Half a centimetre and head down - wooo hoooo!

It's official!  I am one whole half centimeter dilated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hey - at this stage I'll take it!!!

Head is down (which I already knew - due to the foot in my ribs!) which is also good.

I'm ready - bring it on Baby!

Pictures

Thanks to my lovely Tiffyloucious  and her amazing photography skills - we now have some wonderful pictures to adorn our 'baby space' wall.

Not to get too touchy feely - but this pregnancy is really nothing short of a miracle and as part of my attempt to enjoy every second I wanted to record my changing shape with some pictures which were a little more special that just the weekly snapshots Mikey takes.

I seriously have to pinch myself every day to remember that this is actually happening to us and so I was a little afraid that once the baby bump has gone - I might just think it was all a dream (well - except for the squirming bundle of sproutness who will have taken over our lives by then - of course!)

I knew there was ABSOLUTELY no way I would get Mikey anywhere near a photography studio - but luckily for me there was a perfect solution!  Enter Tiff!  A whizz with a digital SLR AND familiar with my husband's quirks and foibles to boot!

It was seriously the quickest photoshoot in the history of photoshoots - and the models (well 'model' really) was not always cooperative - but Tiff - you did a fantastic job.  It's nothing short of a wonder that you got any good shots at all!  But you did - and our 4 favourites are now on the wall in the baby space waiting for us to show the wee sprout when he/she is old enough to understand.  At the very least it will be proof of the fact that he/she lived in Mama's tummy for around 9 months - and that Daddy is a die-hard Aston Villa supporter!

Tiff also snapped this corker of Ferg whilst we were waiting for Mikey - it's now on the wall too!
Thank you Tiffy - love you!

Buddha Belly!

I have one - and thanks to Amber and her wonderful hand-me-downs - I have a shirt to match :-)

It's taken 37 weeks for me to fully understand what they mean by the 'discomforts of pregnancy'.  By my reckoning that means I've done pretty well!

Only now have I discovered the joys of driving with my seat tipped back at a 45 degree angle, having your husband cut your toenails, waving goodbye to your nether regions, misjudging small spaces, having your dog constantly stopping and looking back with a resigned look as if to say 'really...can you not walk any faster?'  And never again will I raise my eyes and complain when Mum wants to 'just pop for a wee' for the 10th time during a 2 hour shopping trip.

There really is no end to the learning experience that is pregnancy - and that's even before the wee sprout makes an appearance!

Dopplers and Stress Tests and Scans....Oh My...!

Non-stress test........are you kidding me?!  Never has a diagnostic tool been so misnamed!  Yes, yes, I know (since my husband had to explain it to me) the 'non-stress' part applies to the baby and not the mother - but holy moly - it's enough to test the strongest resolve not to allow that blood pressure to spike!

So - the reason behind all the tests:  apparently Mikey and I grow small babies.  We knew that at the 20 week scan when baby was on the smallish side.  We had it confirmed by an extra ultrasound last week - prompted by a belly measurement which showed I was measuring a little behind on the weekly count.  As a result we are now 'under surveillance' which basically means 2 to 3 visits to the hospital each week for fetal monitoring, ultrasounds and consults with the doctor. I have 2 more weeks until I get to 'full term' and then it's green light to induce if necessary. 

I have to say I am a little perplexed by the whole situation as this pregnancy has been textbook so far.  None of the usual reasons for our situation (the technical term being Inter Uterine Growth Retardation....nice huh?!) apply to me: high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, weirdness with the placenta, poor nutrition etc etc and my OB assures me that age has nothing to do with it (not much I can do about that anyhow!) so I am simply sticking to my theory that this is a storm in a teacup and the baby is going to be small. 

So for now at least I shall be wearing out my tyres between here and the Birthing Center every couple of days, getting lots of good reading time whilst not stressing over the stress test and trying to bake this wee sprout pie for a few more weeks.

