Beatrice's first haircut

Beatrice's first haircut
Originally uploaded by jonnycorcutt

It's been a while since we posted anything... everything is fine other than us not getting access to our blog here in Syria since Blogger is blocked. However, seems I can post from Flickr, so here we are.

As you can see, Beatrice is growing fast! She's now on to three word sentences (but her favourite expression is "zelf doen" meaning she wants to do everything herself) and is well on her way to being potty trained, pretty much going without nappies during the day now.

But the big news is... Flo's pregnant again! We're now mid term with the due date around 9th September. After years of trying to get pregnant back in Holland, we went for ICSI treatment here in Damascus (we were advised by our GP that they didn't even do ICSI treatment here) and we got lucky first time with only a single egg! So moving to Damascus has been proven very worth while.

We found a specialist here in Damascus who used to be a professor at Nottingham University in the UK. We found out about him through Flo's friendship with a European lady living over here who's married to a Syrian; her daughter had been treated by the specialist and she kindly passed on his details. The hospital is very basic and the bedside manner and general care is poor, but we're prepared to overlook all that given the outcome!

Another visit to the midwife

The midwife asked me this afternoon what I was still doing there. I thought that was a rhetorical question.

She gave me a membrane sweep. While internally examining me, she "sweeped" a finger around the neck of my womb. This is as unpleasant as it sounds.... The aim is to separate the membranes around the baby from the cervix. This releases hormones called prostaglandins, which may kick-start labour.

Or it may not. None of the other very good suggestions have kick-started anything so far. So we wait and keep you all waiting too! :-)

40w2d and still pregnant

Today I went out for lunch with two girls I met at our pregnancy class. At 38,39 and 40 weeks pregnant we turned out to be a bit of an attraction walking down the street.

Over lunch we discussed the methods of bringing on labour. The basics, like eating fresh pineapple, drinking raspberry leaf tea, having sex or eating hot curries. One of the girl's friends had four cups of raspberry leaf tea and went into labour the same night. Exclamation mark! The friend was convinced this did the trick.

We were not so sure. Actually, we all agreed that by lack of randomised trials with raspberry leaf tea, you might as well have three cups of Earl Grey tea or one cup of Yak tea if you happen to live in Mongolia the day you go into labour. Babies tend to come when they are good and ready.

On an another note, according to this article, more babies are born during the week than during the weekend, with a statistically high number of children being born on Tuesdays. The lower staff levels of hospital maternity wards in hospitals and maternity centres had an effect on the timing of births.

There was me thinking how smart it is of babies to wait for when there is more medical staff around (and a bit of 'oh no, will I have to wait until after the weekend?'). Where of course the simple (and slightly boring) explanation is that most medical procedures are scheduled on... right... Tuesdays.

Any guesses what day this baby will get here?

10 things to do on your due date

1. Wake up in the middle of the night with hiccups. Lots of them.

The hiccups in question weren't mine, but the baby's in utero. Furious hiccups that made my whole belly vibrate. That must be some strong diaphragm already. Very. Weird. Sensation.

2. Serve freshly-baked scones for breakfast.

Served with raspberry jam and a generous amount of clotted cream. Make mental note to look up right way to assemble scone. Devonians put cream first, then jam, Cornish people the other way round. In terms of presentation I favour the Cornish way.

3. Think about going swimming to swim off scones.

Think again. Too tired. Besides, my very sexy maternity tankini is still in the laundry from last Sunday.

4. Giggle at remembering my nephew's comment.

Last Sunday after swimming, Jonny and I ran into my brother and his son. Who later reported to my mum that my belly was HUGE, but that I went swimming anyway. I just couldn't go off the slide or the diving board anymore. It would have caused too much of a splash.

5. Consider having hair and nails done. Again.

It has been two weeks since I had a haircut. And also two weeks since my last pedicure. Not that long really. It's just that you never know when you get another chance any time soon.

6. Shop and stock up. Then stock up again because you ate everything you’ve already purchased.

How much money and time do I have to spend on food for once the baby gets here? Everything I bought is either halfway gone or has already disappeared. I need to get some strawberry jam for more scones. And a green pepper for the fish casserole we are having for dinner tonight.

7. Have a nap after being shattered from getting two food items.

Or before. Or both. Decide on both.

8. Give birth.

Sounds obvious, but apparently only 5% of babies turn up on their due date. 80% arrive late, and 10% go two weeks over. So far we don't seem to have a good track-record with low odds, so chances that our girl will make her appearance today are quite slim.

