babyblog

9 Weeks

9 weeks today. According to the radiologist who did my ultrasound last week, 9 weeks officially upgrades the baby from 'embryo' to 'foetus'. Not entirely sure what the difference between the two is, but I'm glad to be still here at 9 weeks that's for sure.

After 2 weeks of doing bugger all we actually went out last night to the pub with a friend, and it was really good to get out of the house and be sociable. Tonight is New Years Eve of course, and we'll be going to a party at another friends house which I'm looking forward to. We have begun to tell people which is nice, and kind of strange, so I guess a few more will know tonight!

The spotting continues, which is still a little alarming but I'm almost getting used to it by now. There's no definitive answer that I can find as to why it happens. It seems to happen a couple of times a day... usually shortly after getting up in the morning, and then again in the evening.

on a more pleasant note...

Introducing the first photo of our new offspring. (who I think bears a remarkable resemblance to the Starship Enterprise?!)

giant poo

scuse the title of this one, but for some reason ever since I got pregnant my poo has been ENORMOUS. So big that 9/10 it blocks the loo. Bizarre.

8 weeks, and *argh*

So, I started bleeding a week ago. It wasn't heavy and was mostly brown in colour (old blood, not quite as bad as if it were new), but enough to be very scary. Stayed off my feet until Monday came around (continued to bleed a little) and went to see the Doc who recommended bed rest. Said it was maybe a small tear or something which could heal if I gave it a chance. Also sent me for a scan which happened on Wednesday - and showed a little tiny 8 week old baby alive in there - hurrah!

Still having small brown bleeds, but taking it extremely easy and doing bugger all. Which is, of course, driving me MAD and I am BORED BORED BORED. Today I watched a 'Buffy Marathon' on TV - 10 hours of non stop TV. I feel like my body will explode with inactivity. Of course the inactivity also bothers me because of the potential for blood clots, so all in all I'm hoping that I can get past this episode as soon as possible and start to be more active.

Mood wise I'm feeling very irritable due to the inactivity and, no doubt, hormones.

My dad called on Christmas Day to wish us a Happy Christmas and D said to him on the phone 'mummy's got a baby in her tummy'. So sweet. Dad is pleased and concerned (blood clot issues again) for me. He's away on holiday right now though, so I'll talk more fully with him when he gets back and is in more regular contact. I have the appt. with the haematologist on Jan 6th to look forward to, and hopefully that'll set my mind at ease a little about the clotting issues.

7 +1

Going to the airport to pick up the outlaws later on today. They're arriving for Christmas which is lovely as it means we'll have family around us over the holiday period. Last year we didn't have anyone here. It was still pleasant as we went to see some friends for Christmas dinner, but not quite the same as having your actual family here!

I guess we'll be telling them the 'news' which means they'll be the first of the family to know and which will make it all a bit official-like. Assuming all is well in a week (pessimism snuck in there) we'll tell the rest of the family on Christmas day when we speak to them on the phone.

7 Weeks

7 weeks today. Apparently the baby is a jumping bean the size of a grape, today. Cool :)

up, down, out

Had my first emotional roller coaster moment last night. G made me laugh and I ended up absolutely hysterically in giggles about something for 10 mins or so, then all of a sudden out of nowhere started balling my eyes out crying for 5 mins..... G was very confused, poor chap! Asked me what was wrong. "Nothing", I sobbed, and then burst out laughing again. This cycle continued for about 20 mins, by which point G was back to watching the TV rather than try to comprehend my bizarre behaviour!

As for the out - I bought some Maternity Jeans today (the ones on the left). I sort of feel that I might jinx myself by doing it, but I'm tired of only being able to wear 1 PAIR for the last 2 weeks, and those are stretch / running ones. I literally have nothing that I can respectably leave the house in. I could have pursuaded G to go and rummage for my old maternity stuff from when I had Dylan but that is 5 yrs old and fashion has moved on darling. I'm also a bit incredulous that my stomach is unable to fit into any of my regular jeans already, but such is life and apparently this is quite common with a 2nd baby.

Another out - my face. Terrible skin. Broken out in lots of horrid spots. Another fairly common symptom but one which sucks!

a little more spotting

A bit more brown spotting this morning. Not much, just a bit. It's hard to know if to worry or not. This happened when I was pregnant with Dylan. If it's brown it's 'old blood' which could be anything, and could be nothing to worry about. Then again, it might not be. Blah.

spotting

had a little spotting (brown coloured) yesterday which scared me, so I ended up doing very little other than lying on the couch.

trying not to be too concerned as this happened when i was pregnant with Dylan, but it's still quite scary.

heartburn is back

I think that the heartburn must be related to consuming anything whatsoever with sugar in. I have avoided it for the last couple of weeks but after drinking loads of ribena, orange squash and lime cordial + water yesterday I have had fierce heartburn again. Bitter!

The Heamatologist's office called yesterday to make an appointment for January 6th, which is great... not too long away. From there she said he'll probably be referring me to the 'High Risk Pregnancy' clinic in the hospital for my pre-natal care. Which is OK, I guess. I am not, thankfully, in too high of a risk category, but given that last time I ended up with Gestational Diabetes, way too much amniotic fluid, a blood clot, and a pulmonary embolism, I think that it's perhaps better safe than sorry this time. It means they'll be able to monitor me throughout the anti-coagulation therapy that I'll receive from 20wks plus...... and the birth will have to be co-ordinated with that to make sure they take me off it before I have the baby.

sicky

Felt really sicky all morning....... ick.

Haven't heard from the Haematology DR's office yet.... blah.

