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~

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.

Cable Thieves..... a comedy of errors?

At 3 am this morning Chris and I were woken by what first appeared to be fireworks right outside our bedroom window. We opened the blind to see the electricity pole across the road arching and then two men casually stroll up towards our house bend down and each pick up an end of electrical cable. On Saturday morning, Beatrice told us a group of cable thieves had been active in our road FOUR times during the week and that she was currently without power. The thieves seemed very aware of danger or having been spotted and we were not sure if they had noticed us so we tried to be as discreet as possible and with a huge amount of adrenalin pumping I managed to call our armed response - Chubb, who informed us they would dispatch a vehicle and call the SA Police. By this stage the men had walked onto our block and onto Beatrice (the neighbour across from our house) driveway into the shadows. Within 5 mins, Chubb was there but the men had managed to "vanish" themselves. I was most concerned that they had gotten into Beatrice's garden and were hiding in the shadows, thus putting her at danger. The Chubb guys had a look around and then decided to move onto other roads. We knew that they were still lurking around and kept a steady eye on the driveway. Every now and then one of them would peek out to check if the coast was clear and move back into the shadows. It is still unclear where they were hiding but a quick look this morning has revealed a blanket and some squashed plants behind a pillar in the driveway. Having finally spoken to Beatrice, we are sure they were hiding under the blanket as she says she noticed it this morning when walking her dogs. How convenient ..... a dark driveway, a pillar to hide behind as well as a grey blanket. No wonder the armed response were not able to see them! Eventually by 4 am the armed response team, which by this stage included ADT called it a night and moved away. Within a couple of minutes one man emerged, checked up an down the road and casually strolled away towards the other cut but uncollected cables. A few minutes later the same thing happened with the second man. While this was happening we again phoned Chubb and told them these men were not done with their thieving and had been spotted again, I also mentioned that thus far there had been NO SAP response. With this we were informed that SAPS had merely dismissed the crime in action and had said that they were to phone City Power regarding cable being stolen as this was not their juristriction. We then phoned 10111 and were given the same story. Chris then asked the person since when is City Power responsible for upholding the law? The person on the other side said true and within a few minutes there was a police patrol car. The police stopped and questioned one of the suspects (judging from his clothes we are sure it was one of the thieves) and carried on driving around the area. By about 5am all seemed to have settled so we called it a night and got back into bed to try get some sleep. At about 5.40am I woke to the same "fireworks". I jumped out of bed, phone in hand to call SAPS again whilst trying to watch out the window. I saw one man dash across the road and then all was still. I told the police that the cable thieves were still busy and that I had seen them again and they should send a car "quick quick quick". They told me they had been already..... I acknowledged this but insisted if they got there soon they would catch the brazen thieves. Again we saw the same guy the police had questioned walking up the road towards the traffic light - only this time he was carrying a bag, clearly he was done for the night and had he wares with him.TWENTY minutes after I had called the police, we heard a siren a few blocks away - well, that's clever why not warn them you coming! We still have no clue what happened to man number two but one thing was clear, they certainly didn't get all the wires they had intended to steal and City Power is at it again trying to restore power to the houses that have been affected. So once again, that's where our taxes go and seems SAP couldn't be bothered to catch a criminal in the dead of winter!

Bug Bites

A pregnant woman's prerogative is to reserve the right to change her mind at any point - and then change it back 5 mins later .....if she so wishes. In fact its any woman's prerogative!

And I am no different and have also done just that! When we first found out we were pregnant I said that I was not going to do much in the way of nursery décor ....... but as the weeks have past I have been sucked into the baby world and now cant help myself decorating Jellybean's room.

Finally 2 weeks ago at Gareth's "big walk" we took the plunge and bought our first baby toys (featured in the photo). These are on a spring so can be hung above the change mat or cot to keep baby entertained. Since then, the bug has most certainly bitten and I have been researching cots, compactums, moses baskets etc. Most of the furniture takes approx 8 weeks from ordering and I still have not finalised choice. We have however ordered a chair for the room for me to feed in! In many ways it is still early days (approx 17 weeks left) but at the same time, time is marching on!