9. And yet. Scrutinize. Every. Twinge.

There are absolutely no signs that labour is imminent. Our baby girl must be very comfy in there. No Hollywood scenarios of my waters breaking. No contractions. No losing the plug. Maybe just the plot. From growing increasingly bored.

10. Bottle up boredom to use at later date.

It's calm before the storm, I realise. :-)

No news is good news

Flo returned to the midwife at the hospital today. The good news is that everything looks fine with our baby girl.

The midwife had a good feel of Flo's belly and it seems that the rest of our daughter's body is catching up with her head, so at this rate, by the time she arrives she'll be perfectly proportioned! She's also getting bigger, with the birth weight estimate rising from 3.3 kg four weeks to 3.85 kg today. Given that she's a long baby, she should still be pretty slender.

Because she is long, despite her head being located very low in Flo's belly, she's still managing to wake her mother during the night with strong kicks to Flo's chest. So you can imagine that Flo's starting to feel a bit fatigued now. But not long now...

Pincha mayurasana at 39w1d

Or elbow stand and still pregnant in English... :-)

This picture was taken this morning by my yoga teacher, who said that head stand was really less spectacular than elbow stand. Or peacock feather pose, as it is also known. As the name suggests, in this pose you stand on your elbows and forearms. Since your head doesn't rest on the floor, strength comes from the upper body.

Otherwise not a lot to report. Good blood pressure (me), good heart beat (baby) during the pregnancy check-up last Monday. So we wait...

Thirty-eight weeks and almost there!

Three weeks ago I left home for Syria. It was a tough thing for me to do, since Flo was at thirty-five weeks and the baby could potentially have been born any day and I didn't want to miss that! I'd just spent four weeks on leave from work, spending the time with Flo and nurturing the little girl inside her. But at 6:30 am on 1st July, here's is how I left Flo; I took this picture minutes before I left the house, not knowing how long I would be gone for, but determined I'd be gone for no longer than two weeks.

You can imagine then how happy I was to be returning exactly two weeks later, so glad that Flo had managed to keep the little one happy inside her and that I hadn't missed the arrival of our daughter into the world. And what a change! In just two weeks, Flo's beer belly (ha ha, she'll hate me saying that) has turned into a proper, beautifully round pregnant belly!


I've even had to restore the camera to landscape mode to capture the width and her belly is now officially larger than mine!

Although Flo is obviously starting to feel the strain of our little girl inside her, she's still doing remarkably well, especially considering how frail and fragile she was only a couple of months back. Yesterday she was at yoga, admittedly taking it easy, but stretching out and maintaining her health nonetheless. This morning we went swimming and I was surprised at how much energy Flo seems to have! Whereas I was feeling weak and a bit fragile (still getting used to bacteria from Damascus), Flo was zipping up and down the lane. It made me giggle, since a few colleagues have told me that mothers get a bit hyper-active close to the birth as the chemical balances start to prepare for the delivery. The great thing about her doing exercise is that it forces her to go and have a nap afterwards, which she would be less likely to do otherwise since she'd feel guilty about not having done anything, but physical tiredness overrides this mental anxiety.

So, we're expecting the baby any day now really. It's been an extremely long journey for the both of us and we're at the point where we're starting to get a bit impatient. We'd both so much like her to arrive now so we can finally get to meet her, although Flo is also getting a bit anxious about the delivery I think, which is pretty understandable. But the main thing is, we're both extremely happy!

37w5d and Jonny's back home

*Exhale. Relax*

Now I can pack my hospital bag.

I would not really call myself superstitious, although I picked up a few superstitions when I lived in Brazil. Like don't place your handbag on the floor because money will drain away. I NEVER put my handbag on the floor and yet my money still drains away like it is water anyway.

It makes complete sense from a hygiene perspective however. A survey revealed how 30 per cent of women’s handbags contain 100 million particles of faecal matter per square inch on their surface, probably from being placed on the floors of public toilets. Yuk.

I know that my mother giving me sanitary towels when I was thirteen and went to stay with friends of my parents in Brittany, did not bring on my first period. It gave evidence of her foresight rather than it defying forces of nature. Which I was convinced of at the time. She still likes to tease me about it. In my defence it is quite sweet to attribute such almighty powers to your mum.

I also know that packing a bag does not induce labour. Nor does putting a maternity bed mat in your bed. And yet I have been putting those things off. Just in case. With Jonny home safely, I can now pack my hospital bag and put the car seat in the car. Any day now...

