see the womb! Your miracle’s little eyelids have finally separated (they were fused closed previously) and they’re probably having their first moments of sight as you read this (or maybe it already happened while you were brushing your teeth or watching Oprah or something). In addition to seeing their little studio in your belly, they’ve recently acquired the ability to say “yes” and “no” in rudimentary sign language as they can now move their head back and forth. This is also the time where your little super star’s head hair is starting to grow! A cute little cowlick or two may be springing into position right now, getting ready for years of cute-but-stubborn bed-head. Also, their toenails have grown in and you little raisin continues to slowly pile up fat beneath their still-loose skin. Most importantly, brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace, increasing their (genius-level?) brain activity and will continue to function at accelerated levels for the first seven to eight years of childhood!

My little munchkin can open his/her eyes!!!

25 weeks!

So, who said they had their IBS under control via diet?? Oh wait, that was me... nuh uh!! We're not having such a great time of it this week. I've been eating bran flakes and activia yogurt as mentioned before, but it appears to have stopped working. Is it possible the body gets used to these things and then reverts?!

Today I have made Banana & Apricot Bread which contains lots of bran fibre as well, so... a cake of sorts AND healthy! What a fabulous thing!! Only thing is, I couldn't find something called "high fibre bran" so have used Kelloggs All Bran cereal... gawd knows what it will turn out like! I guess I'll find out once it has cooked. It currently has 30 minutes of cooking time left. Very easy to make though.

Heartburn was terrible on Tuesday, I had a cheese and tomato sandwich at lunch and have made the link between tomatoes and terrible heartburn!! So those will be avoided from now until this little one is born!

I'm feeling a whole lot of movement now, baby is very very busy! I could make out a "hard" part on the left side of my lower tum last night - I'm guessing it was a butt (see position of baby below). I've been trying to see if I can feel/identify limbs but it's impossible lol I guess either, it's too eary, or you have to know what you're looking for!!

So... JellyBean time...

Your little grower’s physical proportions are evening out at this point and most of their remaining development will largely be weight gain and lots and lots of nervous system development. The good news is: if your child is born premature now they’ll be more likely to survive without too much trauma as their lungs began to produce “surfactant” last week, which means their tiny respiratory system is getting stronger with each passing day. Yes, now’s a good time for a minor sigh of relief and a quick pat on the back. All that hard work and conscientious living is really getting your child prepared for a healthy delivery. Keep up the fabulous work mama! This week they’ll be scootching slowly out of the old breech position and start rotating (already!) into a better position for exit during their birth. Their head and feet are slowly rotating so that the head is pointed down towards the birth canal. Time is short (or really long, depending on who you ask)—just (still!) 14 weeks left before you can go back to being a single-resident human.

3 weeks to go until the 3rd trimester... how scary!

24 weeks!

It only seems like yesterday that I wrote about 23 weeks This week felt like it started slowly then flew in - typical of when you are on holidays from work, right?! I can't believe we are back tmor, even though at the same time it seems like weeks since we finished up!

The past 3 nights my heartburn has been quite bad - last night wasn't too bad, but the 2 nights before I felt like I was going to throw up with it. All in the name of baby-growing though! Baby is kicking well now and I'm feeling more movements higher up in my tum rather than just lower down. Not constant though in the upper area yet.

JellyBaby update:

This is another big week for your magical growing baby! Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles: taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”. What’s that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist the your baby's little lungs during inflation (as in, filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you’re curious, your submerged baby is still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing the lungs an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. By the end of this week, your child will be weighing around 2 lbs and 14 inches long. Your cutie-patootie may even be a little more plump, but isn't anywhere near their full baby-fatted cute-self. Most of the “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!

WOW!! 2lbs and 14 inches!! How does it fit in my tumtum!!!

At 6 months, we have an aubergine!

The baby's room is completely finished!!

On Wednesday, all baby's furniture was put together - it finally looks like a nursery - and feels so real!! I went to collect pram/car seat on Wed but they had "forgotten" to order my pram - in other words they sold mine and hadn't ordered one to replace it. So I took the car seat home on Wednesday and earlier today we had a phone call to say the pram was in
DH & I went to pick it up about 2 hours ago! I LOVE it!!! I've spent the past hour upstairs putting it into all the different positions! I hadn't intended on using the car seat much on the chassis... I'd prefer bubbs to be laying flat for spine/comfort reasons, just as well because it's rather heavy with the car seat on... add a baby to that and omgosh!!

I'm so happy with it though! DH even had a push about the baby's room My entire upstairs smells of "new" thing. I just adore the nursery, it's really turned into a cosy little room. Now all we need is someone to live in it... but not too early!

So that's how we spent our week's holidays from work! I intend on doing nothing for the entire weekend...

23 weeks!

So this week hasn't been too eventful. I'm pretty sure I've managed to get the IBS symptoms under control via my diet (YEY bran flakes!). So I'm pleased about that and loving being *regular* Baby is still kicking about in there, quiet through the day and active at night, which is normal. Today, I've felt kicks higher up, I don't usually feel anything above my belly button. So that's interesting!!

After my appointment yesterday and being told I was dehydrated, I'm a little concerned. In this weeks baby-gag.com update, the "about mum" section has this in it:

Keeping your fluid intake up is also good for your little resident swimmer as dehydration is frequently connected with premature birthing.

So, that's a little scary. It's 1pm almost, and I've had 2 cups of tea and a juice which is more than I'd usually have. Unfortunately, the downside is... PEEPEE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jellybaby update!