As far as the decor is concerned, we have decided to stick to a "unisex nursery" as we will only know what the baby is when he/she is born. I really like the primary/bright colours and so will be using these in the nursery. I also realise that if baby is a girl, I will be persuaded into decorating her room in pink. So in the meantime, while I still have some level of say we will have a bright/happy baby room.

Kung Fu in Utero

Having spent a lovely weekend down in Natal with my family, I arrived back in JHB this morning in time to fetch Chris and head off to meet our new gynae.
We arrived on time to see Dr Mseleku but sadly had to wait ONE HOUR in the reception. Chris battles at the best of times with Drs being late so you can imagine how annoyed he must have been by the time we finally got to see the doctor. I think our saving grace was the fact that he had not seen me for a few days....... ;~)

Anyway, after going through our long history of nuchal folds, cvs and Prof Niccolau, we went through to see our little baby! Earlier, I had commented to Chris that baby had been very active ~ kicking and punching me ~ all day and when Dr Mseleku started the scan she commented on how "busy" baby was. I think she now understands how we managed to feel baby moving from about 17wks. Forget rugby, cricket, tennis etc this baby is already a kung fu fundi for sure!!!!

During the scan, Dr Mseleku checked baby thoroughly and was pleased to point out a very well defined stomach. Remember Prof Niccolau had been a touch concerned regarding the stomach 2 weeks ago. Baby's heart beat was a mild 125 bpm (rather calm for the amount of action that was going on inside me) and now weighs about 526 grams. This means he/she has gained 150 grams over the past 2 weeks.

Having checked baby, and me, she was very happy and has handed us over to Sharon's (midwife) care. Our next visit to Dr Mseleku will be at 36 weeks. She sees us then, to ensure all is well with baby and me for the natural active birth we would like to have at Linkwood. In the meantime, should we have any concerns we can call in and see her but Sharon will do all our checks going forward unless she (Sharon) feels there may be cause for concern in which case she refers us on to Dr Mseleku.

We have also booked our 3D scan for 13 August which will be at 30 weeks and apparently a pretty good time to see baby again. Hope that baby cooperates so we get a nice view of his/her face!!!!

Angel Messages

" I am the Angel of Peace, I bring you new tranquillity and a smoother road ahead"

The additional message for the card reads:

"You have been through turmoil, and your soul is tired. Your mind craves peace and quiet, and I am here to help you with that desire. I will give you new opportunities to spend time alone, where you can relax your mind and heart. I will bring tranquillity to your soul so that you can mirror the peace of mind that is your true Divine Nature. Like the angels, you are able to hover within the eye of any hurricanes that swirl around you right now. Through breath and intention, you can stay centered no matter what's happening in your life. This inner foundation of peace has a powerful healing effect. Your outer life soon reflects your inner peacefulness. Smooth roads are ahead for you now, and the worst is behind you now. A peaceful outcome to the situation is assured"

This is the card I drew from my pack of "Messages from your Angels" cards today when I got home from our visit to Prof Nicolaou. There is nothing sinister or evil about theses card and they are not tarot cards or life predictors. They merely intended to pass messages from our Guardian Angels to us. I have been particularly touched by this message and thus wanted to share it with all of you.

Thumbs up !!!

This afternoon we went off for our visit with Prof Nicolaou - Fetal Medicine Specialist. WOW, what a nice man!!! After catching up on the info provided by Reinette (Gynae) and making sure that Chris could not get a peak at the sex of the baby, we went through to begin the scan. He did a quick overall view of baby before starting the detailed scan.

Jellybean's heartbeat was 145 bpm and already we could see that he/she was very active. I immediately saw the 4 chambers in the heart and already felt a lot more relaxed and confident that all was going to be fine. He then went on to check everything in detail...... The brain, face, eyes, nasal bone, mouth, eyes, lungs, heart, arms, hands (10 fingers) and abdomen. To start, he was a little concerned as he could not clearly see the stomach. We could clearly see the kidneys, bladder & liver so for the balance of the scan he kept coming back to the abdomen to recheck the stomach. By the end of the appointment the stomach was definitely clearly visible and Prof felt confident all was good.

