3 Men and a Baby

Robin went out drinking on Wednesday with two of his work colleagues who recently became first-time fathers. When I collected Robin from the station later in the evening he informed me, rather tipsily, that the the three of them had talked about babies ALL NIGHT LONG! Apparently they'd discussed everything from childbirth to breastfeeding to baby farts and stretch marks. HILARIOUS!!!

What's even funnier is that I find myself asking Robin more questions now than he asks me AND ... he knows the answers!!

Walls have ears ...

My tummy was making some extraordinarily loud gurgling noises this evening whilst digesting some coleslaw. This seemed to make the baby kick and wriggle like crazy. With all that noise going on in there the poor little sausage was probably thinking LET ME OUTTA HERE!!

Talking of sausages, one pound equals EIGHT sausages. So Huffer Jnr is approximately the same weight as eight of Walls' finest. Mmmmm.

Teddy Boy

Uh oh. This is Robin's idea of a cute outfit for our little baby when he's born. Not so sure myself ...

Remote Control

23 weeks, 2 days

I was lying on the sofa watching a movie this afternoon - Man on Wire (boring) - and had the remote control on my stomach when Huffer Jnr decided to do some kick boxing. I can't believe that such a little leg almost has the strength to send a remote control flying.

A foot of baby

My baby is 12 inches - or a foot - long this week, so to celebrate I thought I would post a picture of one of his feet.

Anomaly Scan - WARNING: may contain boring stuff.

I'm looking at the measurements from last week's scan and working out what it all means. Very tricky indeed.

Okay, so we have lots of measurements taken in millimetres.

Each measurement is shown on a graph which has a line down the middle indicating the 'average' point. A dot either side of the line indicates whether the measurements fall above or below the average (but still within a normal range).

Sooo ...

Fluff-bucket's 'normo-gram' measurements are as follows:

• Skull/head measurements x 3 (BPD 57mm, OFD 73.3mm, HC204.7mm) - all above average.
  
• Transcerebellar Diameter (TCD) - 22.6mm - average. (The measurement correlates almost exactly with gestational age and is used to help determine gestational age more accurately.)
• Cisterna Magna (this is a tricky one to figure out ... I think it can indicate brain abnormalities if measuring over 10mm) - 6.4mm - slightly above average.
• Nuchal Fold Thickness - 4.9mm (I believe anything under 6mm is considered normal).
• Abdominal Diameter and Circumference measurements x 3 ( TAD 55mm, APAD 49.6mm, AC 164mm) - all average. (These measurements can help determine the baby's weight).
• Femur Length (FL) - 37.7mm - slightly above average.
• Estimated Fetal Weight (AC/FL) - 451g (1lb) - average. (Apparently there is a correlation between the Femur Length and the Abdominal Circumeference that helps determine the baby's weight.)

All in all nothing to worry about; I think the Fluff-bucket might just be okay.

A bump at last!

Hurrah ... I have a bump. Not a huge one, but a bump nonetheless (see pic). To celebrate, I treated myself to a T-shirt that says Hands off the Bump.

On another note, Rob and I have two names that we sort of like. I'm sure there will be tonnes more in the next four months or so ... but you'll have to wait until D Day to find out what we decide.

It's a ...

... BOY!

We had the big 22 week scan today. The big scan. The sexing scan. And we found out that we are having a BOY! My sister heard me cry out in surprise from the waiting room - then heard me exclaim "I wasn't expecting that." I was convinced I was having a girl.

The baby's profile is very similar to Rob's particularly round the upper lip, which pleases me greatly.

The scan went well apart from a potential issue with the right kidney which had a little too much fluid in it for the sonographer's liking. Apparently the fluid should not exceed 5mm width and it measured 6.6mm. This suggests Prenatal Hydronephrosis (or swelling of the kidney) which is more common in boys and affects one in every 100 babies. There are several reasons why Prenatal Hydronephrosis happens including obstruction ... reflux (i.e. urine traveling back up into the bladder) and posterior urethral valves ...

At 6.6mm it would only be a mild case, but the sonographer requested that we come back for another scan at 34 weeks so that she can monitor the situation.