On the upside - all the drama seems to have focused Mikey and I in on what's really important and we have made some progress in the name department - woo hoo!  We now have a boy's and a girl's name waiting in the wings......just in case something better doesn't come along of course!!  Our dear sweet Caitlyn (our 2.5 year old adopted niece) has named baby FifferFefferFaff - and for all I care - FifferFefferFaff Hoyt is good enough just as long as he or she comes out safely and in good health.

Baby space update....

I'm seriously considering 'Harry'  or 'Potter' as a name if it's a boy - given that his/her room is not much more than a cupboard under the stairs!

Small is good though, isn't it?  Less to keep clean, less space to fill with stuff, and less space to pace around in the middle of the night with a grizzly baby.

I think I'm done now - except for photos.  Actually that's a pretty big 'except for'.  I've realized they will probably be the most important piece of the puzzle, given our families and many of our friends live so far away.  I want to make sure that our wee sprout knows everyone's faces and names inside out, even if our face to face visits aren't as frequent as we would like.  It's one of the aspects which weighs heavily on my mind when I think about family and context and heritage.    Every new addition to the planet is unique and our baby will be no exception - not least for the fact that his/her heritage will span 2 continents.  It will take some very deliberate intent to bring that history and family connection to life but it will be worth the effort in buckets if it means he or she will get to know the wonderful people who have shaped both my and Mike's lives up to this point.  Best start collecting airmiles now I suppose!

Thankfully we also have a wonderful 'family' here in Washington now - and I have a funny feeling they are going to feel the true impact of that definition here in a few short weeks :-)  You know who you are - and we love you!

Russian Roulette...

Well - that may be a touch dramatic, but sometimes being forced to make so many important decisions on not much information, makes it feel that way.

So, 33 weeks and as I alluded to previously, our OB is gently reminding us at each appointment that it is time to choose a Pediatrician.

I'll say it again - God Bless the NHS; have the baby, take the baby home, head up to see the midwife/GP.  Get the baby checked and whilst you're there, get him to treat your warts/hemerrhoids/cough/rash or whatever other ailments you might have.

Not quite how it works here; you have warts, you go to a dermatologist, hemerroids, you go to a..........err.......actually I have no idea....err hemerroids doctor?  Well you get the general gist.

You have a baby, you take it to a Pediatrician.  Sounds simple?  Read on....

So first of all, your Pediatrician kind of has to be appointed before you have the baby.  That way he/she can be the one to visit you in hospital the minute the baby is born to do all the baseline checks.  This works on the assumption that the sooner he/she gets to know your baby, the easier it will be to treat him/her in the future, given that he saw him/her during the first hours of life, quirks, idiosyncrasies and all.

So - then how does one chose said Pediatrician?  Based on reviews?  Proximity to where you live?  Does he look nice?  All valid criteria - but all totally irrelevant if the one you chose is not covered by your insurance company.  Ahhh - yes - now I remember - we have a private healthcare system! 

So - let's say - you've remembered this detail and things are going really well.  You've chosen the Baby doctor who falls under your insurance company's list of preferred providers, he looks like he'd be kind to your child, his practice is just down the street, he has great reviews, he's taking new patients......yeah - we're in the home stretch.  But wait.......I'm sorry, where did you say you were delivering the baby?  Oh...right...I'm sorry.....Dr Perfect does not have 'privileges' at that establishment.  You would have to get the on call Pediatrician at the hospital to see your baby and then come in when you are released from the hospital for your first appointment with Dr Perfect.  Arghhhhhhhhh.

I know it will sound to all my lovely Yankee friends that I am making this sound far more complicated than it really is - and maybe it's my depleted brain matter - but really - could they make it any more difficult?!

So - my job for next week is to go and 'interview' a couple of Pediatricians who, most importantly, are approved by our insurance company , who tick all the criteria boxes and who might be the right person to look after the baby I haven't even given birth to yet!  All hail the 'Chosen One'.....whoever you might be.