What's In A Name?

So we've come to the point where we're thinking of possible names for Noodle and here are our favourites so far:

BOY

Benjamin

Caleb

Cameron

Cohen

Connor

Ethan

Euan

Jackson

Joshua

Korbin

Matthew

Nathan

Zachary

GIRL

Aimee

Amber

Chloe

Emily

Grace/Gracie

Holly

Layla

Molly

Olivia

Quinn

Sophie

Zoe

These are the contenders we like the most right now, we probably won't tell anyone what we choose until Noodle is born, just to keep it a surprise :)

Let's Talk About Sex

Noodle's sex that is :)

Well last time there was a pregnancy "epidemic" at work in 2009, three girls fell pregnant and they all had baby girls. This time there's three of us again and so far we know the other two girls are having boys, which has made the girls come to the conclusion that Noodle is going to be a boy too :) Which I'm quite happy about, I always thought having a baby boy first was good so that he could be a big brother to the following baby (yes, there would be only one more from me after this!).

So we were talking about gender prediction and about all the old wives tales you can use to determine the baby's sex. All the girls at work who have kid say they used the Chinese Lunar Gender Prediction chart and it was accurate for all of them (yes, 100% of twelve women at work!) So we decided to have a look at it tonight and see if it was accurate for baby Noodle.

And the Chinese say we're having a little girl!

Apparently if Noodle does happen to be a boy, his little boy parts can be visible on a scan this week. I don't think I can wait until April 27th to know! Mabe we can get in for a cheeky scan before we fly to CapeTown...

Good Morning Second Trimester!

Well today marks a huge occasion as we step out of the first trimester and into the second :D We're a third of the way there! It's all quite overwhelming to think we've come so far already.

They say the second trimester is the best, as you have so much more energy and experience less of the aches, pains, tiredness and sickness you have in the first trimester. Well, so far so good!

I've manged to keep down all of my food for the past three days now which I have to say has made a huge difference to how I feel. I'm not sluggish anymore and my mood has certainly improved (much to Scott's appreciation!) Let's just hope this keeps up!

I've Turned Into A Pincushion

At least that's how I feel after my ante-natal appointment this morning.

First the nurse tried my right arm for a vein, then my right hand, and then my left arm, before settling for a plump juicy vein in my left hand. She was like a vampire when she found it. There was a needle in and two vials of blood were stolen from my body before I could even blink. She didn't even have the decency to take me to dinner first...

After that was done we sat down and had a chat about what the next batch of tests were in March. I have to come in for more blood samples to check if the baby has Down's Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome or Spina Bifida. She also asked what we would plan to do if our baby did have any of these conditions, would we carry on with the pregnancy or would we abort? I burst into tears just thinking about it. In all honesty I don't know what I would do, that's a huge decision! Scott always said he couldn't look after a child with Down's Syndrome and he would want the pregnancy terminated. Not out of hate or disgust, but because it's a lot to deal with. There's a lot more medical expenses to consider, wheelchairs, care, I would have to leave work to look after a disabled child which could put a lot of stress on a family financially also. Then there's learning to live with a child who will never fully develop mentally, may never walk, talk or be able to feed/dress by themselves.

I agreed with him at the time. But now I just don't know if I could live with that decision. This may be my only chance to have a baby. We've struggled so far to conceive this one, who's to say we can do it again? I don't know if I could terminate this pregnancy knowing that I could never have a child of my own naturally. But then I'm starting to wonder, could I live with myself for terminating a pregnancy at all? Even if I knew I could conceive easily afterwards and that baby would be perfectly healthy? I don't know if I could live with myself after making that decision...

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself, we haven't even been tested yet and I'm jumping to the worst scenario straight away. I guess we'll cross that bridge if we have to. It's not something I can take lightly right now and would need a serious amount of time to consider anything radical.

Here's our next appointments:

10 March - Down's test screening
27 April - Anomaly Scan (aka find out the baby's sex scan)
13 June - Breastfeeding workshop
20 June - Parenthood workshop
11 July - Physio session
30 August - Baby Noodle is due to enter the world
08 September - 41 week appt for membrane sweep, only necessary if Noodle decides it's too cosy insdie and doesn't show up on time

The Big Face.book Pregnancy Announcement Debate

I came across a link that was re-tweeted on Twi.tter by a girl that I follow today. It was a link to another blog where a woman had just posted about "The Facebook Pregnancy Announcment" and how she found a site that gave you "10 cute, oh-so-clever ways to announce your pregnancy on Face.book". Her response to finding this website?


"Not only is this practice already proliferated throughout the fertile, ignorant masses, but now we’re encouraging it? Giving fucking tips on how to do it best?"