Funny thing is that Rob has the dodgiest water works of any human being I know ... I just hope the baby hasn't inherited them. Poor little fluff bucket.

How accurate are these websites?

In three day's time I will be 22 week's pregnant and according to one popular pregnancy website:

The baby now weighs almost one pound/ 430 grams
and measures nearly 11 inches/ just over 27 centimetres long.

With my 22 week scan only days away, I'll be interested to find out how accurate these figures are.

Watch this space ...

Scans booked

I've got two exciting things to look forward to. Firstly is my 22 week scan on Thursday where I fully intend to find out what sex I'm having (fner fner) and the second exciting thing is the 4D ultrasound that I've booked in for the 6th September. I can't wait. It costs £150 and you get a half hour video of the 4D scan and some photos (as well as a few other bits and pieces that they throw in to make you feel like you're getting your money's worth).

To be honest I think that having a 4D scan is priceless. Just a few years ago the average ultrasound scan just looked like white noise with the fuzzy outline of a baby somewhere in the middle. These days you get crystal clear (almost) images of your child inside your womb. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the little person who keeps you awake at night by kicking you in the ribs ... yet who might as well be a million miles away, separated from you by the thinnest piece of skin (okay, and a couple of inches of fat in my case).

People ask why I want to know the sex ... or to see it before it's born and my response is why not? I will be 25 weeks pregnant when I have the 4D scan. The baby will be a fraction of its birth size. It will be a remarkable insight into its development and a glimpse into a world that, let's face it, is as mysterious and wondrous as the furthest reaches of outer space.

Of course, it also has something to do with impatience. I am one of those people who is driven demented by presents under the Christmas tree. If only I had Xray vision!!

Anyway, it's all booked and the deposit is paid for. Now I'm counting down the weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds until I see my baby's precious features for the very first time :-)

Tell me it SNOT true.

So I'm doing an Internet search for all the stuff I need to buy before the baby arrives and I stumble across a gruesome device called ...

Nosefrida the snotsucker. I kid ye not!!

Essentially you put one end of this nasal aspirator into your child's nose and the other end in your mouth and then you ... suck. According to the description it's doctor-endorsed, hygienic and effective but for someone like me who wretches at the sight of someone sniffing, it's a nightmare come true.

Mmmmm. Bogey smoothie through a straw anyone??

Bump in the Night

I just realised, whilst listening to the baby's heartbeat via the AngelSounds doppler, that my bump doesn't disappear when I'm lying down. It stands proud and firm. Huzzah. I'm really beginning to feel properly pregnant now.

Insomnia and hiccups

I hardly slept a wink last night ... not sure why. I guess I must be feeling stressed. On the bright side, it did give me an insight into when the baby is most active during the night. Between 4 and 5 the baby was moving around a lot and even got hiccups. They say that by 20 weeks your baby has established sleeping patterns. Judging by last night I have some really early mornings to look forward to over the next year or three :-)

On the bright side ...

I had a look on the Internet and found some images that show what the baby will look like at 21 weeks (in just three day's time). He or she is around 27 centimetres long and weighs around three-quarters of a pound :-)

A weight on my shoulders ...

I have to confess I cried my eyes out tonight. Why? Because I couldn't squeeze into a pair of size 16 maternity trousers in the shops after work, that's why!

I expected to gain some weight during pregnancy (I would have been foolish not to). But growing more than a dress size - so soon - has really knocked me sideways. I've always suffered from a degree of body dysmorphia, and for a period of my life even succumbed to eating disorders. But this had pretty much disappeared by the time I reached my thirties. I'd stopped worrying about what I looked like and learnt to accept my body. But NOW ...

I keep on telling myself that it'll be worth it in the end (and I'm sure it will be) but right now it all seems like a little bit too much too quickly :-(

Weight Gain

20 weeks + 2

OMG ... I just weighed myself and I've put on a stone. I now weigh 12 stone 4lbs. Yikes. All for a good cause though.

On a seperate note, I woke up this morning with an ache (verging on pain) in my right kidney. Going to try and drink plenty of fluids today ... in between hanging the bedroom door :-)