laanng

Well haven't we had an eventful fortnight! My tummy is getting tighter and tighter and harder and harder by the day! I've got all sorts of bits and and pieces poking out here and there and it's so funny to watch all the lumps and bumps moving around! Sometimes the movements from the outside look a little alien-like, but it's so exciting!!

Bubs is starting to engage now and is really pushing down into my pelvis. I'm feeling very heavy down there and I can feel the pressure on my bladder constantly. I'm back to visiting the loo more regularly like I did in my first trimester. My lower back and mid-thorasic areas are achey from about lunchtime onwards and I really need that afternoon lay down now!

Sleeping at night is getting harder too. My circulation is not too crash hot and my arms and legs feel like lead weights. Ben tells me my breathing is getting out of control and he's resorting to ear plugs to sleep with me!!

I'm making the most of our private health insurance by having pregnancy massages, pilates and aquarobics all twice a week, which is helping me heaps as well as providing excellent relaxation.

Yesterday we had our 32 week scan and weren't we in for a surprise at this visit! A fortnight ago our OB told us that we're looking at an 8 pound baby... now we're told we're now pushing 9 pounds!!! Holey moley!! Bub's CRL is today 34cm... 3cm more than a fortnight ago. The normal CRL at 40 weeks is between 35-37cm. Mmm... if you do the math knowing that at this stage, babies normally grow at a rate of 1cm per week, it doesn't take a genius to work out that we ain't having a little bub!!

Doc said that due to the risk of fetal distress and the size of my pelvis, that we should seriously consider a c-section... In a lot of ways I'm probably leaning towards that way anyway, so I'm happy to just do whatever I'm told. All we want is a healthy baby to come into this world safely - that's our number one priority.

If we go with the caesar, it's hello baby in less than 5 weeks time!!

If I eat a banana a day - on toast, in my porridge, in a banana split (yummy - Ben is a fan!) or whole as a snack, and munch on a handful of brazil nuts a day, I can keep those horrible cramps away!

Since I've included these into my diet, I haven't yelped out in my sleep and scared the living bejesus out of Ben!  I've also found if I point my heels out and my toes to my head, that helps heaps too.

Very relieved indeed!

Today was an exciting day for us... we got to see our beautiful baby not just in a regular 2D ultrasound, but in 4D!

Our little one was very well behaved and coyly posed for the camera for us... what a beautiful, gorgeous sight to behold! It was an emotional time as we saw baby moving around, throwing hands and feet all around, and even a yawn at one stage!

Technology is just amazing nowadays - although still just a representation of sound waves, and not a true picture of what our babe actually looks like, it was just so exciting and real to see our little miracle develop from a blob of what we thought looked like chewing gum at blastocyst stage to a real life kicking baby!

Mom and Dad came with us to the scan and were chuffed to see their little grandchild in such reality! Not surprisingly, mom was all tears!

Mom and Dad seemed to think bubs had my Dad's nose and Ben reckons my pouty lips when I sulk!

In this photo, I think baby looks incredibly Chinese!!

I just can't wait to meet you and cuddle you! You are just so beautiful, my little miracle!!

I've had the baby all to myself for a few weeks now and it's been a really special time, feeling the little one moving around inside my belly.  The movements are getting stronger day by day and we've now moved on from eye-twitches to hand grabs!

Bubs is very active and is not afraid to let me know she's there at any time of the day! It really is an amazing feeling and I love it!   Sometimes I'd be presenting in a meeting and she'd kick me nice and square so much that it startles me and I wonder if people can see me jolting!

Just the other night, I was desperate for Ben to share my experience with me...  we were lying in bed and baby was moving around like jumping beans.  Ben rested his hand on my tummy waiting for a sign, but after a few minutes...  nothing.  A little disappointed, he declared "I think we can safely conclude that it's too early for me to feel anything just yet"...  bubs was not impressed at her father's statement and fiercely punched him to prove a point!  Daddy was very chuffed and the smile on his face was gold!

Can't wait for when Ben gets kicked in the middle of the night in his sleep!!!

I liken myself to a cat in the mornings - I always like to have a stretch before getting out of bed, but being pregnant I now have trained myself to avoid my feline movements at all costs... oh the cramps, the cramps!~!!

Quite often, I would unconsciously stretch in my sleep in the early hours of the morning and a severe cramp unlike any cramp I've ever experienced before would kick in and I'd scream out in pain and bring the walls down... Poor Ben doesn't know what's hit him, startled as he jolts up in bed freaking out at my screams! My calf muscles seize up and I'm totally incapacitated as Ben sympathetically (and sheepishly) tries to massage the pain out through my tears and my incomprehensible words...

This morning, I woke to the mother of all mother of cramps but this time it ran all the way up the back of my leg too. Awesome. It's 4pm and I'm still having trouble walking from the legacy it's left behind.

They say that cramping during pregnancy could be due to iron, magnesium, potassium, salt and/or calcium deficiencies... time to change my diet I think... for the last 5 months, I've been put off by meat (although I'm getting better now) and can't put down bananas. I'm lactose intolerant and my doctor had me on a low-salt diet. All this is probably not helping!!

I'm off to the shops now to buy some bananas, salt & vinegar chips and brazil nuts!

Ahh... add cramps to the ever-growing list of the joys of pregnancy!