Birds in the Garden

Now that the builders and painters have just about packed up and are no longer in the garden every day, coupled with the better spring weather we're having, I've started to notice much more birds in the garden this year!

Just before the weekend, I came home and spotted my mother's favourite bird in the garden, a sweet little wren. And over the weekend, carrying on from last year and despite Boris catching and killing one, I spotted a number of blue tits. Then there's the usual suspects of black birds and sparrows (although unfortunately less and less of these) and the occasional starling. Oh and pigeons... I wish Boris would eat these instead.

I've also seen a few jays and a few crows, but more surprisingly we often see green paraquets (or rather hear them). It seems that a few of them escaped captivity some time ago and have been successfully breeding in Den Haag ever since, since a flock of them flies all around the city.

This evening I put a bit of left over rice in the garden and within minutes this had attracted a young robin onto the wall. Unfortunately, it seemed to sense three pairs of eyes staring at it (Flo's, mine and Boris') and it flew off before I could catch a picture of it.

Since the rain cleared up this afternoon and the sun came out it's really starting to feel like spring is in the air, so I'm on the look out for swallows and swifts back from their migration.

Mung bean belly

Jonny has been telling me for days that we needed to do another belly shot for posterity. Future generations might, however, be just a tad disappointed by the lack of a distinct pregnancy belly. At almost 23 weeks I can still conceal my belly. Which is getting a bit boring really, since I would love to flaunt it. Some more patience is needed I supose...

Or more food? Eating small amounts every two hours seem to work for me to keep any cravings at bay (and blood sugar levels steady I hope). So tonight's food choice of spinach, mung bean and lime casserole was not really the result of a craving. I mean, does anybody ever crave mung beans?

Personally I cannot remember eating them before, but I was feeling adventurous and looking for something new to try (never too early to introduce new foods in the kid's diet!). Jonny said the mung beans stank. Which they did. But the casserole actually tasted okay, it gave me a nice food belly (and a Kodak moment) and Jonny something to look forward to tomorrow.

Jonny gets kicked

Twenty-one weeks and four days and Flo grabbed my hand last night and placed it on her belly. And I felt a kick! Another milestone moment and it came much earlier than I anticipated. The placenta ended up attaching itself to the front of Flo's womb and therefore is acting as a thick insulation layer between our baby and the outside world. But our little girl's long legs must be strong too since I definitely felt the little kick... and to prove that it wasn't just in my head, my mother also felt it!

So, seems we have ourselves a little Karate Kid!

Dreaming of a white Easter

Last Thursday night we came to England by boat. At the check-in in Rotterdam port, 'pregnant passengers were requested to identify themselves at the reception before checking-in'. Our initial reaction was that this probably only concerned very pregnant travelers. But certainly not me?

Oh yeah, I am pregnant (wow, me pregnant!). So the next half hour waiting in the car, we amused ourselves with the possible reasons behind the request. Would they put all the pregnant ladies together? Would we get a free cabin upgrade? Would we get a complimentary P&O Ferries onesie? Or did the staff just want to congratulate us?

It turned out to be nothing so exotic. We were kindly informed that there was no doctor on board and that the journey would be at our own risk. Oops. And with the weather being that rough? The risk was probably me barfing all the way. The crossing turned out to be uneventful, despite the hard winds. We slept most of the journey and arrived refreshed in Hull on the Friday morning.

The winds turned to grey skies and this morning the world was white. Instead of a white Christmas, we had a white Easter. Amazing.

Here's the view this morning from the bedroom window at Jonny's parents:

20 Week Belly Shot

Here's the latest belly shot! As you can see, Flo's really hardly showing really. In fact, Flo told me that when she went to yoga yesterday, there was another pregnant lady there who was 19 weeks and had a huge belly!

The baby sounds to be moving around a fair bit now, but despite holding my hand on Flo's belly for a few minutes last night while Flo said it was moving, I'm still to feel anything myself yet. Suppose that will be the next milestone for me!

Junk Food

Since becoming pregnant, I've banned Flo from eating McDonald's or Burger King and as a result she's been craving a good burger for weeks now. However, we're yet to find a place here that makes a really good burger. (I've been instructed to point out that Flo only occasionally indulged in junk food and that the burger craving is a recent one and probably a pregnancy craving. I on the other hand unashamedly indulge at least once per week in some variant of junk food... the guilt afterwards usually spurs me into doing some exercise to compensate).

Chinese take-away is also on the banned list. We had some the other week and we both felt a bit sick afterwards, so we agreed not to eat any more until after the birth.

Pizza is still on the list fortunately. However, we only buy these from the little restaurant around the corner. There the ultra-thin crust authentic Italian type and you know they're fresh since the guy who makes them stands at a table in the window tossing the bread and making a spectacle out of it to entice customers into the restaurant. And by all accounts his strategy is quite successful, since the place is usually pretty full when we pop in to pick up our order.

The remaining fast food treat is fish and chips... very common in the UK (although decreasingly so), but not so common in the Netherlands. However, there's a great fish shop in Den Haag located in the harbour in Scheveningen. They sell a large selection of fresh fish and related products, but also have a very down to earth restaurant where you can order, amongst many other things, a fish supper! Admittedly, the deep fried batter isn't the most healthy, but we blindly assume that the healthy fresh fish part of the meal more than balances out the fatty bits. And what the hell... it tastes great and we only do it occasionally! I'm sure the little one appreciates it.