On nesting instinct

Last Sunday I was struck by sudden anxiety. I had been restless and nauseous all afternoon and then figured it might be because I was tired. So I slept. But when I woke up the nausea was still there and the anxiety turned into a mad panic. It felt like panic had been injected straight into my bloodstream with a syringe. What if this was the onset of labour and I did not know? How would I know if this was the real thing? What if our little girl had decided to come early while Jonny was still abroad? Would I be able to tell him in time to come back so he could be there for the birth of his daughter?

Add to that the fact that Jonny is in a place where telecommunications are not up to the standards we are used to over here. Connections break in the middle of a conversation, missed calls don't show up on the display and messages arrive three times. Or not at all. So I freaked. And when I spoke to him, all I could do was cry.

He reacted with all the patience of the world (the joy of having a pregnant wife!) and told me everything would work out, that we have a plan B in place and he reminded me what the acupuncturist told me last week. She said that my belly is still calm and relaxed, that there is still place for our girl to grow and that there is a certain degree of control from the mind over the body. Meaning we are going to wait with delivery until Jonny is back. Which is at least until next Monday.

That was all true and it calmed me down considerably. Now all is back to a calmer mental state chez Corcutt and I am concentrating on preparation for labour, delivery and the first days after the birth. All this while I am happily aware that there is no such thing as preparing for something that you have no control over. So every now and then I remind myself of what my mother once said to me: the only thing you can prepare for is that it is going to be different than you expect.

Up until now Jonny has done most of the nesting: trying to make the baby room habitable in time for baby girl's arrival, oiling the wooden floors and organising the house. And he has done a wonderful job. Personally I hoped that my nesting instinct would kick in big time. The fridge could do with a clean, as do the windows and I am sure that our linen cupboard would look a whole lot better given just a little TLC.

Instead I find myself cooking meals for the freezer, making sure we don't run out of groceries (like, erm, icing sugar- which is obviously an essential for life with a newborn?) and making lists. Lists with music to listen to during labour, what to pack in my hospital bag, general what to do lists. I think it's partly raging hormones, but it's also a way to take control because I feel slightly out of control at the moment...

To our unborn daughter

Dear little baby girl,

There is just over four weeks left before we finally get to meet you and I am getting very excited about it. We have been waiting for you for so long now and now the moment that we get to know you is almost there. I can't wait to see what you look like, what you sound like, feel your skin against mine, marvel at your little toes and fingers, smell your sweet baby smell and see you in your daddy's arms. The contrast is going to be sweet: his big and strong arms holding such a tiny little person: you!

At the same time I am still not completely used to having a now big pregnant belly. The belly which for a long time I thought couldn't hold a new life. Now you are in it, at this moment already completely formed, just filling out and getting rounder and ready for the world. Sometimes your daddy catches me admiring my belly and he teases me endlessly about it. Other than what he might think, I am not admiring myself, but I am still amazed and very grateful at the thought that you are growing in there.

Every morning I wake up with this excited feeling. In my sleepiness, it takes a moment to realise what the excitement is about and then I realise what it is. We're are having a baby! And most mornings I feel you kicking away and I cherish those moments together, lying next to your daddy. The way I feel comes close to what I remember from my birthday mornings when I was a kid, waking up excited, wondering about the party and the guests and looking forward to opening the presents. You'll soon get to experience that feeling too!

Before your first birthday however, there will be lots and lots of other things to discover. The world to start with! Quite a shock I imagine after being warm and protected for so long. I sometimes wonder what it is like for you to be inside my womb and whether you feel my caressing hands, hear your daddy singing silly songs, are happy when I am giggling away or notice when I am upside down during one of my yoga sessions. I think that you probably do, especially since I get furious kicks of protest from you when I am not sitting upright and there is not enough space for you in my abdomen. Loud noise also seems to startle you.

Hopefully the early contractions I had a few weeks back, didn't upset you too much. When I felt the contractions, at first I did not realise what they were. I just thought it was one of the inconveniences of pregnancy. Until I walked into the midwife's consultation room in tears and her reaction showed me this amount of pain was not normal. The pain scared me, I feared there might be something wrong with you, that you might come into this world way too early.

Before sending us off for more tests, the warm-hearted midwife hugged me and reassured me. She said you had gone through so much trouble to be with us, now was not the time for you to leave us already, so I was not to worry. Your daddy, being the rational person he is, later said that we had gone through a lot of trouble to have you. But I quite liked the idea of your soul finding us, just like we found you. Like we are meant to be together.

