Shopping fever

We've been quite good at not jumping on the "buy baby stuff now" bandwagon - Rachelle in particular has been quite adament that we didn't get ahead of ourselves.
Until now... After the second scan it's all become rather real and she is finding herself in a mild panic to get everything sorted. So, today we went to Oxford to look for maternity clothes (nope, Oxford is crap for that) and to pop in to Mothercare to look at stuff. We also bought a book 7 Steps to raising a bilingual child, which is okay if not exactly brilliant.

We spent about an hour in Mothercare receiving a lot of information about buggies from a very nice lady. Rachelle is quite keen on the Bugaboo Cameleon while I am quite liking the Baby Jogger Summit XC but no-one near here sells it so we have been unable to try it out.

Still, the rule remains that we won't buy anything other than a few books before the 3rd trimester. Besides, we are getting so many lovely offers from people wanting to give us their stuff, which is extremely nice.

The second scan

Today we had our second scan. This is the scan where they can pick up any anomalies in the baby. Thankful we have a very active little baby with no obvious defects. We saw the spine, all the internal organs, the heart beating and the blood flow around it. We're told that all 10 fingers and toes are there but I couldn't make them out. But everything is good and progressing well :)

Here's a picture for you but I warn you now - it looks like an alien. The picture shows a cross-section of the head so you see the baby's brain, eye sockets, nasal cavity and jaw bone. Really weird!In case you can't make out anything else, have a look at this version:

The baby is screwed up with its arms in front of its face and its feet are together so that its knees stick out to the side. The baby is facing outwards from my tummy - already trying to see the world!

This would usually be the last scan but my placenta is low. I need to go back at 32 weeks for another scan to see if it has moved. Hopefully it will have moved up and out the way - I don't want a C-section. Everyone cross your fingers...

We're so happy! Frans can't stop beaming which is such a wonderful thing to see. Hopefully it'll last through all the sleepless nights we have coming our way :)

Definitely felt it move!

There's no doubt in my mind that I felt the baby move! I was laying stretched out on the bed this morning and I had this weird 'flutter' in my tummy. I can't wait to feel a proper kick :)

Midwife appointment

So we saw the midwife today for our 16-week check up. Everything seems to be fine and on track. We heard the baby's heartbeat which was incredible. The midwife was very patient and answered all our silly questions but it's good to know that all this stuff that's happening is quite normal. I thought I may have felt the baby move a couple of days ago and I asked if this was possible. She described the sensation to me and I'm not totally convinced that's what I felt but it could well have been. Exciting!

Our first scan

Well today we had the first scan of the baby. It's currently 12 weeks and 6 days old. It's about 6.5 cm long and likes to stretch and kick its legs lots.

Wales!

Well we're now back from our little weekend trip away. We had a great time but as expected, the weather could've been better. I'm very happy to report though that 'Knold' seemed to enjoy itself :) I've only had a couple of moments where I've felt sick and now we're back and I'm still feeling good. How long will it last I wonder.....

A post from the expectant mother...

Frans has been on at me to write a little something on here so I thought I'd give you a little update on how I've been feeling.

Everyone tells me that the morning sickness should be easing up about now - we're at the twelve week pitstop - but my morning sickness has turned into all-day sickness and I actually feel worse now than I did 5/6 weeks ago. Not a lot I can do about that, I know, but I like to complain :) I've found it difficult to do even the most basic chores around the flat as everything seems to make me want to vomit, which isn't pleasant. Almost all exercise has been stopped for now as well, as physical exertion brings on that dreaded sicky feeling. I'm looking forward to our walk up Snowdon this weekend though. Gonna take it easy and fingers crossed the 'morning' sickness doesn't wreak havoc.

I had my first antenatal blood test today. I can't believe how much blood they took! Glad it's done and I don't have another one until about the 28-week mark.

Frans makes me laugh. I'm so happy I married him :) I'm sure you know what he's like when it comes to something he's excited about. He has printed a pregnancy calendar - it took him three attempts - but it's now up on the wall and he's started writing little bits on it. He gets so excited about everything. We read in a book a friend had lent us that the baby is moving now but is too small for me to feel it. However, a doctor can hear the baby through a stethoscope. We don't have one of those but Frans thought a glass placed upside-down on my belly might work just as well. Needless to say it didn't, but it gave me and baby a good chuckle :) I think he now wants to buy a stethoscope....

He also wanted to buy some books but I said no, not until we were a bit further into the pregnancy. Well, once I gave him the go ahead he went off and researched all the different books he could buy and bought one - that was all I said he could have otherwise he'd buy them all. After our first scan I'll let him lose with the credit card.

There's lots of other stuff I could bore you with but I'll save that for another day.

xx