Heartburn and growth spurts

Baby is STILL breech (have decided that either baby is stuck in this position as its head has not moved in at least 2 months, or its just being a stubborn wee sod like its big sister, must be a genetic thing as I recall many people saying their nana was a very stubborn woman!) which makes sitting down a tad uncomfortable unless I can have the whole couch to lean back and off to the side, but it also means heartburn is here and since baby is not showing ANY sign of wanting to move its stubborn head, the heartburn could be here to stay (until March at the latest, phew for lights at the end of the tunnel!!)

The heartburn problem is not helped by the fact that either myself or bubs have had a serious growth spurt in the last fortnight... my money is on the baby since I AM at 28 weeks which is about right on schedule for growth spurts on baby's behalf ;) According to one ticker I am carrying something roughlythe size of a pumpkin, while another ticker suggests baby is the size of an eggplant/aubergine... interesting. I dont like either of those veges but there you go.

eep... 28 weeks... leaves me with about 10 weeks to get everything bought, set up and ready to go!

Growth spurt pics!

Left was 27 weeks, right is 28 weeks!



And to show any lurkers how I'm tracking along with #2's growth rate, left is #2's bump at 28 weeks, right is 28 weeks with this one

Head, shoulders, knees and toes... sans knees!

So the scan went ok...ish. Bubs is breech, and the placenta is anterior (in front) NOT posterior(at the back) as previously informed during prior scans... made for some very difficult picture obtaining! Monkey fits right in with the older siblings, unco-operative little sod! (said in the most lovingliest voice possible!) No lovely leg shots like we got with big sister, just one rather large close-up of a foot, plus a LOT of squished in facial shots... to add to the unco-operativeness of being breech.. it also had its whole arm squished up against the side if its face! The other side was squished into the placenta with the cord dangling in the way, so the only way to get face shots was half frontal, half side on. Still, some nice pics to be had!

To add to the fun and games today, it turns out said big sister has had the chicken pox for the last week, only they didnt LOOK like CP, just like LOTS of flea/mosquito bites... bad mum of the year award goes to...

Big brother has just passed his 7th birthday with a trip to the zoo, an afternoon at speedway and some new Transformers gear. He is, of course, quite pleased with his birthday this year. In that case son, you just wait til xmas!

26 weeks this weekend just been, and bump is very similar to big sister's at the same stage... that as we now know, may be entirely due to same position than anything else... I LOVE how my kids never make life easy... that would just be too... well... easy!

#2 on the left, this one on the right

And last but not least, pics of the main attraction

This one on the left, big sister at same stage on the right

All snuggled into its hand, looks so... cosy?


Swallowing, about the only movement during the whole scan!


A foot, and a hand



hand/arm again along top of head


Head, upper torso and arm

Bump pic!

Thought I'd do a comparison to see how I am carrying compared to how I was with #2, and theres a pretty noticeable difference! 4D scan is now booked for Dec 7th at lunchtime, day before my birthday, happy birthday to me!

Left is with #2, right is with this one

Papaya baby!

Food analogy of the week - baby is now the size of a papaya, or a 1lb footlong sub... take your pick!

Either way, bubs is definitely making itself known, apparently my favourite sleeping position doesnt please the little blighter, so I must lie on my back (NOT comfy!) to go to sleep instead. Kicks/punches can now be seen and felt easily from the outside, only E has the patience of a 2yr old so hasnt been told he might actually feel something just yet. Earlier this evening (while E was out... go figure!) baby was getting its wriggle on in a big way, and I even felt a leg or arm bone sliding across my tummy... such an awesome feeling!! Didnt have this with #1 or #2 as they both had placentas blocking the more defined movements, so all we could feel/see was the big rolling motions.

Have officially started leaking... time to invest in booby pads! Might have to hunt back in the June 09 thread on various forums to see when this started up with #2, foggy memory seems to have left that detail somewhere in the inaccessible recesses of my mind!

One more month until #1 turns 7, closely followed by myself turning another year older.... and the 3D/4D scan will be getting booked around then too, cant wait!

Will post pics tomorrow... its really late (been playing taxi driver... unpaid!) and I havent taken said bump pic yet, will do later in the A.M!

Halfway pic!