Your journey started now almost nine months ago, but your daddy's and my story is a bit longer than that. But in November 2007, you came into our lives. On Saturday the 10th to be precise. I remember well the morning in Barcelona when we went to the clinic to pick you up. Or rather, it wasn't you just yet, it was just a cluster of cells, two clusters of cells in fact. A fusion of egg cells from an extremely generous woman and your daddy's sperm. A woman that we don't know anything else about other than her age and her blood group, but to whom we will remain grateful forever, since she gave us the possibility to get pregnant and have you.

I was to go in for the transfer with a full bladder and instead of drinking water, I had a mega-sized cup of Starbucks camomile tea. I figured that a nice and relaxing warm drink, would make a far more welcoming environment for an embryo than a big balloon of cold water. We saw the two embryos on the screen, one of which was to grow into you. I felt so special leaving the clinic, knowing that I was carrying such a precious load inside me. That night we celebrated with a glass of the best Spanish Cava.

After that, the waiting began. Waiting to see if I would be pregnant. Technically I was, having two pre-embryos inside me, but there was no guarantee that you would actually 'stick'. I remember being very aware of everything going on inside me. Cycling in the November cold, feeling every bump in the road, wondering if that might accidentally shake you out. It was also during one of my rides to work that I realised that something was happening in my body: I could hardly catch my breath and felt like a 95-year old woman.

I now know that on the sixth day after conception the cluster of cells that were to become you, already started to release chemicals that caused uterine cells to burst. The pre-embryo nourished itself on these exploded cells. And it created a site to attach itself to the uterus. As the cells of the pre-embryo grew and multiplied, most of them became the placenta. The other became a very small version of you.

Nine days after the transfer I did a first home pregnancy test. Or rather, a work pregnancy test in my case since I tested on the toilet at work. I called your dad to tell him about the faintest of the faintest second pink line. He told me to take it easy and wait a bit longer. So I waited and tested again the next day. And the next. And the next. Every day the line became a little stronger. The blood test fourteen days after the transfer confirmed what we had hoped for so long: I was pregnant. Wow! Finally!

The first weeks, months even, we still found it hard to believe. Afraid that something might go wrong. It took a while before we could genuinely be happy, think about what the future might hold, how we would be a family. Your daddy was so proud. You will soon learn that beneath the rationality, he is very sensitive and tender. He was beaming with pride when he first talked about this pregnancy and if he could, he would have wrapped me in cotton wool for the first months.

Even after getting pregnant, I have occasionally struggled a bit with the idea of you and me not being genetically linked. Sometimes it made me feel a little detached from this pregnancy. It made me sad that you would probably not look like me, cry with laughter like I do (tears running down my sister's and my cheeks when we have a laughing fit), but most of all, that you would not be a combination of your daddy and me.

I do realise though that having a child is about so much more than about genes and DNA. After all, I gave you life, you are growing in my belly, you will feed off my breasts. Every little cell of your body has begun in me. And, thankfully, there is no evidence that being stubborn or strong willed is genetically inherited. There is more of an environmental link than a genetic link. So you might turn out to be just as stubborn, strong willed, emotional and clumsy as me. Lucky you!

At first I wanted you to be a poster child for egg cell donation, but your conception story is more yours and not so much ours to tell. When you are ready, we will tell you the story, show you the pictures and tell you about the steps in the process. We will tell you how desired you were and how much we anticipated your arrival. So when one of my friends asked me who I thought you would look like, I told him probably more like Jonny, you being the result of egg cell donation. But foremost and above all, I told him, you are going to be you.

I do hope that you will resemble your daddy. Apart from being very handsome, you will soon come to learn that he is a very generous and giving man and that he already loves you very much. You will undoubtedly love him right back. I am very very blessed to have him with me on this journey and I don't know what I would have done without him. He dried my tears when I was crying, he held my hand when I was in pain, he listened when I needed to be heard. He was there for me. Like I know that he is going to be there for you.

And now we're almost ready to meet you. Your tiny room is almost ready, the furniture put together by your daddy, your clothes ironed by me. It's amazing how many worldly possessions you already have. You have been given many clothes, toys, books, lotions and, my favourite, a pair of little red leather shoes. Gifts from all your uncles and aunts, great uncle and aunt, both sets of grandparents, many kind friends, relatives and colleagues. It is so special to see how many people are really looking forward to having you around.

