14w-/-1d on boobs

There is nothing very interesting to report here. Unless of course you find the fact that I have gone off garlic interesting.

I have not reached that pleasing stage where my boobs have gone bigger. They were a little splendid for one day and then went back to their normal, albeit perkier selves. According to my sister, if her pregnancies are anything to go by, I'll also belong to the percentile of women whose breasts don't increase by at least two cup sizes during pregnancy.

So instead of people talking to my new cleavage, as I can only imagine happens to Dolly Parton or Jessica Simpson, I'll have to get used to people talking to my belly. Which is already happening and is very very weird. Although I do believe that I am sporting the tiniest baby belly, it could still be mistaken for a little fat roll. And yet my belly gets glances or even talked to.

Jonny and I have agreed we will only do the belly pictures as soon as my belly is consistent and no longer disappears overnight. Much to the horror of one of my colleagues, who exclaimed I should have taken pictures from the very beginning. And then went on to say that my belly will never ever be the same again. Gasp. A missed opportunity. Don't you hate them?

12 weeks and an enormo-baby

On Wednesday we had another meeting with our baby. The Siberian scan lady (I am referring to her place of birth, not her emotional state. Although she was a bit frosty) was very satisfied with the outcome of the NT scan: the chance of Down Syndrome is 1:7000. Negligible.

It was amazing to see how the baby had almost doubled in size since last time we saw it. It was even ahead of schedule. No wonder I have been so tired! Okay, admittedly one day ahead of schedule does not make for an enormo-baby. It made Jonny a proud man nonetheless. And just in case, I prohibited my mother-in-law to tell me Jonny's birthing story again for at least another seven months. He was a big baby too....
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11w4d and not much happening

How time flies. It only seems like yesterday when I peed on a stick and now I am almost entering the second trimester. The nausea is slowly subsiding and my appetite has sort of normalised. No more pre-bed snacks are needed and I don't panic without my A.N.S.

What remains is the heightened sense of smell. Any little scent that wafts my way can still feel like an all-out assault on my nostrils. I am thankful for winter and big coats and scarves, so that I can easily bury my nose in public without attracting too much attention. Okay, maybe wearing a scarf indoors all the time is a little bit strange, but I use my eternally blocked nose as an excuse.

That same blocked nose (which like the stronger sense of smell can also be contributed to the higher amount of oestrogen during pregnancy) is the one thing that wakes me up at least once during the night (Jonny - and me!). The other thing is my bladder. I suppose this inability to sleep through the night, probably explains my sleepiness during the day. I solve that by sleeping for an hour after work every day.

All of the above comes with the territory and overall, I really can't complain. There have been no public puking incidents and overall I have been feeling quite okay. With the magical 12 week mark so clearly in sight, I slowly allow myself to get excited about other stuff than the next ultrasound (which coincidentally is next Wednesday, only three more nights!).

Like do we want to find out the sex in two months time? I always said I would like to know and Jonny is indifferent to the matter. Which means if I want to find out, we will. It will definitely make deciding on a name easier: only one shortlist needed (Jonny - Flo hates surprises and generally gets stressed if she doesn't know something... so I figure it will make my life easier if Flo knows the sex. I like surprises... but not that much).

And on taking the surprise away? There will be enough surprises. Like what our baby will look like. Will it have Jonny's eyes, jaw line or nose (Jonny - ha ha... school will be more pleasant for the child if it doesn't!)? Will it have the same pale skin as it's dad or olive coloured skin like Uncle Adam? Will it have curly or straight hair? Will it have a feisty and fiery temperament from the Spanish genes?

10w2d and a nose like a blood hound

I have developed a rather complex relationship with food at the moment. Call it a love-hate relationship. I need to have it, but the sheer thought can be off-putting. Apparently the increased oestrogen makes your sense of smell more acute during pregnancy. Giving cravings but also extreme aversions to food.