Got strange craving for orange squash and other sugary drinks of that nature and made G drive to the supermarket to buy a supply. A tiny bottle of Ribena is 7 dollars here!

getting anxious

When I had a miscarriage it happened around the 7 week mark, so I'm finding myself to be a bit anxious at the moment. I'm constantly checking myself to make sure the 'signs' of pregnancy are not going away. Bah.

6 weeks

6 weeks today. Just got back from the DR's office. He wants me to see the Haematologist and ask him if he wants me to be seen by an Obstetrician down at the hospital, or whether I can see one close to home..... i.e. whether this chap has a working relationship with anyone in particular. It's good news to know that I'll be cared for by an OB this time (rather than the dreadful midwife "care" in south london that I was subjected to last time). I called the Haematologist office when I got home and hopefully they will be calling back soon with some information as to when I can be seen, because I'd like to actually see someone soon. One thing I'm keen to find out from an OB is whether I can have the Nuchal Fold Scan here in Canada - this is a scan around 10-12 weeks which can detect percentage probability of chromosome abnormalities (something to do with the neck/spine area of the baby). I was lucky to have it with D, it had just been introduced in London. I'd much rather that than the rather dodgy AFP blood test which seems to give no end of false positive results to people.

sitting down

Sitting down is the worst thing I can do during the day. As soon as i relax onto the couch I can pretty much guarantee I'll be asleep within 5 minutes.

Have a DR's appointment tomorrow morning to make this whole thing official-like.

Meanwhile, Cait seems to be having her baby, and I've been following her pregnancy blog for the last 6 months or so, so it's pretty exciting!

fat

How is it that since I found out I was pregnant I've eaten rather healthily, haven't really touched sugary foods and haven't over-eaten, yet my 'fat jeans' are really cutting into my waist when I put them on? You know the pair of jeans you save for those times when you have a few extra pounds to lose that you can always guarantee will either fit well, or be too loose? Yes, those. I'm struggling to do them up and when they eventually are fastened - my tummy wants to be released in a big way.

yawn

Still tired, and sleeping for England. Gareth reminds me that many women have to go to work when pregnant and I feel very sorry for them considering I am totally exhausted 99% of the time and am doing bugger all!

Yesterday we decorated the house for Christmas and the activity involved in going to various shops, getting the stuff home, fishing out the decorations, decorating the tree, vaccuming up fifty thousand pine needles, putting decorations in other rooms, etc, totally wiped me out and I slept in until 11 this morning.

Dylan was sick earlier today which made me feel extremely sick too. Not sure if it was the sight of vomit (which I'm not very good with) or general pregnancy related nausea. Either way, bleurgh.

bloating

I'm very very tired the last couple of days, more so than before. I'm also very bloated, and I think it's to do with excess gas (a common and irritating symptom of early pregnancy). I'm in my elasticated waist pants today because jeans are just too uncomfortable and biting at the waist.

me & gwyneth...

Apparently Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are having a baby next summer too. When I had Dylan I was also in good company with Posh Spice & David Beckham!

In other news, not alot to report except that I am finding it a little harder to get going in the mornings. Yesterday I was also incredibly tired for most of the day, sleeping for an hour in the morning while D was at school.

My cold is thankfully passing. I'm still sniffly with a little bit of a temperature, but the worst is over with. I imagine the regime of vitamins that I'm taking has helped there!

caffeine!

I hadn't given it much thought but it transpires I need to give up (or at least seriously cut down) my caffeine intake. It's not great for pregnant women, can have adverse effects on the baby. For me who usually drinks 3 or 4 coffees before getting dressed, not to mention several cups of tea throughout the day, this is a big deal. I did give up when I had Dylan, I just hadn't really thought about it this time. Anyway, yesterday instead of the usual coffeefest, I had one cup of tea in the morning, one in the afternoon, and decaf tea in the evening. Surprisingly I've not had that feeling that someone's put an axe through my skull yet, which I usually get when i give up caffeine!

5 weeks

5 weeks today... and it seems much longer! Still a ways to go before I can relax.

Although I'm obviously not showing yet, I think I'm retaining water or something because my jeans are all a bit tight and my tummy seems to stick out a bit further than usual. A friend told me that with a 2nd child, because my body has already been stretched into enternity with Dylan, things will expand pretty easily and quickly this time.

general waffle

Quietly, I'm hoping all will be well. I don't want to do that because it'll be a bigger disappointment if it's not, but I can't help but hope. I also can't help check there is nothing amiss every time I go to the loo and wipe (sorry for the graphic explanation), because that's what happened before when I had a miscarriage. It's becoming an obsession. I really need to relax!

Went out last night and I'm telling you, driving the huge distance between here & Toronto (40 mins in the car!) without a loo break was difficult!

I'm also getting a nasty cold, which I could do without.

It's odd that when I was trying to get pregnant the last 6 months or so, I was so wistful every time I saw a pregnant woman, completely desperate to hold a little baby of my own again. Now I have achieved it the other mindset takes hold, which is (apart from the 'i hope this won't end in tears) "omg, ANOTHER baby? How will I cope, what will it be like, will it upset Dylan, will I have more potentially fatal health complications due to my blood disorder?" It's a huge leap from desire to fear overnight. I'm positive it's natural to have fears and doubts, every pregnant woman does, but it seems kind of ludicrous. I wish I could just relax and go with the flow, but unfortunately I don't seem to be the kind of person who can do that, I need something to worry about!

nothing new really...

woke up this morning feeling very tired and a little bit nauseous (good!). pain in tummy has subsided somewhat (good!). boobs are even more sore (good!)