There are a few things that still need to be done before your arrival though. Your grandmother is going to sow a canopy for over your cot. I still have to pick an outfit for you to come home in. We still need to decide on your middle name. But foremost, your daddy is going away for business tomorrow and I have told him we would wait for him to come back. I am sure we will be okay, just you and me for a few days. And then, we will get to meet you and be the family we so longed for. Like one of my friends said, everything happens at the right time.

Love,
your mummy

Thirty-five week belly shot

Well, thirty-four weeks and five days actually, but who's counting? This one's a bit unconventional... since as you can see Flo's standing on her head. But you at least get a good idea of the belly and ironically, this yoga pose gives the baby's head a rest, since for the past couple of weeks her head has been engaged in Flo's pelvis and she's been spending most of her life upside down.

Don't worry, it's not dangerous... Flo was under the careful supervision of her Yoga instructor and you can probably make out this picture was taken inside a Yoga studio, which happens to be two doors down the street from our house, which is very convenient!


Meanwhile, while Flo was at Yoga, Boris was at home helping me out with the laundry.

Hospital Update

We returned to the hospital this morning to meet up with the specialist gynaecologist. Before meeting him, Flo was hooked up to the CTG machine again to monitor the baby's heart rate. This time, it was in the normal, healthy range between 140 and 160 bpm for the thirty minutes or so that she was monitored.

The gynaecologist had a good scan around with the ultrasound, taking measurements of the head and limbs and having a close look at the baby's heart. His conclusion... everything looked perfectly normally and the baby was, as far as he could see, perfectly healthy. He said the elevated heart rate was likely just linked to some high activity of the baby, particularly since the heart rate was seen to reduce during the time the baby was monitored earlier in the week.

So, scare over and everyone can relax once more!

Thirty-four weeks and back in hospital

This weeks Flo's been much better. She's obviously pregnant and therefore gets tired in the afternoon and heads off to bed for a quick snooze, but other than that she's been quite perky. She managed a couple of light yoga sessions this week and we've been on some small grocery shopping outings and went to the cinema for a matinee on Monday.

Today we returned to the hospital for a routine check up with the midwife. Flo's weight and blood pressure were fine, but when it came to measuring the baby's heart rate, it was a bit on the high side at around 190 bpm (beats per minute). This concerned the midwife a little so she rang the gynaecology ward where Flo was once again hooked up to the cardiotocograph machine. One and a half hours later, a trainee gynaecologist came and interviewed Flo and after the proper one came and had a look Flo had some blood taken to test for infections (again). An appointment with one of the hospitals senior and specialist gynaecologists has also been made so that he can take a closer look at the baby's heart on the ultrasound scanner.

During the one and a half hours of monitoring, the baby's heart rate returned to a normal 150 bpm and Flo and I are both pretty confident that the elevated heart rate is simply a function of the baby being so active, since she was kicking and thumping around quite a bit all morning. However, it's better to be safe than sorry so, despite being a bit frustrated with having to spend another couple of hours in the hospital today (although we did get a free hospital lunch out of it!) I suppose it's worth it just to ensure that the baby is fit and healthy.

Flo received a phone call from the gynaecologist late this afternoon to confirm the appointment with the specialist next Friday and also informed that the results from the blood tests were negative, so nothing has been identified wrong with Flo at least. So now we sit tight 'til Friday...

Otherwise, things seemed to be going well. If you can ignore the sensors in the picture here, you can see that Flo's belly is developing nicely and is now a lovely, full bulge. It's funny watching it in the evening and seeing movement inside of it... a bit alien-esqué. Our little girl can certainly be pretty active... this morning when we were waking up, Flo pulled my hand onto her belly and within thirty seconds I felt a little limb moving around inside her... which made me smile as I still find it a bit unnerving! It's such a weird idea, the thought of a little human inside another.

It's not all been babies this week though. We've recently noticed a wet patch emerging under the paving stones in the back garden after using the bathroom and/or toilet upstairs. When I initially saw it I was feeling pretty proud of myself, since I'd done an enormous poo (I blame the healthy food that Flo's been feeding me) and thought I might have plugged up the plumbing. Anyway, Flo gave the builder a call and to his credit he was pretty efficient at getting a plumber to come 'round and have a look and give the house a colonoscopy. Turns out our one hundred year old plumbing had finally had its day and a section of it needed replacing with some modern PVC stuff. So, that's another thing sorted on the house!