20 Week Scan

Today we had the twenty week scan, an important milestone since this is when the hospital goes through the check-list to see if everything is accounted for... nose, check... lips, check... toes, check.

I almost didn't make it today, since I've been off work ill the past couple of days with man-flu. I managed to muster up the strength (with a bit of help from Flo this morning), but when I sat next to Flo and saw our baby on the monitor I soon forget about my aches and pains... how could I even contemplate missing this moment!

The technician went through her check-list and while we were back in the waiting room waiting to see the doctor, I had a look through Flo's file to see the results... long legs, slim waist and a big head are indicated from the measurements, so obviously takes after the father and is going to be an intelligent rower! Also, she's very English... I say she, but we're not 100% certain since there was a fair degree of modesty going on with legs firmly clamped together. However, no penis was spotted and this, coupled with the lack of penis observed during the last scan is indicating that I am soon to be outnumbered by females in the house.

Another indication of feminism is the degree of movement being reported by Flo. The sensations started last week, but from what Flo tells me they're getting stronger. It sounds weird to me having something wiggling around inside you, but it seems to make Flo happy judging from the comments and smiles that Flo comes out with. They already seem to have struck up a rapport, since I often catch Flo talking to her daughter and she encourages me everyday to say "good morning" and "good night" to her belly... also a little weird.

So... mother and daughter both seem to be fighting fit, which is why Flo today refused to take the diabetes test that the registrar recommended. She was unsure from the start, but as we read the literature describing the test, I think we both decided then that the test alone puts unnecessary stress on the body and I really see no indication that Flo is any more likely to get gestational diabetes during pregnancy than any other mother given her diet, general health and the fact that she had a blood glucose test done at work today indicating that she is perfectly normal. The registrar seemed a bit surprised that we refused, but respected our wishes.

Next appointment at the hospital is in six weeks time...

Banana baby

Halfway mark, halfway mark (excited Flo jumping up and down)!

This week the baby is the lenght of a banana.

Apparently the way the baby is measured now changes. Until twenty weeks, babies are measured from the crown of the head to the rump (also known als CRL). After that, they're measured from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against his torso during the first half of pregnancy and very hard to measure.

I can't wait to see our little monkey during our twenty week scan later today. I know it is very technical - but very also reassuring because they check that everything is in place. And of course we get to know the sex! I want to find out not so much because of consumerism (okay, I confess, a little bit), but more because knowing if it is a him/her makes it so much more concrete.

I say tomato

According to my weekly newsletter the baby is now the size of an heirloom tomato. A what? I half-figured that it probably wasn't a treasured family tomato that is passed down for generations... According to the internet it is an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) cultivar of tomato. Okayyy.

What is more exciting is that I begun feeling noticeable popping sensations... and for once it wasn't wind. I knew it was the baby, its movements very distinctive. It feels like having a bowl of rice crispies in my tummy and somebody has just poured on some milk. Snap, crackle, pop!

The hairy truth

I get weekly newsletters with updates about our baby and they are great fun. It tells all sort of important stuff about the development of the baby. Like the size. In the last few weeks, the baby has successively been the size of an apple, an avocado, a turnip and a bell pepper. This makes the newsletter the highlight of my week, especially the bit where I make Jonny guess the size of what fruit or veg our baby is this week. Or his reaction "that not all (fill in name of fruit) are the same size!"

With the bell in pepper giving away the nationality of the newsletter (American- duh!), the baby sizing comes with a disclaimer: every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development. Oh. I get it, generally our baby is the size of a pepper this week.

One of the links in the newsletter triggered my curiosity today: do you primp for your OB-GYN. Primping being American for grooming and OB-GYN being short for obstetrician gynaecologist. One commenter tells the story of a friend of hers. She meant to just spray a little feminine deodorant spray on herself to make sure she was fresh, but she was in a hurry accidentally used the shimmer spray with little pieces of glitter in it instead. During her pap smear, her doctor commented “Hmmm…sparkly".

Glowing, Hormonal rage

After a few weeks of some minor pregnancy discomforts (a urinary tract infection, a subsequent yeast infection, a never ending snotty cold, itchy skin, protein found in my urine, suspected appendicitis and general discomfort- who said pregnancy is sexy?), I came to the conclusion that what they say about the second trimester is true. It is much better than the first!

At long last I don't feel like I need to lie down all the time, my food habits have normalised and I only cry occasionally. Okay, I cried during BBC3's real life soap 'Freaky eaters' (about weird food habits) and during Horizon (and yes, that is a scientific program on BBC). But that's a lot better than crying during a horror movie like I did in the first trimester- now that REALLY didn't make any sense!

It also seems that the weird mood swings have gone. Or so I thought. Until last night when I got terribly upset. About nothing in particular. It started with the washing machine breaking down. It ended with me making not much sense and being cross with Jonny for it. Until he asked me what my rage really was about. I had no idea. We came to the conclusion I was just tired.

Luckily, life has this built-in defence mechanism that allows you to remember some times as great and fun and magical and forget all the times you just wished for it to be over. I am sure that after a few years we'll look back and laugh and I can be a little nostalgic about all the pregnancy ailments and Jonny about having to deal with the pregnant missus...