Sweet 16

*Fanfare!* We have reached 16 weeks of pregnancy!! Whoop Whoop!
This week we look forward to Nano being able to hear and, the big milestone, proper little kicks or flutters.
Well, we got a bit of a preview this past weekend...

Last Sunday, my parents had a potjie gathering while my brother was also hosting a farewell braai for his roommate. It was a good day but what made it even better was that Nano decided to show off.

Most days, Nano stays pretty hidden. As its getting bigger, I've started to feel how its movements affect the amniotic sac. On Sunday, Nano was on the right side of my belly and pushed itself forward enough to allow my friends and parents to feel the little mass underneath my skin. Everyone was quite excited that they could feel the little nunu.

I also decided to treat myself with, not one, but two slices of cake for dessert. Since being pregnant, my relationship with sweet treats has waned a little and I don't usually have that much sugar in one go. Well, my few minutes of enjoying that cake turned into hours of discomfort. Nano obviously can't handle that much sugar and its hyperactivity meant pinched nerves and a very uncomfortable abdomen for me.

Since then, Nano's been quiet. I don't mind because this has been a hectic week for both Trevor and I. Today is only the halfway mark of 10 consecutively busy days, we're both tired already but we're pushing on. Between Pilates classes, orchestra and choir practice, meetings, driving up and down across the city and a big Thanksgiving weekend at church, we reckon Nano is waiting till Mommy and Daddy aren't so preoccupied to get our attention again. (Daddy Trevor is still attempting to play with Nano by talking to it and shaking Mommy's belly *face palm*)

Spring has sprung in Cape Town so, I'm going to grab a banana and enjoy some sunshine now and I'll leave you with a little fruit to show you how big Nano is this week.

Ninja! Bump!

It's been a crazy week at our house!

On Sunday night, I was dreaming about a giant spider sitting on our bedroom ceiling. At the same time, Trevor was dreaming of fighting a ninja. It's not often that two people's dreams will collide but ours did...and the collision was Trevor's hand with my face LOL!
In my dream, the spider fell on him and in his dream the battle had begun. He struck his hand out and THWACK! got me on the cheekbone. Apparently, I screamed and jumped out of the bed but I don't recall anything except waking up and wondering why I was standing.
By morning, we managed to put the pieces of this little puzzle together and it is, with great hilarity, that Trevor's new nickname is *drum roll please* CHUCK NORRIS.

On Monday, the oddities continued. I was determined to enjoy a nice soak in the tub after many months of going without. We got a bath thermometer and I got ready for some peace and quiet in the water. After some water level adjustments and making sure the temperature was correct, I stretched out in the tub.
Discovered that Nano doesn't like the bath.
About 10 seconds in, I felt the entire amniotic sac moving away from the water surface even though my belly was free and clear of the water. Good grief, it honestly felt like an alien was pulling itself around in my abdomen. At first, I marveled at the odd feeling but then it just felt creepy. I tried to calm down but kiddo wouldn't settle and, after 15 minutes, I got out.

But that wasn't all. You see the bath thermometer is shaped like a little yellow duck. The entire time I was in the bath, Rhapsody was glaring and moaning at the duck. She was hell-bent on hunting the thing and her vigil for the duck continued for the rest of the evening while the duck was safely stowed by our bathroom window.

(The duck is still in the bathroom and she checks on it periodically to make sure her new "pet" hasn't disappeared.)

Nope, the fun doesn't stop there folks!

On Tuesday, Trevor decides to indulge in a relaxing soak in the tub. And once again, Rhapsody is not content to just be a spectator. She actually tried to climb in the bath with him!!!!! He had to fight her off and also abandoned ship after 10 minutes.

As for Nano, it has decided I deserve payback for the bath torment and has plonked itself next to my right hip  and on a nerve. I have tried everything to try to move Nano, even Pilates class didn't unseat this child, but to no avail *sigh* So, I'm plodding along with the occasional twinge.

Also, it is with great excitement I announce that this week Trevor and I chose a girl's name for our little person. We're keeping our name choices under wraps until Nano arrives but the search continues for a boy's name. Drop us a suggestion in the comments box if you'd like. We're open to possibilities :-)

In closing, Trev, Nano, the doggies and I would like to wish you a great Heritage Day/Braai Day weekend!
Our little family will be celebrating Nano and I reaching the 15 week pregnancy stage today and, to mark this occasion, I'm posting the first "bump!" photo.