He also spent a good deal of time checking the neck fold for any jelly type tissue. This is a marker that is checked primarily due to the 12 week nuchal translucency reading. Again this was well within the normal range - YAY!!!. The spinal cord is checked for any signs of spina bifida which was clear. Prof then on to the legs and feet (with 10 toes). For the last few weeks JB has been letting me know he/she is around with feet measuring 3.5cm. Last night before we went to sleep, I could feel Jb with my hand so I grabbed Chris' hand and for the first time he got a chance to feel his baby moving around!!! I have a weakness for babies feet...... and I must say those tiny feet looked too gorgeous for words and I got all mushy. There was no sign of club foot and as usual when we first saw the feet they were crossed over each other.

At the end of the scan, Jb was lying head down and feet towards my heart and the spine curving round the right side of my body. The placenta is lying high which is good but has a few "lakes" in it which is probably due to the cells that were taken from the placenta during the CVS procedure. Jb weighs a mere 376 grams and this scan has confirmed that as of today I am 20 weeks and 1 day pregnant!

All in all the THREE of us are in good spirits and feeling a lot more relaxed!!!!

We look forward to enjoying the next 20 weeks as we prepare to meet our bundle of joy somewhere around the 21st October - the given due date. I must admit, it is incredible to know how loved and cared for our baby is already and we thank you all, for all your support, love and prayers over the past weeks.

Half Baked

Its been 4 weeks since our last update, which means that we have finally reached the halfway mark - I am now 20 weeks pregnant! Many people have commented on how quickly the time seems to have gone. I however have felt that it has taken ages, I think its because I found out so early that I was preggi.

As you can see I am rather swell. In the pictures, you will notice how my belly button has popped out. This happened about 2-3 weeks ago. It really looks quite odd and can clearly be seen through my clothes. The second trimester is truly the honeymoon phase..... bar a few ligaments stretching and the normal stuffy nose, there is no nausea, I have normal energy levels, so far no weird cravings & relatively good sleep. It is a truly wonderful feeling when the baby moves around. As for Dad, that's a different thing all together as he is most certainly having a "sympathy pregnancy". By this I mean, he appears to have an increased appetite with a few extra cravings for sweet things, a touch of porridge brain and a slightly more disturbed nights sleep along with the same stuffy nose. Poor guy ;~)

I have been doing preggi yoga twice a week, which is most enjoyable. Our yoga teacher is also pregnant - 23 weeks now - so its been especially nice to have regular contact with someone who is at a similar stage to me.

We have also started researching what furniture etc to get for the baby room. Most of the manufacturers have a 6-8 week waiting period from ordering and I am a tough customer as I know what I want and don't think that I will be able to find all the requirements I am looking for (esp not here in SA). Just another lesson from JB that I need to be more open minded and flexible .... especially as parenthood draws nearer.

Tomorrow is a big day for our little family as we are off to see the specialist for the "anomaly" scan. Prof Niccolau is a Foetal Medicine Specialist. He will do a very detailed scan to rule out any possible structural defects that could have been the reason why Jellybean's nuchal fold was enlarged at the 12 week scan.

Prof Niccolau will hopefully also shed more light on our expected due date. Remember its never an exact science but currently our dates are 10 days earlier than the gynae's date

Baby "Bun" Brewing

According to the latest scan, we are 16 weeks into the pregnancy. The first trimester was rather trying with the constant nausea and indescribable tiredness. Just when I thought I couldn't go on, smack on 12 weeks, just like the experts predicted, it all changed and we were back on track. I must say it is nice to have the flexibility of having a rest most days - we hope this will in turn reward us with a calm baby......