Boris and Boika seem to be very happy that we've been spending so much time at home. In fact, I think they're getting a bit too used to it and starting to take a few liberties... like expecting food and water from the tap on demand and copious amounts of attention (only when they want it of course). Boika seems to be struggling to adapt to our more leisurely morning rise, not failing to wake us up at 7 a.m. every morning for her biscuit breakfast with a barrage of meowing at our bedroom door. But they still like to indulge in each others company occasionally and snuggle up together on the sofa. In fact this fleece blanket that my mum gave us has become Boris' comfort blanket... he gets upset if he can't find it to lie on since he loves to cuddle up to it! Anyway, in the picture above you can see him giving a mighty kitty raw after I woke them up returning home yesterday afternoon. Don't you just want to give them a big hug!

Thirty-two weeks

Only a week late, but here's a thirty-two week belly shot of Flo. As you can see, the little one has certainly grown a fair bit in the last couple of weeks and there's no mistaking that Flo's pregnant any more!

We were back at the hospital last week for a check-up with a new gynaecologist and to have a thirty-two week check up ultra-sound scan taken. Our little girl is normally very active, but just like her daddy, she doesn't like to perform on request and so when the lady performing the ultra-scan needed her to move so that she could image her hands and feet, our little girl remained perfectly still. I think the lady was a bit concerned as she asked several times whether this was normal and whether she normally moved around a bit. She was so adamant that she wanted to see the hands and feet that she asked us to return for another scan after seeing the gynaecologist.

Everything was fine with the gynaecologist, except that she couldn't shed any more light on the cause of Flo's symptoms. We asked her advice on whether we should travel to the UK this week (we were scheduled to go to a friends wedding and had planned to visit my parents and some friends) and she advised against it. So, unfortunately we had to cancel our travel plans, which was pretty upsetting, but we don't want to take any chances with this little one!

Back with the ultra-sound scan woman (what's her job title?), she confirmed what the midwife told us last week when she had a feel of Flo's belly. Our little girl has very long legs, a pretty average sized body and a large head. In fact, I noticed on her computer screen when she was inputting the data that her head was described as "P-95". This means that she has a 95th percentile sized head, which means that statistically only 5% of babies have a larger head than our little girl! So, I'm assuming that she needs a large head in which to fit her large brain because she's going to be so intelligent! You can see the ultra-sound image of our babies head in the picture above.

Back at home, Flo's continuing to take things easy with plenty of cat naps and sofa rest (she doesn't like to stay in bed). However, she's more active now and doesn't require me to make all the meals and serve them to her in her day bead any longer, which is good news for me since I was finding the experience very tiring! But I suppose it's good practice for when the baby is born...

On Sunday we had some friends over for lunch. We were supposed to have gone over to Amsterdam to meet and have lunch there, but given Flo's current condition they kindly offered to prepare and cook lunch at our house so that Flo could continue to take things easy but still get to see them all. Since Flo's not in any condition to help me with any manual work, I took the opportunity to ask one of our friends to help me install the shelves in the baby room. As you can see from the picture, the room is now almost complete and just needs personalising a bit before the baby comes along. We were a bit concerned that the room would be too small, but it's turned out to be perfectly adequate and actually quite a sweet little room. I'm just looking forward to the finishing touch... a little baby girl!

... a hiccupping jicama

Our little girl grew from four navel oranges to a jicama in one week. Fancy that. Without the jicama in my culinary reference, I first had to find out what a jicama was: the big Mexican brother of our humble potato (which of course was also a native from more exotic places).

The ultrasound we had last Thursday confirmed her size: a good two kilos (wow, that means you just need one jicama for a pan of stamppot?). Fast forward to today: no more contractions, so the strict bed rest seems to have worked wonders. Although I am officially not on bed rest anymore, with my energy level still below zero, I am still keeping to a kitty schedule: eat - sleep- sleep- eat- sleep. Boris and Boika are well impressed!

Meanwhile our little girl seems to be deliciously unaware of all the commotion; sleeping, kicking, growing and hiccupping away. Foetal hiccups are the strangest sensation: rhythmic, persistent, little poppings in your bump.

Apparently hiccups are a sign of a healthy baby as it helps to mature their longs, so they are not only entertaining, but reassuring as well. Or maybe there is an environmental link and she gets excited at the prospect of food already, just like me! More on genetic and environmental links later, I have been meaning to write something about that for ages now.

On Braxton-Hicks, fruit and veg and sofa duty

Since I have been home I have not experienced any Braxton Hicks' contractions anymore. Which was the reason I was admitted to hospital. Or 'hard bellies', as they are called in Dutch, since the contractions are accompanied by a hardening of the wall of the uterus.