My butt looks goooood hahahahahaha!!! 

Commentary confusion clarified

Hello!

My dear friends Darren and Carlyn Pedro sent word from Dublin that they couldn't comment on this here blog.
I checked the comments setting and discovered the setting was wrong. It has been changed so anybody can drop a comment on the blog posts.

You are now welcome to go nuts and leave us your thoughts, messages, LOL's, advice or just a "Hello!" :-)

Coming up soon on +1: Trevor dreams of being a ninja...with interesting consequences, Nano meets lukewarm water and Rhapsody hunts a little ducky. Plus, have Erin and Trevor chosen a name for the baby? And who are "The Pregnant Princesses"? *cue dramatic music* All this and more in the next episode...

13 week super scan

Last week Friday, Trevor and I paid a visit to Dr Linnie Muller for our 13 week super scan. Ok, it's not called a super scan. That's my simplification of its actual name: "Nuchal translucency screening test". Mine sounds cooler.

I don't get nervous easily but I was anxious about this appointment. We hadn't had a check up in 6 weeks, I felt like my old self and not at all pregnant and of course I worried about Nano's well-being. Turns out I shouldn't have worried at all. 

Nano is hyper! For almost 20 minutes, he/she wiggled about, did somersaults and stretched in a fine display all for the sake of the camera. I didn't know Nano could do all that already! Nano seems to have inherited its father's sportiness and clearly shares my love of being on screen. It was pretty cool to see how big Nano's grown and is enjoying its swimming pool of amniotic fluid. 

Dr Muller took all the necessary measurements and Nano did everything the doctor wanted it to do at the right time (Good kid!). She also showed us the blood flow through the umbilical cord and my placenta as well the four chambers of the heart. We got a brief glimpse of the lungs, stomach, liver and we could clearly see all the little bones. We counted 5 fingers on each hand and quickly saw the little feet. 

All of Nano's measurements were spot on for the current stage of development and he/she is a supermodel at 10cm tall with a heartbeat of 165 beats per minute. He/she can already open and close its mouth and, according to Dr Muller, has a cute bum. 

So, all's well in the womb. As I write this, renovations are taking place and I'm a little uncomfortable but the kiddo needs room to grow. Still can't feel Nano's movements but I have a sneaking suspicion there'll be a flutter as a birthday present. 

Here are two new pics: Baby's head is clearly visible on the right, tummy in the middle and legs on the left of the pic :-)

Farewell first trimester!

Good bye first trimester! Hanging out with you has been fun!

Thank you for the fatigue (I was an Olympic sleep champion LOL!), the random nausea, the back ache, the indigestion and the complete and utter aversion to cheese and chicken. Thank you also that most of that happened for only two weeks and that I discovered Pilates for the back ache.

Thank you for making me so tired that Trevor had to do all the cooking for a month. I felt like a princess *sly grin* Thank you for bubblegum Steri Stumpie, Zoo biscuits, strawberries and clementines.

Thank you for my little belly, for my awesome cleavage and for my skin looking waaaaaay better. I was starting to get self-conscious and you fixed that pretty quickly. Thank you also for my shiny hair that looks like Kate Middleton's and no longer tangles into angry knots.

We had our bad times but we also had our good times. It was great getting to know you but I can't say I'm going to miss you.

Till we meet again for the next kid, I bid you adieu!

In sickness and in health...

This past Sunday morning, Trevor woke up and said he felt fluish so, I told him to rest. I was out for the morning and only got home at 1pm to find him much worse than before. What happened next is not suitable for sensitive readers (Don't say I didn't warn you!)

Clearly Trevor didn't just have the flu. He was pale, feverish and said he was dizzy. I decided to stay away from him but an hour later he was a little too quiet and I found him in the bathroom, kneeling in front of the toilet. He said he felt nauseous and said I should rather leave him alone. Next thing I know he's projectile vomiting with a decibel level so loud I could hear it above the sound of the TV. *gross!!!!!* I called the doctor's office and got him an appointment. I got Trev out of bed, helped him get ready and even had to tie his shoelaces. 

We got to our GP who diagnosed him with stomach flu and said he needed some shots. Lucky me got to witness two slow and very painful injections being administered into each bum cheek. Because he's contagious, the doc advised that we separate for two days. When we got home, I promptly moved my stuff into the guest room and prepared myself for two lonely nights in my old bed. 