As you can see there is a small bump where our "baby bun" (affectionately nicknamed after Dad - who is better known to many as BUN) is growing in leaps and bounds. Jb is well within the worldwide average and this is what the experts & our scan said about the fetal development at 16 weeks:

• Baby is about the size of an avo/potato
  
• approx 11.5 cm crown to rump
• weighs approx 140 grams
• feet are 2cm
• very playful, the umbilical cords serves as the first toy
• circulatory system & urinary tract are in full working order
• inhales & exhales amniotic fluid through the lungs
• skin is starting to get more colour
• hair starts growing
  

Its going to be interesting to see how big this tummy grows over the next 24 weeks. (who knows I may even be given time off for good behaviour??)

Jubilance for Jellybean

Today has most certainly been a really happy day for us "parents to be" as well as for our little Jellybean. We had to be at our gynae at 7.15am this morning for a routine 16 week scan. ( I must say I was less than happy about the appointment time, esp as I had only got home from work at around midnight - 6hrs sleep, pregnant and having to battling traffic is not a good combination! - the appointment had been booked back in March so that it would be easier for Dad to be there.....)

So, even though it may have seemed to start off on the wrong side of bed it was truly short lived when we got into the consulting rooms and were told that the final chromosome results we back with NO abnormalities. My blood pressure was back to normal and no protein in my urine and I had actually lost a little weight. So far so good and the day looked set to only get better! (Reinette is not concerned about the weight loss as long as Jb is growing nicely!!!)

We then went through to see how Jb has been developing in the last month.... Once again little one was showing the ever persistent early signs of either stubbornness (no doubt from Mom) or sheer defiance (clearly from Dad). At first he/she did not want to lie in a position we could see him/her properly. Jb seems to favour lying with the head down towards my right hip bone with bum & legs curling round my tum with feet towards my chest. So with the gentle persuasion (actually having to be woken) by Reinette we were "A for away" and had a good look.

Unfortunately the print outs don't show too much but what we saw was really awesome.....

First we had the heart beat which was back to 139 beat/min - good and strong. Then we looked at the stomach and bladder and checked the 4 chambers in the heart. We then looked at the brain and all looked good there too. The head circumference, thigh bone and arm bone were all measured. The chin and mouth area also looked fine - checking for cleft palate, as was the spine and ribs. In the scan pic I have attached Jb had his/her foot measured and we could clearly see a well defined heel, so no club foot. Proportionally the foot looked rather large so we had a giggle that he/she may have uncle Mike's big feet. What really made me go all mushy was when looking at the legs, Jb had knees bent and legs crossed over, like this was the most comfy place to be. According to the measurements our EDD is now 20 Oct, which is more in line with the original dates I first calculated. We have decided to still go ahead with another visit to the specialist, this will be in the next 3-5 weeks depending on appointment availability. Prof Niccolau will do a detailed scan that checks absolutely every detail - as much as the measurement between nose tip and op lip. Once we get the all clear from him we will all have great cause for more celebration. Thanks again for all the love and support that has been showered over us!!!

First Fire

Having been down to Natal for the long weekend we returned on Tuesday afternoon to a rather chilly Joburg. Chris was most delighted as this meant we could FINALLY try out our "new brand" wood fire place. No sooner had we settled down to a late lunch with Graham, who we gave a lift from Hilton to Joburg to catch his flight to visit the Smeetons in Bloomington, and Chris was itching to try his hand in pyromania and get the fire lit. Graham & I insisted on finishing lunch and having our walk before Chris got to the fire. While Graham freshened up after the walk, my boy scout got going and made us a beautiful cozy fire. We then had to drop Graham at the airport and by the time we got back our home was rather snug. We have also had the underfloor heating going and I must say "What a win!!!" I think I can safely say we'll survive the Highveld winter.

Interim Results

Our Guardian Angel was most certainly with us today when I got a surprise call from Prof Jefferey's assistant Vicky. She called to tell us that the preliminary results from the CVS procedure were in and "its good news".

So far so good, no chromosomal defects have been detected. She advised us that we could "relax a lot" and that she would call again when she had the final results. We are feeling very relieved, however are fully aware that we are not home dry yet. Firstly we still have to wait for the final results which are still outstanding and even then it was very clearly explained to us that there could still be other problems that can only be detected when Jellybean is bigger.