Ok I understand you have trouble conceiving and find it hurtful when you log into Face.book and see someone you're friends with has posted a pregnancy announcement. I truly do understand. I tried for 3 years to conceive the baby I am currently carrying and during that time I also logged on to find pregnancy announcements from friends. It hurt. A lot. And they don't know it because we never told anyone we had trouble conceiving. But you know what? They're friends. And I was truly happy for them being able to experience such a wonderful thing in life, even when I never thought I would ever be able to.

Honestly, if you don't like Face.book announcements - save yourself some heartache and delete your account. Or you can decide to share your blog with your friends on Face.book, let them have an insight into your world of trying to conceive. They're only "ignorant masses" because you decide to blog/tweet annonymously. If you share your story you'll probably find they'll be more sensitive to your situation and many other people's. Maybe even other people you're friends with.

Hell, if that fails or you think it's a stupid idea: delete the friends on your list who make the announcements or post ultrasound photos. You're making yourself a martyr by not doing anything about it.

I'm now 12 weeks pregnant. I never thought we would see this day. After previously miscarrying and being told by doctors we could have problems conceiving again, I was extatic to find out we were expecting. And yes, I did the Face.book announcement so that we could share our incredible news with everyone we know and love. Obviously we kept our infertile friends in mind when posting and here's how we did it:

"Tammy is so very happy to announce that Scott and I will be mummy and daddy in August"

We didn't rub their faces in it with quizical posts that made them go "Is she/isn't she?", we made it direct and to the point and tried our very best not to hurt anybody. We did it because we wanted to tell everyone at once, rather than our infertile friends finding out through the grapevine about it and thinking "why would she avoid telling me that?" because I know it would hurt them more. I know they would want to join us in being happy that we've managed to do it, by overcoming all odds.

Really, if you can't be happy for your "friends" who post pregnancy announcements, don't be their friend. They're not doing this on purpose to rub it in your face. Let them know your story. Then you'll know they're not intentionally doing it to hurt you. It's natural for everyone to share great news on social sites. Don't hate them for it. Be their friend. Be happy for them. After all you don't know what their story is, they might have struggled to conceive too.

Please don't take this blog the wrong way, I'm not having a dig at you. I just think you need to take a step back and realise your friend's happiness. Your day will come too and they'll do the same for you.

Chicken Soup For The Win!

Well we seem to have found a solution to my not being able to eat solid foods right now - blend it! The best thing I have managed to keep down so far is chicken soup, man that stuff cures everything!! So I may start trying more liquid-type foods to get some energy back. Maybe some yoghurts, other soups, etc.

Noodle also seems to like cold things. We went for a scan yesterday to make sure baby was doing alright, what with me not getting any food I was starting to panic that it was affecting Noodle. The nurse in the waiting room gave me an orange flavoured ice pole while I was waiting for my scan because I'd been sick shortly before. She said she swears by them for morning sickness as they somehow "trick" your tummy into believing it's something more solid, and you can get more liquid into your body that way too, rather than "sipping" on water - YUK!

So we went in for our scan and Noodle would just not stop moving at all! The nurse doing our scan put it down to the cold ice lolly :)

Noodle has his/her back to us in this one. You can see his/her tiny bum on the left and the head is turned to the side. Nurse also said what looks like a tongue sticking out is actually Noodle blowing bubbles! Noodle would not sit long enough for nurse to get a better picture as he/she was having a boogie about the place and bouncing around :)

So it would seem we have a rather content baby! Just a pity about mum not feeling so good....

Whoever Called It Morning Sickness Was A Joker...

Well I thought I was getting off light by only feeling nauseous in this pregnancy so far. I guess I'm just not so lucky.

Since Wednesday I've hardly managed to keep anything down for longer than 20mins, at any time of the day. So my body has decided to cram all the morning/noon/night sickness I've missed in the past 12 weeks into the past 3 days so far. And it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Last night I got worried as I had thrown up everything thing I'd eaten and had to drink all day, which is probably not very healthy for Noodle as he/she won't be getting any of the nutrients that's needed to grow baby parts. I phoned the out-of-hours doctor and got an appointment with him, thinking he might give me something to ease the sickness so I could at least get some soup down my throat. Fat chance. He basically told me to live with it and that every pregnancy is different so it's absolutely normal to get sickness this late on. I can deal with that fact, but I'm hungry!!

If he could experience what I've felt for the past 4 days he'd be more than happy to prescribe something to stop the sickness. But he can't and so I have to suffer with it. While my stomach empties itself and then growls at me to be filled again.