Sooo apparently bubs is now the size of a cantaloupe (rockmelon for us kiwis!) and is getting close to the 1lb and 1ft long mark! Must have put on some growth spurt in the last week as the tummy has suddenly gone pop! Feeling lots of punches/kicks and wriggles quite regularly, and even felt the real strong ones from the outside (although from the outside it felt like the tiniest little tap!). Ms seems to be making a slight comeback, going back to the constant queasy, and feeling like I 'might' be sick if I do or dont eat... sadly, chocolate seems to STILL be on the list of foods that baby doesnt like... I seem to recall one of my previous children having the exact same effect on me... makes sense being the same gender of that particular sibling ;)

Labour weekend and the weather seems to have diverted from the traditional rain and winds of spring, and blessed with us sunny, cloudless days, handy since we have a bbq planned for tomorrow! On that note, i shall post pics (19w top, 20w below) to show growth spurt, then call it a night!

Piccy time!

Scan was nothing short of amazing! Baby is measuring bang on for dates, legs, tummy and head (width and circ) all measuring the same as LMP dates, so looks like we'll have a lovely average little... baby! You didnt think I was going to spill the beans on here did you?? As promised, lips are tightly sealed... pity I cant say the same about my bank account! Now that we know gender, its likely to get a fair walloping as I stock up on gorgeous little baby clothes! I'll 'try' not to go overboard as there was a lot of unisex stuff leftover from #2 that can be used again, so 0-3 months is more or less sorted... assuming I dont have one of those spilly babies with repetitive #3 type nappies! Plus there are still some things I managed to retrieve off a friend from one of my previous kids that will fill in the gaps... along with the cutest set a friend has put on layby for me!!

Baby is getting its wriggle on more and more, and I am definitely feeling it from the outside now!

Pics are on FB and in my 'due in' thread on OB, but for blogging purposes, here we are again...

One very well defined leg and foot, was one of the clearest shots we got of the legs without showing the 'nether regions'



Profile shot



Peek-a-boo, I see you!



Everything was as it should be, and no need for follow-up scans this time around... so unless something pops up later on that requires a check-in, this is all we will see until a 3D/4D scan at 26 weeks (which also happens to be in the same week as both mine and #1's birthdays :D), then sit tight and wait for the big day!

Working on names still, had a couple of names for a girl, and a name for a boy, but I have suddenly gone off the name/s we had, so back to searching for the 'right' name... but again... cant post it here since it would reveal gender ;)

fancy new ticker!

Starting to feel little bumps and nudges from outside now, but only when sitting down, which must squish its personal space a tad too much for its liking!

5 days til we get a sneaky peek at #3!

Food for thought

So apparently at 17 weeks, baby is roughly the size of a baked potato... erm... yum...? Lets have a baked potato baby for tea tonight honey!

News for the week is that bubs is on the move good and proper, more often than not its just as I'm crawling into bed, next thing I'm getting rolls and nudges down in the nether regions... Oh and I have a camera! Well, not quite, its currently waiting to be couriered up, but a camera is coming nonetheless, hopefully its a decent one as the reviews seem to think, #2 is doing a lot of cool new things that I am missing out on taking perfect photos of, and my back-up camera is terrible at taking photos!

Case in point, this is the baby-house at 17 weeks! And this is after playing with the photo effects to tone down the glare!




Still on the hunt for a cheap, but usable tandem pram, was thinking of flagging the whole idea and going with a wrap, but not sure if thats a feasible idea after having a c-section... might look at making one by hand if I can find some appropriate material, and decent enough instructions! In the meantime, I have a couple of prams at $1 reserve sitting on my watchlist (good old Trade Me!) so will see how I get on with them.

Counting down, and mangoes!

Anatomy scan and next GP/LMC appointment booked in for the 20th Oct, so that leaves 3 weeks til we know what baby is packing... but as I said in an earlier post, I know people read this blog, so details will be posted, but nothing about gender... sorry folks ;) We have decided a surprise for everyone else is nicer, as it will give us something to announce on the big day, but allows us to get the things we need (and sell off what we dont depending on gender) in bits and pieces, since theres no way we could afford a big shop, and I'd be in no shape to go shopping anyways, seeing as I am having an elective c-section.

