Week 30 - Pregnancy bites

My body:
* This afternoon Scott looked at my tummy and said, "Oh my God. You're so big... " Duuuh.
* Dreams... I think I started to worry about the labour that the other day I dreamed that I had the most beautiful baby and the labour only took five minutes. Hah, you wish!
* I am slowing down inevitably. Walk a few metres and I am out of breath, run the vacuum cleaner for a few minutes and I am exhausted.
*Bending over is SOOO difficult now. Until recently, I have never realised so many things need to be done by bending over, including clipping your toenails, tie up shoes, and even putting on pants!

My little peanut:
Weighs around 1.1 kg and measures about 38 centrimetres from head to toe. Testicles descend from near the kidneys through the groin en route to the scrotum. His head is getting bigger, and brain growth is very rapid at this time. Nearly all babies react to sound by 30 weeks.

I finally had a big emotional breakdown. All these emotions creeping down on me felt like suddenly exploded. The night before we went to Orange (for Christmas), it just downed to me that all these changes in our life will happen in two months! Bursting into tears I told Scott that I was worried because things are not (never) going to be the same again, there won't be time for only him and me anymore. All the things that I haven't done.. all the things I still want to do... My selfish part of me is dreading all those things, but of course I know all these changes will make our life better.
Me: (sobbing) "I feel unattractive, I feel ugly and insecure. I feel that you love me less"
Scott: "Oh don't be silly. You only think you feel like that, it the pregnancy emotion talking"
Me: "I don't know if I am ready to be a mother. Our life will never be the same.."
Scott: "Yes, of course. It will be even better!"

Travelling to Orange was proven to be a very hard work. Being 7 months pregnant and spent 9 hours in the car are not very good combination. A few toilet runs and a very sore back later, we arrived in Orange. The kids could not get out of the house fast enough to see my protruding belly...

Christmas in Orange, as usual involved a lot of food and desserts. Unfortunately all the food left me worried big times. I had a few sips of Scott's champagne thinking it should be okay but then changed my mind about it and worried all night. One night I had an english trifle at Janelle's and after I finished my share, David asked if the port 'was enough and can be tasted in the trifle'. Oops.
We ate a lot of cold meat as well. I tried to stick with the turkey which I knew Scott's mum made herself but when we finished the turkey, I could choose between eating the pork and the ham or being vegetarian (I ended up eating everything else but the ham since Scott said mum cooked everything except the ham). I feel so out of control.

We found out that Janelle, who initially didn't want to know the sex of the baby, accidentally found out from Holly, her daughter. So when I told it to Karen's daughters (Karen didn't want to know either), Karen said, "Oh no, they will accidentally tell me.. " and made me promise not to tell Ben the youngest so he couldn't tell her. Which I did alright, until I managed to let the secret out myself! I said "he kicked a lot during the night", then realising what I have done, I looked at her in horror - and it hit the spot. Ding doooong... (at least she found out on Christmas day!)

We left for home on the 29th December with lots and lots present, and got home with extra sore back!

Week 29 - Baby octopus

My body:
* Heartburn is driving me crazy! I am taking it every day now, trying to stick with one tablet a day but I have a feeling this dose will go up soon. Feel like an addict.
* Fatigue and short of breath.
* Am bigger.....
* And toilet is my best friend now.

My baby:
* Baby is very very active and kicking everywhere at the same time. I am convinced that I am carrying a baby octopus in my bump!
*Baby is also kicking a lot when I put classical music (a lady I rang about classical music for babies told me that I should put one particular song at least twice a day so he will recognise the sound and hopefully calm him down after he is born). Sounds like he's protesting - maybe he's a rock and roll baby?

Nothing much happening this week. Went to visit Dr Campbell for my monthly visit. Went well and fast, as always. He said baby is growing steadily (steadily? Steadily 'bigger'?), all in the right place (ie. head is down now - and I thought he wouldn't move until later on the stage).
He said about the trip to Orange - "is not the problem" (what does he mean?) "although it is going to be very uncomfortable" (fyi. sitting in the car for 10 minutes has already made me uncomfortable now) "as long as the membrane doesn't rupture - you have 2% chance. If it breaks then you have to stay in Orange"

Had dinner on Friday night with Sharon's family who were here for one of the twins' graduation - at which they insisted that I have to eat more and more because I am eating for two now, whereas just the opposite, I couldn't even put much in my mouth to feel tummy extremely full and about to explode. (When people said they were so full that their tummies can explode, they obviously never felt FULL and PREGNANT).

