Time to Surrender

We have now reached the 32 week mark and I have finally had to surrender to the fact that although my jeans still do up, I can no longer wear them. Too often in life, vanity triumphs over sanity but at this stage, sanity and comfort are of the essence....

The past month seems to have flown by. We are so proud of our super clever little baby. As mentioned in the previous post, he/she has finally decided to put my mind at ease by turning his/her head down. At my check up with Sharon last Thursday, she confirmed that we are still head down but has decided to go back to the RHS of my tummy which has always been the side of preference. This is no cause for concern as long as every now and again we "visit" the LHS which is the ideal position for birth. Quite honestly ~ We really cant expect this poor little one to stay in one place for the remainder of the pregnancy as that would be very uncomfortable for the little one.

As I say this pregnancy has been a constant reminder that I am not in charge here and the sooner I just let things be the better for all concerned.I have had a great time watching how my tummy changes shape while baby moves and plays around. I have also noticed how he/she reacts to Chris' voice. It can be quite uncanny how all of a sudden the whole baby is to the side where he is talking...... every now and again Dad gets an almighty kick from our little one and then asks me if it hurts? Thank goodness it is not painful just a joy to know all is well!

As far as baby's room is concerned ~ we have collected the crib and now wait for the cot and compactum to arrive. I have been assured that I will have them by the end of next week. I am looking forward to getting stuck in there and finishing off the room when I get home from my trip to Durban.

We have also been attending antenatal classes every Thursday night. This week is for "supporters only ~ no pregnant fairies allowed" Hence my trip to visit family. The classes have certainly been very informative and we are constantly amazed at how perfectly our bodies are designed to conceive, grow, protect and eventually birth our babies. Sharon has truly been a godsend in many ways and we are lucky to have her guide and prepare us through this time.

Beautiful Baby

As the Mom to Be, I feel that I am more than qualified to gush about our baby! Yesterday, we had our 3D scan at Linkwood. This is a non diagnostic scan and is merely a bonding session for the parents to see their unborn child. The only difference between the 3D and 4D scans is that the 4th dimension is movement, so once again there are no guarantees that we will get a good view of our little treasure. With Megan being the oldest local cousin, we decided to take her along and she was so excited that she was going to see her baby cousin. I had to explain to her before hand that sometimes people don't see much......

At first it looked like we were not going to get much as once again baby was squished up against our placenta. I have now been told that I have what they call an "anterior lying placenta". Basically this makes it substantially harder to get a clear view of the baby. Apparently an anterior lying placenta is less common and is also supposed to reduced the movement you feel from your baby, however I think that this has not been the case with us..... Medically there is no need to worry about the anterior placenta even though majority are posterior lying.

With that out the way we got down to business. The great news was that my gentle coxing of our baby had paid off and he/she had its head down with the spine curving round to the LHS. Perfect position for birth. I was soon reminded that even though we have such a clever baby, he/she could still turn around again though it is unlikely due to gravity and a more confined space. As for trying to see this little one's face, he/she was being a little shy and stubborn with the hands right over what was not protected by placenta. A bit of gentle persuasion and there we got it. We got a few "winks", a smile or two and then a few instances of tongue pulling as well. I think I can clearly see Chris, esp in the lips, but as we know only time will tell. Another almost certainty is that our baby does not have much hair. I gather this is also more like his/her dad than me. I can clearly see how this baby has fattened up over the past few weeks. Even the little hands have a bit of meat on them and that is definitely from my genes ~ Grannyannie will no doubt have great delight in telling you I was her baby with the most fat rolls at birth.

Nesting in baby steps

It is with baby steps that I continue to nest as we await the now imminent arrival of our baby.

Having lived in our home for 10 months we decided that we need to start finishing what we started...... When building Chris had this idea that we would buy a LCD TV, wall mount it and have all the other appliances on the opposite side. This caused many a heavy debate as to how it could/would work and then trying to convince our electricians that it was in fact possible if they just wired everything correctly. So, shortly after the wedding on bright summery Saturday morning we set out to buy a tumble drier. A couple of hours later we returned home not only having bought a tumble drier but a new washing machine as well as Chris' dream LCD TV. To say we had severe buyers remorse within a day or two is an understatement but kept justifying the extravagance with the fact that we could possibly have a baby soon and then all these luxuries would certainly be on the back burner in definitely. Reality struck home when two weeks later we found out I was indeed pregnant and with all the excitement, shock and shear exhaustion put off having it all properly installed then.