Once again, THANKS a ZILLION to all of you, for all your support, understanding, prayers, love and positive energy you have sent our way over the past week! It has truly been one of the longest weeks we have had to endure and having not really slept since Sunday, are looking forward to the weekend to catch our breath. We remain positive and will keep you all posted as more information comes to light.

Only Time Will Tell...

Yesterday we were lucky enough to be called in for an appointment with Prof Jefferey. We were called in the morning and advised there had been a cancellation at 5pm and we were offered the appointment. So, at 3pm went dashing of to Pretoria as you never know what the traffic will do and this is one time neither of us were chancing anything. I must say, during the day, it felt like each second that passed was an hour and the day just dragged!!

Prof Jefferey did another scan of our little Jellybean and measured "him/her" to be just over 7cm head to rump and heart beat at 150 beats/min. We got to see arms and legs swimming about again and even all five little fingers waving in front of the face. On measuring the Nuchal Fold our worst fears were confirmed with an above average thickening of the fold. She remeasured a couple of times to ensure she was getting an accurate measurement and also poked my tummy to make sure Jb was not lying against the uterus wall. This was to confirm that what she was measuring was truly the nuchal fold and not including anything extra like the lining of the uterus.

She then did a computer generated calculation of our risk. This calculation takes the results from the triple screen blood test, my age as well as the nuchal fold measurement into consideration. Under normal circumstances our risk factor would be 1/564 but in this pregnancy our risk is escalated to 1/60. This is all still considered a screening test and is not a conclusive diagnosis. Factors to be considered are the risk of chromosomal defects - such as Down Syndrome, structural defects - like poor bone development or even heart problems. There have also been reported cases of perfectly healthy babies who for no apparent reason have a thickening of the nuchal fold.

Having had all this explained to us we were then offered the option of two diagnostic procedures, namely an amniocentesis which can only be done from 16 weeks or a CVS (chorionic villus sampling) which could be done immediately. Being diagnostic tests as opposed to screen tests the results are basically 100% accurate. Prof Jefferey is one of four doctors in SA who perform the CVS procedure. The other Prof who we were first referred to is another and then the other two are based in the Cape.

Basically, the CVS works on the same principal as an amnio - a needle is inserted into the placenta via the abdomen using the aid of the ultrasound to guide them to the correct location, cells from the placenta are drawn out and sent to be grown in the lab. The benefit of having the CVS as opposed to the amnio is that we will have a better idea with what we are dealing with sooner. We will have the initial results with a 95% accuracy next week Wednesday and the conclusive results approx 2 weeks after that - around 8 May. However should the CVS results come back negative for any chromosomal defects we then have to wait till 20-22 weeks when the structure/heart can be examined more clearly for any other defects.

I am to "rest and relax" till the end of the week because as with the amnio there is still a risk of miscarriage. The risk is between 1-2% internationally. As I mentioned before, we are just dealing with each bit of information as it comes to us and trying to remain positive.

Thank you all for all your love, support, good wishes, positive energy and prayers. Even if we are "scarce" for the next few days/weeks PLEASE keep them coming - God knows we need it right now! XXXXXXXX

Stubborn Already

Today Jellybean is 12 weeks and 5 days old and stubborn already! During our scan our little Jb was kind enough to show us "he/she" is actually human and no longer the alien I thought I may be carrying. The heartbeat was super strong at a whopping 159 beats/minute and the facial profile looked great with an adorable little button nose. Jb was very active and we could clearly see the legs, arms and even hands flying about. At one point we got a glimpse of legs extended with 1 foot over the other as if "he/she" is on dad's yacht!