One of my friends texted me asking whether BH contractions weren't a normal part of a healthy pregnancy. Which indeed they are. They are thought to increase the uterine blood flow and the transfer of oxygen to the foetus. In later pregnancy they play a part in moving the babies head down into the pelvis in preparation for labour. More on Braxton Hicks' contractions here.

However, they are not supposed to be painful (as in not being able to walk, like I wasn't) or frequent (every time I moved), long-lasting (as long as I moved) or severe. Especially since doctors can't tell the difference between BH contractions and 'real' contractions and you might be in pre-term labour. Which fortunately I wasn't since it is still waaaaay too early for our little girl to come and say hello.

I am so glad that she seemed to be doing all right throughout the whole ordeal. There was actually something of the 'fast and the furious' going on inside me. She managed to kick off the CTG a couple of times. As you can see on the earlier picture of the CTG (the little blocks), there was a lot of movement. Or, as Jonny suggested, she might have been trying to say something in Morse code...

A quick size update on her size and weight: over the last weeks, our girl was respectively the size of a cucumber, weighed the same as the head of a cauliflower, a Chinese cabbage, a butternut squash, a cabbage and most recently, four navel oranges. That's a lot of vitamin C!

Speaking of food, that is of course not the only reason that I am glad to be home again. However much fun it is to share details about bowel movements (or the lack thereof) with relative strangers, I much rather spend time with my husband and the cat family, sleeping in my own bed and having my computer with me as a link to the outside world.

After two days of not being allowed by Jonny to carry as much as a cup to the kitchen, I am now on 'careful mobilising'. I have not been explained the the doctors what this exactly means, but I have been taking it really easy and only making the occasional cup of tea. Unfortunately not being allowed by my body than to do anything else but.

I still feel completely shattered and nap throughout the day. So although my concept of taking it easy might slightly differ from other people's (as one of my friends carefully suggested), at the moment everybody can rest assured that I am getting a lot of rest indeed. Giving the four navel oranges all the chance to grow into...

Another obstacle

Two weeks ago, things were progressing nicely; Flo was glowing and her bump was growing. We took a picture at twenty-nine weeks and as you can see Flo's bump is coming along nicely now. The picture was taken just after my return from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, during which time Flo had been keeping herself active with gentle Yoga and some swimming; she's keen to maintain a degree of fitness during the pregnancy to increase the chances of a smooth pregnancy and to help her recover quicker afterwards.

Shortly after the photo was taken, Flo started suffering from flu like symptoms; nausea and vomiting, weak, tired and a bit of a temperature. Her tummy was also sore and cramping a little. After a couple of days, we were both a bit concerned and Flo called the hospital. Unusually, a midwife came 'round the house to have a look and suspected it was just a bug of some sort. The advice was to rest and if it got worse to give the hospital a call.

So Flo took it easy for a few days and the symptoms got better, but never really went away. It only took a relatively small amount of activity though and Flo would become extremely tired and her tummy would ache and cramp. We had an appointment scheduled to meet the midwife at the hospital for a check-up on Tuesday, so we despite showing symptoms, we decided to wait until then before returning to the hospital. Tuesday came and the midwife was concerned as soon as she saw Flo, since she saw that Flo looked in pain. She called the gynaecology ward and told them we were on the way. In the ward, they hooked us up to a machine to monitor the baby's heart rate and activity and to measure contractions. The good news is that the baby appears to be strong and healthy. They took a urine sample to determine if Flo had any urinary infections, but the test came back negative. An internal and external ultrasound was performed to verify that everything was fine with the baby... which it did.


Bottom line is that they didn't know what was causing the symptoms, so they sent us home, told Flo to take it easy and to call them if the symptoms got any worse.

The next day, things were no better and we were anxious. The symptoms are not normal and we were concerned as to what was causing them. So Flo managed to visit our doctor that afternoon, who shared our concerns and sent Flo straight back to the hospital after consulting with a gynaecologist there. So that was Wednesday and Flo's been there since under observation, periodically being plugged back up to the machine. It seems that the stomach aches and cramps may be mini contractions.

A swab was taken to determine whether she had any bacterial infections, but this also came back negative. The bed rest appears to have helped calm things down, but as soon as Flo starts to move around then the cramps start again.

I'm hoping that Flo will be back home tomorrow, but there's a chance that she may be bed ridden for the remainder of the pregnancy. So it's a good job I'm off work next month... I can use the time to look after her!