Week 28 Stretching.. streching...

My body:
* still growing big..... I think tummy is a bit disproportional now! Can't even cut my toenails anymore without big effort!
* Increasing appetite and sweet tooth - I have been getting up in the night to have midnight snack. I wish I didn't get hungry all the time now, especially with Christmas coming! What a bad timing! Who knows how much roast beef/pork/ham that I will consume during the Christmas period next week, not to mention the ice cream and the Christmas pudding etc etc.
* Bladder must be the size of a pea pod now baby is taking over most of the space - have to go almost every half hour!
* My sciatica (pain in the leg) is very bad nowadays. Sometimes I couldn't hold my weight on my right leg and it can be very sore, especially if I have been walking a lot during the day. Will see how it goes this week - I might have to go to a physiotherapist to see if they can fix it!

Little junior:
He is getting bigger and getting stronger. Weighs approximately 2.4 pounds and from this point forward, his weight gain will be due to increasing amounts of body fat. His movement are very defined now and sometimes giving me uncomfortable feeling (especially when you're trying to get to sleep). Sometimes after he kicks I would rub my tummy or press the spot gently and I could feel a part of his body underneath, before he moved it. A few minutes later he would kick and I would do the same again - it's like playing hide and seek!

Scott was away in New Zealand until Friday. One night I stayed awake researching on the net for babies names - we have one potential one that has been approved by some people - it's not a final yet, we are trying to get used to the name and see how we feel for a while we still have time to change our mind!

Went to see a few daycares as well this week - at one of the daycares I have got a little boy who was very friendly and gave me a cuddle. Gave me a warm feeling - imagine how it would feel with my own little boy?
There is still a part of me that is not sure if I am ready for motherhood but big, huge part of me can't imagine not having this little child in my life already even though he's not even born yet. They say you'd never know your ability to love until you have children and they are right. You just want the best for your child and that even start when he's still in your womb.

Move your blooming arse!!!
On Friday night we went to dinner at the Moonee Valley racecourse with Scott's colleagues.
It's the first time that I visited a race so it was rather exciting. Scott and I and Georgina actually picked trifecta winners on the first race even, but when we actually put money on our bet it didn't work out that well, as predicted.
We put the bet on the last race with all of our money (which summed up to $12 all together - what a poor couple!). It is all derived from good analysis, you see... I put it on number 2 (for my birth date and the horse name is actually Lady Lyn) and Scott bet on number 12 (for his birth date and the horse name is Diditformum and it was Scott's mum's birthday that day), lots of good factors for them, don't you think? Of course we just over analysed, although mine came third and with the 4 dollars that we put on that horse we will get something out (we haven't get the money from the TAB yet but Scott reckons we will get about 5 dollars out of it :P). One of the guys from the table won $1000 on that race. We put 20 dollars each on the punters club though (where they choose the horse for us) and at the end of the day we went home with $115 each. Not bad, especially since work actually paid for that 20 dollars!

Pilates and Yoga
After months of not doing any streching, I did pilates and yoga both in the same week! Went to Sharon's pilates place in Richmond and although it was good (could feel that I stretched the muscles that I haven't been using for ages) it's bloody expensive and I can't really afford it. They said I couldn't claim it to my private insurance because I haven't done the initial examination yet. Not really wanting to do initial examination there because it's just to far and I might not be going regularly.

Meanwhile, yoga is very interesting. It turned out that there is a yoga place just within walking distance from here that has prenatal class, so I could've done it ages ago (very ashamed of myself). Under normal circumstances I would hate the class. We lied down for the beginning and end relaxation with the Indian music in the background(that mis- tracked a few times on the cd player) and a very soft spoken instructor - I got restless at the beginning but at the end I sort of fell asleep (it was boring). I was surprised that I enjoyed the real yoga postures though. As much as I'd like to pretend that the pregnancy didn't slow me down, my body can't pretend that I wasn't pregnant and I think this is the only exercise that my body can handle at the moment.