At this point you’ve pretty much adjusted to the fact you’ve got a moving little gymnast inside of you, but now they’re going to kick up the party a notch because they can hear and react to sounds from the outside world. Sounds from your alarm clock, a thunder roll, or that darned car honking at you across the intersection can actually jar their little ears enough to elicit a kick or violent bout of squirming. Of course this also means that their little ears are picking up the sounds of your voice and those near you. So go ahead, sing a lullaby to your little angel—if they start kicking, it’s likely they just want you to stop… or maybe it was a kick of approval? You decide. Your baby's tiny taste buds are still growing and their bones are continuing to ossify (harden), their tiny veins are visible through their translucent yet wrinkly skin. (Think of it this way: they’ve been swimming in the equivalent of a long hot bath for the past 23 weeks, so you can’t blame them for being a little prune-like.)

Today's preggy class and midwife appointment

Jellybean and I had a pregnancy class this morning. It was basically all about the aches and pains, how to avoid or how to self-help if you have them. I found it very interesting indeed. Some of the pains I have been getting but didn't link it with pregnancy alone.

The nurse told us all about pelvic pain, back pain, even tummy/rib pain which I wouldn't have expected to experience through pregnancy. Also talked about cramp and carpel tunnel syndrome (excuse spelling).

Then we went back to work for an hour (a whole hour ) and off to the midwife at 2:30. I had sugar and "key tones" in my urine which concerned me a little, but she said the sugar was from just having eaten lunch (I had a slice of caramel shortbread) and the key tones were due to dehydration.

I asked if I'd gained enough weight - my friend is 3 weeks ahead of me and has gained 2 stone... I've gained approx 6ish lbs. She said my bump and bubbs feel fine for where I'm at. Next visit is Nov 7th and she'll start measuring my bump for growth checks

YEY for a great day of appointments and not much work haha!!

Halloween Theme

For the month of October, I'll be using this gorgeous Halloween theme!

Also, October is breast cancer awareness month - so please stop by and visit the Breast Cancer Awareness site.

22 weeks!

This weekend we got the baby's room finished. It's looking really good, even if I do say so myself! We got the winnie the pooh border up, it's beginning to look like "someone's room" rather than the "junk room"!

Still feeling little kicks every now and then! When the baby is feeling co-operative, I can actually *play* with him/her. Wherever I prod on my tummy, baby will give a kick in the same spot in return It's sweet!!

Jellybaby update:

The grow must go on! No wonder you’re getting so big, you’re now housing a wonder-baby who weighs nearly a pound and measures nearly a foot in length. Their perfect little pancreas is now further developed and they’ve also started producing their own hormones! Your baby's future in the circus as a world-famous tight-rope-walker is secure: their inner ear is now developed to the point that they have their own sense of balance. Lucky for your little explorer, balance also promotes physical dexterity, which has them actively feeling out their surroundings where skin, body parts, and the resident umbilical cord are the big sensory experiences. Your foot-long baby, is looking a bit like an oversized raisin right now as more and more wrinkles are showing up each week. Not to worry, all that excessive wrinkling is just their skin’s way of planning ahead for the time when they’ll start piling on that irresistible baby chub.

From now onwards, the baby's "size" pics go a month at a time, how frustrating as I really enjoyed the weekly growth!!

21 weeks!

yup... 21 weeks! Not too much to report this week! I've been up to my parents for a visit this weekend. So we're a little tired from all the driving, but worth it to see the soon-to-be-grandparents! Last night whilst lying down, baby was very busy in my tummy and with each kick I could actually see my tummy being prodded

I managed to "play" with baby for a bit, wherever I prodded my tummy, baby would kick in the same place

So how's little Jellybaby this week?

Your beautiful little miracle-gro baby will be putting on a full ounce and a half this week (and weighing up to 16.5 ounces), but that’s just the beginning! Within the next five weeks, they’ll really be packin’ it on! For now, we’re pleased to report the addition of rapid eye movement (REM) a key component to any healthy baby’s sleep schedule. While in the dermatology department: their thin soft skin is very red, rather translucent, and a bit wrinkled. Not to worry, it’s not a premature aging disease. It's just their clever little body setting them up with extra space that will smooth out once your little one starts packing on the baby-fat. That won’t be for a few more weeks, though. So for the time being, your munchkin is still a little lean mean growing machine! The beginnings of what is commonly called “brown fat” is just starting to fill in to help your baby retain some body heat, which is crucial as they’re not yet capable of regulating their own body temperature.

This week, we have a nana!!

20 weeks! Half way!

We're half way! I can't believe I'm 20 weeks! Scary stuff!! Yesterday/today we painted baby's room. It's been transformed from a sky blue to a luscious lemon. I'm so pleased with it, but OMG so glad it's done.

Here's some before pics:

one ~ two ~ three

and after:

one ~ two ~ And finally with the border held against it

After I'd done the base coat yesterday, I toddled off downstairs to get some lunch and OMG baby was going nuts in there, moving about. And I finally felt what I can only assume was kicks! Good proper proddy type movements rather than those teeny floaty types!! 

And so for Jellybaby's update!

This week you're carrying about 10.5 inches and 10.5 ounces of solid baby-miracle-goodness! Their little delicates bones continue to ossify and toughen while their itsy bitsy finger and toe pads are finishing up. Your little monkey now has teeth buds, although they’re hidden beneath the gum line. And finally! Their limbs have reached their relative proportions—no more alien baby! Their cute pink lips are more defined, and might be helping out in a bit of prenatal thumb-sucking. If you have a little boy, then their tiny testes are descending, though they have not yet passed the abdominal wall. What’s more, eyelashes and eyebrows are also visible. At this point, your little one really looks like a miniature baby—and we do mean miniature as your little swimmer currently weighs a mere eighth of their final birth weight. With half the pregnancy behind you, the most significant gains are yet to come!

Eek!! Baby is the size of a galia melon!!!