I spent the next three days caring for my sickly husband. I had to give him his meds, prepare his Rehidrat drinks, make sure he had a constant supply of dry biscuits and all this without being able to touch him or spend more than 10 minutes in the bedroom with him. Sleeping alone was horrible and even the dogs weren't happy about being moved out of their usual space. 

You'd think he'd be right as rain today...not a chance! He just went to the doctor again and he's actually got a viral infection plus middle ear infection and his trachea is inflamed.

Oh and here's the best bit: He's still contagious and we have to separate again *crying face!!!!!!!!!!* 

On the upside, it's terribly funny that I'm the pregnant one and the only time I see a doctor now is when Trev's being checked out. In the last two months, I've sat through a gastroscopy, an EKG, one night at a sleep clinic and four GP visits for his clearly suffering immune system while I've had one pregnancy check-up.

Maybe it's time we put Trev on some prenatal vitamins hahahahahahaha!!!! 

Property Of Rhapsody

This may be our first baby but this is definitely not our eldest child. That title belongs to our 2 year old Boxer, Rhapsody. She's extremely happy yet manipulative, sulks when she doesn't get her way, loves to lick everyone and everything and prefers apples and popcorn to ordinary doggie treats. It's an over-zealous 8 week old puppy stuck in a 24kg body with a whip for a tail.

Dogs usually pick up on pregnancy but I thought it would be Buttons, our Jack Russell, who would start acting weird. Lo and behold, it was Rhapsody who decided that I was the new center of her universe. Suddenly, Trevor was the just the other guy in the house who fed her. He even started feeling a bit neglected because she no longer meets him at the front door and, at one stage, refused to listen to his commands.

She follows me EVERYWHERE! She's trampled, stood on and even sat on Buttons to prove a point or just to get Buttons out of the space she wants next to me. (Thank goodness Buttons is a hardy dog accustomed to Rhappy's roughhousing *phew!*) Rhapsody insists on sleeping right up against me even if I'm taking a nap on the couch and checks whether or not Trevor is home like a Secret Service agent. It gets a bit much sometimes but it's adorable that I have my own bodyguard/ninja shadow.

My favourite moments though are when she comes to cuddle up next to me and carefully places her head on my belly as she falls asleep. After all the usual drama, I get a good fuzzy feeling that when this baby is born, they're going to be best friends and she's going to love and protect it with the same intensity she's shown me.
Good girl Rhappy, good girl...

First scan surprise

Like any other couple, we were super excited for our first scan. It was scheduled for 11 August which was more than a month after we found out. It felt like we would wait foreeeeeever.

One ordinary Saturday morning towards the end of July, I was relaxing in bed while Trevor went off to play golf. I got up to go to the loo and, much to my horror, discovered I had started spotting. Completely panic stricken, I called my doctor who said I should just relax and keep an eye on the situation. Trevor was next on the phone and he promptly walked off the golf course on the 6th hole to rush home. We were both pretty scared but eventually I let my "Everything will be ok" guard down and burst into tears. Trevor gave me one of his legendary pep talks and my doctor decided she'd do a check up first thing the next morning.

I spent the rest of the day in bed resting and Trevor kept me in good spirits. The next morning, we hopped over to my gynae's office. It was just us three so she was relaxed in a tracksuit and zero make-up. Dr Lizette White has been my gynaecologist for two years and it was so odd to not see her receptionists or other patients in the waiting room and especially odd seeing her dressed casually.

This was a whole new experience for Trevor. He'd never met Dr White and had never seen the inside of a gynae's office before. How I wish I could've photographed the look on his face as he watched her examine me. Let's just say it was priceless LOL! Thankfully, he was drawn to the pretty lights and crazy buttons on the ultrasound machine so he was happy when she decided it was time to get a look.

Please note: I thought I was 5 weeks along at this point.
Dr White starts the ultrasound and promptly declares, "You're not 5 weeks along. You're almost 8 weeks!" And there on the screen was a little body, with a head and arms and a tiny little thing pulsing...nothing, literally nothing could've prepared us for the sound of that heartbeat...
"Whakata, whakata, whakata..." thumping along at 153 beats per minute.
I tried to process that there was this other heart beating besides mine and Trevor was rather emotional because neither of us were expecting that kind of revelation. It was honestly one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard *face lights up*

My doctor said everything was ok and we had nothing to worry about. She chatted to us about our prenatal check-up schedule, warned me that the usual pregnancy symptoms would likely start in a day or two (it kicked in the next day) and sent us off with big smiles and the first three photographs of our "plus one".