Christmas shopping was unbearable as well. I had to sit down every half hour and it just tired me down. Glad it was over and done with, but I am not very looking forward to driving 7 hours to Orange next week.

Well I guess I am just a big pregnant woman now....

week 27 - 3 more months to go

My body:
* Apparently, as I mark the days of my third trimester off the calendar, my body will continue to change and grow. I WILL gain weight more rapidly than in my first or second trimester, and my breats WILL increase in size and weight - up to FOUR times larger and heavier. One word: EEEEKS....
* It's happening.. third trimester is the most uncomfortable stage because baby is growing rapidly, which means you are bigger as ever, get fatigue easily, and short of breath all the time because the uterus is now up near the rib cage (apparently this also is influenced by how you're carrying your baby - whether it is low and small, or high or big - which in turn is depending on your build, how much weight you gain and of what diet you gain it for. I am petite (or used to be) but definitely not carrying the baby low and small! Anyway, my tummy is as hard as rock most of the time, and the heat (Melbourne has been around 37 degrees the past 2 days) is making me very uncomfortable.
* Bleeding gum - Mine is not too bad actually since it is only on one spot and only bleeds when I floss - but I noticed it is getting slightly worse. The gums, like the mucous membranes of the nose become swollen, inflamed and tend to bleed easily because of pregnancy hormones. Book suggested to take a lot of vitamin C and calcium, and also check with the dentist since if left untreated, gum disease increases a woman's risk of having a premature or low-birthweight baby (note to self: find a dentist)
* What causes heartburn during pregnancy? During pregnancy, hormone and physical changes may cause stomach acid to flow up into the esophagus. The hormone progesterone, produced by the placenta, relaxes the valve that separates the esophagus from the stomach. This allows gastric acids to seep back up the pipe, causing that unpleasant burning sensation. Progesterone also slows down the wavelike contractions of the stomach, making digestion sluggish. In later pregnancy, your growing baby crowds your abdominal cavity, slowing elimination and pushing up the stomach acids to cause heartburn (Which is why Mylanta & Rennie are my new friends now).


My Peanut:
His facial features are almost fully developed and synchronizing enough that he may make faces that are visible on an ultrasound (would it be like Scott? or would it be like me? Apparently Caucasian gene is stronger than Chinese but who knows - Mum is Javanese so there might still be a possibility...)
His skin is becoming ticker and fleshier and increasingly wrinkled, thanks to the amniotic fluid.
The brain is active this week as well. The characteristic grooves on the brain's surface start to appear and more brain tissue develops.
He's been having a lot of hiccups - also moving and kicking alot.

My third trimester. It said that I have to be extra careful now with what I eat because my immune system is now somewhat suppressed. Oh my GOD! I had a bratwurst dog in the market yesterday and I am completely paranoid about it now....

Lani arrived from Auckland on Tuesday morning and stayed with us until friday. I thought having Lani would be like having mum around - forcing me to have the exercises that I need. Two reasons why this time it didn't work: firstly, Scott was away so we got the car and almost drove everywhere. Secondly, we spent most of our time sitting down and eating and having a chat so not much walking involved. And to make it worse, I also felt like I am on holiday so I ate alot of unhealthy snacks and ice creams and all the things that I didn't need.

It's good having a company while Scott is away. We caught up a few times with Rui and Lani's other friend in Melbourne - spent time on the beach, looking around the city but most of the time, relaxing and taking our time.

As much as I enjoyed though - I felt too pregnant sometimes. It is getting hard to keep up since I don't have the same energy, also going out at night without alcohol is not as fun - few times I fell into the comfort zone of staying home, putting my legs up and have the air conditioning on, rather than being out and about at the pub. Am I getting old or just boring?

I just realised that I am not very happy with this doctor since he's just ignoring my questions or, to put it in more subtle way, doesn't really acknowledge my worries. My visits have been very short and everytime I asked something he just cut to the chase and did not even try to reassure me. I know he's been there and done that (old doctor he is!) and that he must have come across hundreds of new mummies to be like me, but that should make him more understanding that a lot of first timers are more nervous than others. It's a bit too late to change doctor now so hopefully he's really good in delivering babies.