However Jb was not the most co-operative when it was time to measure the "nuchal fold". This measurement is one of the indicators for chromosomal defects such Down Syndrome. It is very important to have baby lying in a specific position in order to get an acurate reading. So after much prodding and poking,which was not the most comfortable for me....., eventually the measurements were taken. There seem to be a variance between the measurements and sadly our Dr is not too happy with the nuchal fold measurements. Although she was extremely happy with the shape and size of the nose bone, she has decided to refer us to a Prof in Pretoria for a second opinion(the nose bone is also one of the indicators used to detect abnormalities) . You may ask why not a Dr in Joburg? Well the first refferal was for a JHB based Dr who unfortunately is currently out the country and his earliest appointment would be 28 May. The earliest we can see the Pretoria Prof is on Thursday at the Pretoria Academic Hospital on a 1st come 1st served basis. Unfortunately her private practice is over booked for tomorrow although we are on the list should there be a cancellation.

At the 12 week scan, in addition to the "Nuchal Translucency Thickness" measurement, the Dr will also do a triple screen blood test. The blood is tested for early indicators of any abnormalities such as Down Syndrome or Spina Bifida, these blood tests are merely indicators and are not conclusive. There may be false positives as well as false negatives.

As far as Thursday goes, we will have another scan and see what the second opinion measurements are. Being a government facility hence the 1st come 1st served rule, we plan to be there before they open, hopefully get registered early and then get to see her ASAP. We are truly hoping that this will all turn out to be fine and are very greatful to have modern technology so readily available.

Until then we will take each day as it comes and will make further decisions as we get more information.

I love my MA

Our little Rum Tum has always been an affectionate cat. Although he has a strong sense for "stranger danger" and seems rather aloof and snobbish when we have visitor he so enjoys being around Chris and I when we are home. Since I have been pregnant, this affection has been a lot more obvious and was one of the tell tale signs that things with me were most certainly different.

On Sunday, having had a rather busy weekend, with the trip to Ficksburg as well as my final wedding on Saturday I was feeling rather exhausted an took the opportunity to keep Chris company while he read the papers outside in the courtyard. As you can see I was being really lazy with not even a book in sight when Rum Tum decided it was time to play "find the fingers". It all started with him hiding behind my legs and then diving for my fingers. After a bit he just settled in between my legs as if he was going to be on the cover of the feline GQ while Chris snapped some pics.

You gotta just love our precious Rumble Tumble!

Going ...Going ...Gone!

So now D-Day 1 has come and gone and we have all survived to tell the tale....

D-Day 1 = The Great van Gelder Auction #1.

Chris and I went down to Ficksburg for some moral support for the big auction last week. We left JHB on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Ficksburg in time for some hearty home cooked food (which has been rather scarce in our home for the past 10 weeks) and a good old chin wag with the folks.

Friday morning the men were all busy from early while I tried to catch a few extra winks and Mom went for her weekly hair-do. By 9.30am we were all at the hall waiting with baited breath for the proceedings to start. There appeared to be quite a good flow of people through the hall "checking out" what they wanted to bid for. Amazingly enough in amongst the crowd were a few folk we had not seen for years..... Namely Duncan & Irene Winkworth. Duncan used to be the resident town vet when we were growing up but they had left to live in Bloemfontein some years ago and have an antique shop there in between still running the surgery and Irene's teaching at St Michaels. They were particularly interested in the Mel Brink paintings and managed to get the one they were most interested in. Also, another blast from the past was my old history teacher..... Michael Mitchley. It was great to seem him again and hear all about his antique shop & ...... a sore loss for the kids out there who wont have the opportunity to be taught by him. He also managed to get quite a few good pieces from our family home.

Then it was down to business and the bidding started. It is really sad to see the family treasures being sold off (sometimes for a steal and other times a seemingly worthwhile or high price) but also a good reminder that these are merely worldly goods and can never be taken with us when we go. Overall the sale went extremely well and here's hoping that the next one this Friday is just as successful!

One plus One makes Three

We are very excited to be new members of the "parents club" Although this membership is probationary we should ~ all things being equal ~ be fully fledged members by the end of October when our little jelly bean (JB) is due to make its appearance.