A view from the top (or two alternative belly pictures)

Apparently pets can sense its owner being pregnant. Although Boris and Boika probably don't understand that in a couple of months a new baby will be joining us, I am sure that cats are indeed very intuitive and can detect some changes going on.

Since the bump really started showing, the pair of them has undeniably been extra clingy. They need to be near me all the time, curled up on the sofa or just following me around the house. And at night Boika sleeps in front of our bedroom door, like a true guardian kitty.

With Jonny being away, they fight for lap time. From time to time, they like to think that they are still little kittens, but there is really no way that they both fit on my lap at the same time.

First come, first served. Most of the time, Boika gets to my lap first. In fact my bum just barely has to touch the sofa and Boika is on my lap, nuzzling into my stomach.

Just before I took this picture she had her paws on top of the bump, so she was sort of hugging my belly. A few days later, Boris did the same. Maybe they find the heartbeat from our little girl soothing! It is certainly very sweet.

Err, the pictures don't actually show my belly at all. I'll have to ask Jonny to do a new belly shot, since the bump is becoming more and more visible every day. Some people say it's got to do with being at home and relaxing. I think it has more to do with the third trimester having started and that being the time the baby grows most (in absolute terms).

An exclusive father-daughter moment

Our little girl has established a clear awake and sleep pattern by now. She is usually most active when I am less so. Some mornings I wake up a bit early and, still sleepy, I lie in bed just enjoying the little kicks inside me. Together with the little one, I listen to the world waking up and it feels very cosy and intimate.

On Monday morning I made maximum use of the snooze function on our alarm clock. I was actually falling back into a deep sleep with every snooze. And whilst I was catching an extra bit of sleep, Jonny was spooning me and with his hands on my belly, he felt her kick.

I had no recollection of feeling her move that morning, but Jonny later told about their father-daughter moment. I was momentarily swept away by the deep love I felt for the pair of them. I found the idea of them sharing a moment so utterly adorable and I can't wait to see them together in a couple of months time!

Get shorty

Before our little trip to Germany we went to a labour and delivery information evening at the local hospital. Whilst the actual event itself (labour and delivery I mean) is hopefully still mooooonths away, this was the only information evening in English. Which was really quite customer friendly of them.

The auditorium was completely packed with all Dutch couples who wanted to practise their English labour and delivery vocabulary who were due very soon, Anglo-Dutch combos like ourselves and lots of other nationalities. Irish, English, Nigerian and German at least.

We were given information about when to go to the hospital, what to take with you and what actually happens (err, birth?). I am afraid I have somehow managed to forget most of what was said and retained only the most useful facts:

- Make sure you have a two Euro coin with you for the wheelchairs. Walking can apparently be quite difficult with contractions five minutes apart and the maternity ward is far from the car park. I will start saving two Euro coins and putting them in every pocket and bag. Just in case.

- Labour can take long, so pack an apple or a Mars™ Bar for the munchies. I was rather puzzled by the actual mentioning of the brand name. Why not Twix, Crunchie or Snickers (aptly named Marathon in the UK until the early nineties)? Or maybe even something with any nutrional value all together?

- Where as we had mental images of the medical staff playing a bagpipe or a banjo at your bedside, instrumental deliveries turned out to be something completely different. It involves things placed on baby's head like a ventouse or a forceps (yuk!).

- No filming can be done until after the delivery. They did not explain why, but I suppose it is for your own protection. Who'd want their delivery all over YouTube? Meanwhile I have also forbidden Jonny to take pictures of me straight after birth. Call me superficial, but you hardly look your best after such a major physical effort.

- Take BIG knickers with you for afterwards. You loose a lot of blood for up to six (!) weeks after delivery. Those big maternity pads (yuk!) don't fit in g-strings apparently. Good job I have always been more of a shorty girl myself.

- You never pay for more than 6 hours for the car park whilst in labour and delivery. To get your money's worth I suppose you would have to draw out that five hour delivery a bit?

This last bit of information was actually the reply to a question asked by a lady who minutiously wrote down everything that was said. Now that is what I call preparation! However, I am quite sure she remembers all the really useful stuff too...

As it is, I a not really nervous about labour. Yet. Although I am not looking forward to the inevitably painful side of things, both my mother and my sister had really fast deliveries and I am hoping on a family tradition here. And a lot of pain for a short period of time seems bearable to me. Especially since we will finally get to meet our daughter!