Peek-a-Boo in the womb

Yesterday, I took myself off for the much raved about 4D scan. As you all know the success rate at these scans is something like 1 in 6 chance of getting a clear view of baby's face. On my way to the appointment we "had a little chat", asking this little one to oblige by showing his/her face as well as confirm that he/she had finally turned around with head down. Little one's kicks had lead me to believe that this was in deed the case.... Right from the word go we saw that Jb was still sitting pretty much where Sharon (Midwife) had felt 3 weeks ago. Yip, right on his/her bum, head cozy under my right ribs and very much like cousin Riley with the face pressed up against the placenta. Seems like a good double sided pillow, what with the placenta on one side and mom's lung on the other side, why would we need to move our head down????

The reason I have been feeling the majority of the kicking up towards the top of my bump is because we have a little acrobat who likes to fold him/herself in half. During the scan at one point he/she had a foot right up in the face. Also at one stage, Jb must have got tired of us looking as he/she put both hands up in front of the face in a very definite attempt to hide away! So, not only are we incredibly agile but quite sly & stubborn too.

According to the measurements taken by the radiographer, our little one now weighs about 1.340 kg. This means that in the past 5 weeks has gained an average of 163 grams per week. She predicts the birth weight to be around 3.5kg and that we should be prepared for baby to be born any time from 11 weeks onwards. Apparently at this gestation, the stomach measurement is the most accurate in determining the EDD, which is how she has come to 11 weeks. Baby's foot is now 5.7cm ~ too cute! And the heart beat remains at a steady 139 beats/min.

All in all our little one is growing nicely and we will continue to encourage him/her to give up sitting like a budda sitting on its bum and turn head down....

Now for the peek-a-boo of who we will meet in the next few weeks. Anyone willing post a comment and hazard a guess as to whether baby Atkinson will be a boy or a girl (who knows we even get some betting odds going) ????

"Dommies" for Dummies

Many moons ago my brothers and father teased Melanie and me when we chose to take Domestic Science / Home Economics or as they preferred to call it "Dommies" as one of our matric subjects.

Well I must say that over the years my "dommies" has most certainly paid off in small ways around the house. From cooking to sewing to name but a few. As you may recall in the last post I threatened to get my sewing machine out to make some stuff for Jellybean's room.

With 13 weeks to go and having cleared my "in-tray" of all current work I got stuck in and have thus far managed to make:
1 x duvet cover ~ minus the buttons or press-studs
1 x pillow case
1 x curtain ~ the other in progress
All pretty basic items, I know, but its rewarding to know that I have made these for our baby


However whilst I was being so industrious my "boys" were either lying around flicking between the European F1 (which I was not too keen on as Hamilton was not going to feature to well) and the Tour de France or getting in my way by either lying on my fabric or nudging me for attention.

Eventually last night I managed to convince Chris to cook supper. The agreement was that I could carry on sewing as long as I gave him instructions on how to make a beef stroganoff. Now my multi-tasking abilities with a preggi brain were put to the test because in between my trying to sew and trying to fix my sewing machine which had been giving me a few hiccups all afternoon I still had be a vocal recipe book to our budding chef. During all this, Rum Tum insisted on lying on the fabric in a flirty kind of way.....


By the time dinner was ready, we hit gold.... I managed to fix my machine AND Chris prepared a delicious stroganoff! So the good news for me/bad news for Chris is there will be NO more excuses for my beloved hubby on the cooking front!!!! He may get out of some handyman chores now that I have "Donald Fix It" tel number but I am afraid the cooking part isn't a phone call away.

I still have a few sewing things to tackle and then I can move onto making a few other things for the baby's room ~ then I hope to use my new found contact to do the handyman chores .....

2 Thirds Through

As of today we are 24 weeks pregnant, or 6 lunar months. Most people find the month calculation quite confusing but once explained its quite easy actually. Pregnancy generally lasts approximately 40 weeks which is 10 lunar months / 9 calendar months.

I have started enjoying being pregnant, however I still find it a little strange to have this round tummy. So far I have been lucky with my tummy being rather "high". Thus I have not had to buy much in the way of maternity clothes. I have managed to keep wearing my jeans but I think that my days are rather numbered in these. As far as tops go, I finally took the plunge and went shopping last week. The fashion gods have been kind to me, a lot of the normal merchandise out there seems to be suitable for preggi girls too.....

Our baby is very active and I love feeling him/her moving around. Last weekend while lying in the bath I saw my tummy moving about as he/she kicked and punched. I am totally fascinated by seeing the movement from the outside and I can lie watching my tummy for ages. As far as the development in utero, according to the books the baby is now viable. This means that should baby be born now, with proper specialised care, he/she could survive. The baby weighs about 700 grams and is approximately 30cm long. The brain is developing and the lungs are forming. So basically we have a fully formed baby who is starting to deposit fat on his/her body. This body fat is primarily to help the baby regulate body temperature once born. The eyes are no longer fused so baby can actually blink. Apparently he/she is sensitive to light - if you were to shine a torch onto my tummy, the baby would be aware of it. He/she can also hear quite well and recognises my voice, I have been talking to our little one as well as playing music. I also think that this little one gets hiccups every now and then. Its quite a weird feeling.... almost like little jerks as opposed to the definite kicks and punches.

As far as nursery decor goes, we have finally placed the order for the crib/cot and compactum. These should be delivered in about 8 weeks time. I have also bought some fabric to make the cot bumper, duvet cover and curtains....... looks like the sewing machine I got for my 16th birthday may need to be dusted off and my sewing skills put to the test.

All in all exciting days in the Atkinson household.