Today we had our first check-up and so far so good. JB has good heart beat at 139/min and is right where it should be for now. Dr is pleased and seemed quite in amid by what she was seeing. I must admit that it was quite awesome to see the fluttering heart beat but the rest really didn't make all that much sense to us lay parents-to-be. According to the scan, I am now 7 weeks and 1 day pregnant. However, this is all too confusing as according to my cycle dates I should be 8.5 weeks......... so we keep wondering??

The progesterone poisoning as aptly named in a book I am reading, commonly know as morning sickness and tiredness has its moments but am pleased to know it will pass within the next few weeks. And as a few of our JHB friends have already witnessed, "porridge brain" has also set in. Sadly, I have been assured that this will not pass so I must just get used to it.

Our next check-up is in April, so will keep you posted.

Was it the media threat?

A 2pm update......

How amazing, numerous phone calls with no real action till I took it upon myself to call Caxton Newspapers and tell them about the burst pipe and thousands of rands sailing down sixth and third ave. The journalist I spoke to said she was going to call JHB Water (she said that often the media get a real reaction going) as well as take a drive past herself. Within and hour or so after I spoke to her, the water had been turned off! Apparently we now really worried about all the wasted water......

and now another hour or so later - all of a sudden there is a team digging away to get to the root of the damage, while another team lies on verge across the road snoozing.

Unfortunately I was not able to get the 2 sleepers. As soon as they saw the camera they thought they may become famous and got to "work" around the vehicles and massive hole in the road.

So, who knows....... did the media get them jumping or was this truly the first opportunity they had to really attend to the problem?

There goes your tax payments

So, just in case you were wondering how the taxpayers money was spent this week. Have a look above, this is just outside our house and this water has be pouring from a burst pipe for +30 hours now. We have reported the fault to JHB Water numerous times and as you can see they are "attending to the matter"

Basically, sometime between 12 and 3pm yesterday they did come, opened up the tar, placed a cone in the road and left. I spoke to Floyd at around 4.30pm, was assured that the matter was in hand and were waiting for a part, Chris then spoke to them again a bit later and was assured they were en-route, I called again at 11.30 to be told by Wilson that they would be there by 3am.......This morning Chris called again at 6.30am and I called at 8.30am. Simon, the supervisor says it will be attended to during the course of the day.

About 5 months ago, the same pipe burst on a Fri night and was miraculously repaired by Sat lunch time. The whole in the road remained for a few months but the water was saved and residents could continue with normal living. This time round, its a week day and nobody seems able to get the job done.

So much for this being a precious resource that we need to conserve as the world is running low on it! JHB Water seems to believe that the more we let it run down the road the more we will get!

Home Sweet Home

We're back from a fabulous week in Switzerland. We arrived in Laax at around lunchtime last Saturday, dropped our luggage and changed into our ski gear and headed for the slopes. We arrived to no great snow but like "vaalies at the beach" still managed to get a run or 2 in before sunset. True to the weather forecast, we had plenty snow till Wednesday and much fun was had by all.

To draw comparisons to skiing in the USA, I would certainly vote for USA. Its just a pity that the travelling is that much further.....As a novice, I felt the slopes to be better groomed and skiers more polite whilst skiing and queuing for lifts and gondolas. The Europeans seem to have a free for all attitude and never mind the fact that you may have arrived at a table well before them and may be keeping places for your friends when they plonk themselves down right next to you and light up a cigarette right in your face. This happened to me twice, the second time I actually got up and walked away and stood waiting, I noticed they kept looking at me and were obviously discussing the situation. Guess we have been spoilt in SA with the divinely strict smoking laws.

Our apartments were great and we stayed in most nights. Each couple had a turn to cook whilst the rest of us relaxed.

On Saturday, we left LAAX relatively early as we were all keen to spend the day in Zurich. We has a lovely lunch in the old town and spent the afternoon shopping. Switzerland is a very expensive country so not much bargain buying to be had. Its more the fact of having bought it somewhere other than SA.

Idea on costs :
500ml (machine) coke on the slopes will cost 5CHF = R30
average lunch on slopes costs approx 30CHF = R180
pizza 18CHF = R108
bread 4CHF = R24
bread roll with ham & cheese = 7CHF = R42

as you can see not a cheap place at all but we really had a fantastic time and hope to go back someday.