No exciting cravings to report so far, like pickled herring with strawberry jam or something of the kind. Something cool to tell the kid later. I only crave a lot of food. Not in one go, but many small portions over the day. In fact if I don't eat I feel nauseated, so I keep a stock of health bars and satsumas in my bag. My A.N.S. as Jonny named it: my anti-nausea system.

There are many aversions on the other hand. Cigarette smoke is my nemesis at the moment. Okay, that is no food, but still. I can't stand the smell. Unfortunately I can smell people who have smoked from ten feet away. Yesterday I had to step out of the waiting line in the post office because the guy behind me smelled like an ashtray. Furthermore, I am not keen on garlic, salt and vinegar crisps, cod or left-overs.

A bit erratic, I fully admit. It gets worse. Jonny and I went out for lunch the other day and I got some Camomile, Honey and Vanilla tea to have with my sandwich. It seemed like such a good idea and fully supported by the healthy eating pregnancy brigade. 'Cos 'naturally caffeine free'.

Until it arrived and I had to ask Jonny to please please please take it away. The smell made me wretch. The sandwich boy kindly brought me another cup of tea and inquired what was wrong with the previous cup. To which I replied: "it's not the tea, it is me"....

10 weeks and a little wave

10w0d
Originally uploaded by jonnycorcutt

This morning we returned to the hospital for an interim scan. Flo was a little nervous, but not as much as last time... I think she's starting to believe!

When we called into the scanning room, Flo was asked to prepare for the scan. I think the doctor was a little surprised when Flo asked what clothes she needed to remove and Flo and I were both pleasantly surprised that she only needed to lift up her top and undo the buttons on her jeans! This was the first external scan performed on Flo's belly!

I have to admit that I couldn't hold back a broad smile when I spotted our little foetus on the screen. My how it's grown! Three weeks ago it was a little over 1 cm in length, but it's now up to 3 cm... that's triple the size in three weeks. And it must have know we were looking, since I could see a tiny little arm waving at us!

We got to hear the heartbeat again also, now up to a healthy 175 beats per minute. The calculated age of the foetus based on the length is 9 weeks and 6 days, so the growth rate is almost perfect.

Looks like the recent seasonal diet of turkey and oliebollen hasn't had any adverse effects!

Happy New Year

What a great end to 2007 we had! We heard a couple of weeks back that friends of ours were planning to invite a bunch of their friends over from the UK to spend New Year in Den Haag and that they were planning to have a big New Year dinner at their house. In unison Flo and I both exclaimed that they should hold the event at our house, since it's perfect for entertaining guests. After giving it a couple of days thought, they agreed and so last night we had about sixteen people 'round and fed them all with a mid winter barbecue (I've been looking for an excuse to buy a barbecue for months!).

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and there was plenty of food and drink so that by midnight, everyone was full and merry and anticipating bringing in the New Year with the communal fireworks in the little square down our street. Flo and I knew what to expect since we'd spent last New Year at home also, but for our guests this was the first experience of the Dutch New Year celebrations. I think they were all pleasantly surprised (and a little shocked), describing the event as a scene from Baghdad!



Today has been quite relaxed after the festivities of last night, although Flo and I were not nursing hangovers like the rest, who went on to a night club until about three o'clock. But in preparation for our own big event, Flo's keeping off the booze (only having had about half a glass of champagne all night) and I'm generally a lightweight these days and can't handle much more than a few glasses!

So after cleaning up the house a bit, we went out to get a breath of fresh air, taking a walk around the neighbourhood. We only walked for 40 minutes and 4 km, but this was enough to cause Flo to drop onto the sofa and sleep for an hour when we got home. She's been doing that a lot recently, sneaking in a late afternoon snooze. It's a good sign for the pregnancy, but over the past couple of days Flo's started to get anxious again about the pregnancy... so it's a good job that we're off to the hospital for another scan tomorrow to see how the little one is coming along!

If everything goes to plan, 2008 should prove to be a very eventful year! Happy New Year!