Nothing has helped so far. Not the flat ginger ale (yuk!) or ginger biscuits, plain crackers, plain toast, salt crisps, nada! What I would give to be able to eat a proper meal right now! Or even venture outside for more than 10mins before I have to rush back to my spot beside the porcelain bowl. I may as well make up a bed in there I spend so much time in the bathroom.

I'm hungry, which is making me grumpy. My tummy feels like I've just done a thousand stomach crunches because it's emptied itself so much, which is making me feel sorry for myself and my battered body. Not a great combination...

Bouncing Baby

So we've had a rough couple of days. I had some bleeding Saturday night and some spotting everyday since. This made for much panic and hysteria between myself and Scott, but we called NHS24 and they advised us to call the doctor to get us in for a scan.

I was so nervous this morning getting ready to go to the hospital, we were both thinking the worst for the situation. We had a good cry between ourselves and then we set out.

We had quite a wait in the waiting room today, they must have been short staffed, so they waiting made me extra anxious. So, anxiousness + belly full of water = me vomiting in the waiting area :-S with everyone watching. Really not a pretty sight. The midwives were really nice about it and let us sit in a private area until our scan.

And then we got to see the most wonderful sight:

Our baby Noodle! Sitting quite cosy all curled up :-) I cannot tell you the relief we both felt when the nurse told us everything was alright, the heartbeat was strong again. Nurse tried to get Noodle to stretch out a bit so she could measure him properly but he was quite stubborn to her persuasions. So nurse had me bounce on the bed a couple of times and after a brief pause, Noodle did the exact same! It was absolutely amazing to see our little baby bouncing around and stretching out! And then to stun us even more, he turned his little head to look at us and smiled!! We actually saw him smile!! Nurse took that moment to get his photo so we have a permanent reminder of baby's first smile!

We're both relieved that everything is fine inside the uterus, there's no sign of any reason why I should be bleeding but the midwife told us sometimes it just happens. Some women have it all through their pregnancy and sometimes it stops just as quck as it started.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed it stops soon, it's petrifying! I wish I had a little window on the front of my belly to see everythng is ok inside...

Spoiled Already

Today was a rather exciting day! Mum and I went shopping for baby stuff :) We had a good look around Babyland at all the nursery furniture and travel systems, they had some gorgeous stuff! It's going to be so hard to choose what we want when the time comes.

After that we took a trip to the reatil park to visit Mothercare and Babies 'R' Us which had the cutest range of baby clothes I've ever seen! They were so nice we ended up getting Noodle some clothes, probably enough to last him/her for the first 3 months after the birth! Here's some of the stuff we couldn't resist:

This snuggle suit is my absolute favourite! How cosy does it look?! We figured seeing as Noodle will be born late August/early September it's going to be pretty cold, so the snuggle suit will be perfect for keeping him cosy when we come home from the hospital :) Obviously we got this in baby size (0-3 months) so it won't be so big.

Then we found a pack for newborns, which we figured will also be useful for Noodle's homecoming outfit under the snuggle suit. It also comes with booties, hand mits, bib and blanket, so will be perfect for baby's first day :)

Among these, we got a pack of seven baby grows, in neutral colour with bright patterns (yellow giraffes, orange monkeys, etc) on them and a twin pack of Winnie the Pooh rompers, cos who doesn't like Pooh bear, right?!

So all-in-all it was a very productive day! Noodle definately won't be needing more clothes just yet, at least not in baby size, so we can cross that off the baby list and start looking for other things. We'll probably start stocking up on nappies and wipes just now so we don't end up broke in the first few months buying them.

I can't wait for the next shopping adventure!

Noodle's Progress

So we're starting into week 11 today (10wk 0dy), it feels amazing to say that!!

Length: 1.4 inch Weight: 4g

"Your astonishingly tiny baby has been hard at work growing as fast as possible—almost doubling in size in the past three weeks! Amazingly, you’re in for a repeat size doubling performance within the next three weeks! Your tiny champion still weighs less than a quarter of an ounce but has already completed the most critical stage of their development. Using Doppler technology, your doctor or gynecologist can let you hear their tiny rapid fetal heartbeats this week (145-165 beats per minute!). Chances for miscarriage are greatly reduced when the heartbeat can be detected, so take a sigh of relief if you’ve been needing one—it hasn’t been an easy ten weeks! What’s more, they’re getting ready to make their first baby poop! Your little one’s major organ systems are developing, including a functioning digestive tract capable of moving food all the way through their bowels. The final shiny gold star on their fetal behavior chart for the week: your little scrapper has already developed defense mechanisms to protect them on reflex!"

It's crazy t ot hink that just last week at our scan Noodle was only 2cm and he's about 4cm now! I've felt some bubbles in my tummy when lying down, I wonder if it's Noodles doing somersaults? :)