Yodl-Ay-EEE-Ooooo

Yodl-ay-eee-oooo its of to Switzerland we go! Yay!!! As you all know we are off on our skiing holiday on Friday. Last night we decided to get our gear out and see if it still fits. I was very relieved that mine was still fine and Chris' a bit big for him - all that training has certainly paid of one way or another.

We are going in a group to LAAX, which is a small village outside Zurich. It is near to the village Flims, where Chris enjoyed his first skiing holiday and learnt to ski with Eleanor 3 years ago.

This year, Europe has had a particularly bad snowfall but in recent weeks the snow has been good and we have all agreed that there is certainly something to be said for skiing toward the end of the season. For those of you that would like to see more about it visit www.laax.com

I must admit than amid all the excitement, I am also a little nervous... the whole theory that its "like riding a bike" - once you know how, you'll will always be able - I have yet to prove this theory to myself........

We will be staying in 2 adjoining apartments at Cassa Bella - this is a short walk from the ski lifts and best of all, we have a ski-in option. This means that when you have had enough skiing for the day you can go down the slope straight home with no waiting for buses etc.

Well done Shaun on all the organising!

Its a Jungle out there

One of the problems with "having your head in the clouds" is that you often forget what you have intended to do....

Whilst sorting though my photos to be printed I came across this photo taken on the 11th Jan! To take you back in time and paint the picture around my intention for the photo and supposed post on the blog here goes....

We have been away from home since the 26th Dec, Jhb has had a lot of rain, the Londoners get stranded in Jhb on their way home with Leo's measles. So we come back to Jhb to enjoy the bonus time with them and some unexpected time around the house. We have also not mowed the lawn since before the wedding pending a quick fix to the new lawn mower which on its highest setting still cuts the grass too short. Brett and Chris got stuck in doctoring the lawn mower while Lara and I did some grocerey shopping. With Emma to chivvy him along Chris decides to get stuck in and sort the jungle out. He soon realised that what we thought may be a small garden is plenty big enough especially when you have to do the mowing. Leo was also most intrigued by the lawn mower and for the duration of his stay with us if we asked him where Chris was he would imitate the sound of the lawn mower. Also, while we were away, we think the pool overflowed and this has caused some irreparable damage to the grass that was looking so great before we left.

Solution : buy more instant lawn and relay it and be ever so careful to keep the pool at the right level!

Back to Reality

We have been married just over 6 weeks now and although my head is still somewhere up in the clouds I realise its probably time to come back down to earth and face the real world again.

After the wedding, we came home so that a) Chris could get back to work for "close-out" & b) we could spend some time with the Smeetons (Chris' sister)

We had a lovely week at home with the family and an exciting Christmas. Santa made a brief stop here for Oliver & Xavier but thought he had better leave the bulk of their gifts in Bloomington due to luggage constraints. On boxing day we flew down to Durban for an extremely rushed 2 day visit with my family. We also got to meet the newest member of the tribe, Little Riley and she stole our hearts immediately! We spent a lovely day on the beach with the Londoners and Parnell girls.

On the 28th it was back to JHB and then off to the undisclosed honeymoon destination. I was convinced we were heading east to Thailand or Bali and Chris very cleverly managed to get us checked through to our final destination without spilling the beans. It was only when we got to the boarding gates that I found out we were of to MAURITIUS! Wow, we had an absolutely magical time. We stayed at La Pirogue and spent 10 days sunning/sleeping/reading/eating and drinking. Now you can understand why its so hard getting back to the real world. We got back to SA and still had a week of holiday time. We spent another 2 days in Durban and came rushing back to JHB when Brett & Lara were stranded here due to Leo getting measles. As horrible as it is that Leo wasn't well we were all too happy to have the opportunity to see a bit more of them.

Since the 15th its been "business as usual" I have had a slow work month but have taken the opportunity to get really settled at home, getting all the relevant parties have my name change details etc..........So here's to a less frantic 2007!