Now we have had to remind ourselves that once the baby is born things will once again be put on hold and so its best to strike while the iron is hot and get what we can done before we are no longer probationary members of the parents club . As we are still waiting for the nursery furniture, first on the list was to get the TV installed...... Thanks to Brian Gibbs we got the team of guys he used to come install the TV, Decoder, link the CCTV cameras to the TV etc. As you can see from the picture Chris' idea has worked splendidly! The bracket that has been used can swing out towards the lounge as well as to the dinning room making viewing downstairs "oh so easy". Our sideboard has been modified to hold the decoder, dvd player as well as the HIFI. We have had to move the sideboard from where it was originally in the dinning area as we are installing another fireplace along that wall as soon as the unit is approved for natural gas. To finish off the lounge, Chris and Graham got stuck in and hung the paintings (this was actually done before the TV but who's obsessing about order). The perfect wall for the awesome paintings by my father. I still get excited every time I open the front door to see how well its turned out!

Oh so swell

Its the end of July & we have now entered the Third trimester! Two thirds of the way through and still in many ways still surprised when I catch a glimpse of my profile in a mirror or reflective window. I almost want to take a second look to see if it really is me.

I have really started to enjoy having our baby bopping about. Many of you have warned me how I will miss having my bump and I am sure you are all right. I am torn between having our baby in my arms where we can kiss and cuddle him/her and yanking up the handbrake to slow the whole process down to keep him/her in my tummy where its so safe.

As I am sure will all notice, this little one has most certainly had a growth spurt. Over the past couple of weeks we have been measuring the circumference of my belly. At 26 weeks, it was a "mere" 90 cm, 27 weeks = 97 cm and by 28 weeks, the start of the third trimester = 103cm.

Although I am still able to wear my jeans, I must admit, they are most certainly not as comfy as they used to be as the button presses into my tum and by the end of the day can be rather sore..... I have therefore had to "give in" and buy some proper maternity trousers with the fold over band. Many of you would have heard me curse these earlier on but I remind you that I had also reserved the right to change my mind at any point about any point......

As far as baby's development goes, he/she is growing nicely. He/she has plenty of hiccups thoughout the day. It is a weird yet divine sensation! Our past few visits to Sharon have shown him/her to be sitting breech. So far this is not a problem but as baby grows we need to encourage him/her to turn around before it gets too cramped to turn.

There are many alternative methods that can be used :

• tea tree oil where the head is ~ they don't like the smell
• dad talking to baby at base of tum ~ follows his voice
• shining a torch through the tum at base ~ follows light
• head stands ~ which confuses gravity

There are also more "drastic" measure that could be explored if necessary:

• accupuncture
• hipnosis
• manual turning

Here's hoping the alternate methods work and we can all relax and enjoy the rest of the journey!

Oh so loved already!

Its quite a funny thing, when you are pregnant you finally realise how much your "off~spring" is loved from the moment everyone in your life finds out you going to be parents. People seem unable to help themselves spoiling babies and once again this was proved to Chris and me with a surprise baby shower when we went down to Durban for little Riley's Christening over the weekend of 27/28/29 July.

All these spoilings can lead one to question : Who is loved more? Us or our unborn child ......?

Mark and Claudia very kindly hosted the surprise get together. The Hilton Grandparents came through for the day and as you all know my parents are now "city slickers" living just a few houses away from Mark & Claudia. The Parnells came through from Umhlali. Our good ol Durban mates, the Hewisons and Hawkins were also there for the grand occassion...... Mark catered awesome lasagne, which he had made the week before whilst home with a major dose of the flu ~ they also had to prepare for the luncheon they were hosting after Riley's Christening. Thank you thank you thank you we really can't thank you enough!!!

As for all the gifts received, Boy oh boy was this little baby spoilt!!!Thank you all so much!!!! He/She will most certainly be smelling good, well dressed and well entertained.

~I must just add... as I sat in the very same arm chair surround by our friends and family I was reminded that less than a year ago I was also surprised at Mark and Claudia's with a "bridal pamper party" shortly before our wedding~