And in other news, my plum finally graduated into something bigger, a mango!

Breaking news!!

As of 13 weeks, I have felt what is defintely #3 wriggling around and getting its groove on! Amazing how much more you can feel, and so early on when there isnt a great big placenta in the way!

Jabs and 15 month check-up on the agenda for #2 today... poor kid wont see it coming!

Oh and apparently I now have a 10cm 'plum' in my tummy... thats one very big plum!!

That is all....

I am geek, hear me RAWR!

So I have been playing mad scientist, and experimenting with the old red cabbage pH test that sems to be all the rage amongst pregnant women at the moment. Basic concept is boil lots of red cabbage in small amount of water, and the pigment in the cabbage acts as a pH measuring aid. Mix the water with equal parts of a pregnant womens urine (preferably one who hasnt eaten/drank in some time as it can distort results) and if it stays dark (alkaline), it could be a girl, if it goes light/clear red (acidic) then it could be a boy.

Wasnt sure what the benchmark for boy or girl colouring was in this little test, so I played a game... I also tested with Malt vinegar (known alkaline), White vinegar and Orange juice (both known to be acidic)

So... from Left to Right we have

Straight red cabbage water, mixed with my wees, with Malt vinegar, with orange juice, and then white vinegar.



So... verdict at this stage is alkaline, which seems to be the girl option...

Guess I'll know for sure if the test was right in about 5-6 weeks, while the rest of you will have to wait another 26 weeks ;)

Sneaky peeks again!

Scan day today, and as is usual with any child of mine, they are difficult to get them where you want, when you want. With #2 she decided to pull a 180 halfway through the scan while the sonographer had his back turned to measure something... this one decided it didnt know which way it wanted to lie, so wriggled like a fish! Not only that but it was curled up so tightly that we couldnt get any leg shots, let alone a sneaky look at the 'nub shot' to try and get a heads up on what gender we might be looking at. The good news is I have caught back up on dates and then some, 12 weeks 5 days by my dates, 12 and 2 by the last scan, todays scan put me at 13 weeks, and the other good news is the placenta is posterior (towards my back) which I never had with #1 or #2, so i might get to see more defined movement, instead of just the big rolling over moves.

For now I'm thinking boy, but will have to wait another 6-7 weeks to know for sure! And on that note, I am thinking while we will be finding out the gender, we may not be revealing to the general public (save for a few selected friends) until the day baby arrives (which also will not be revealed, only to those necessary as we will need a babysitter the night before!) I had nothing left to announce except time of arrival and weight when #2 arrived, as gender was announced at 19 weeks, and name shortly after, and date was decided about a month or 2 before she arrived, leaving the day somewhat anti-climactic. As there are followers on this blog, I will not be posting it on here, nor will I mention the gender or baby by name on any other forums I post on. Since this is our last, I want to enjoy the little things I missed out on with #1 and #2.

Well its late, and not much else to do but post a photo, so heres baby #3

Fruit of the week

11 weeks today, and according to the ticker, we now have a plum sized baby! Scan booked for Sept 2nd so pics will follow later that night, all going well, also have the ante-natal appt booked for Monday morning, not sure what there is to talk about yet since the scan wont have happened, but thats the date his nurse picked so I'll turn up and find out.

Technology has been rearing its ugly head at home, the camera shat itself, so no more bump pics til thats replaced, and just when we thought we had the funds, we have had to divert them to fix the washing machine which ALSO shat itself this week... still waiting for the 3rd shoe to drop! Needless to say, plans for buying our pram have had to go on the backburner :/

Been feeling pretty good this week, tired, and the occasional nausea rush, but otherwise good. Still a novelty to NOT be tied to the toilet at this stage of pregnancy given how I (didnt) cope during previous pregnancies...

Still dont like chocolate, and can now add the smell of anything being deep fried to that list, but ironically I am still at the same weight I was when I found out I was pregnant... guess it helps when your favourite vices are off limits!

The house of vomit

Ironically enough, its not me right now! (although now that I've said it out loud, I'm sure that will change!) Both kids have been/are sick, making for a very tired mum, best I get used to multiple middle-of-the-night wake-up calls... Bit early to be getting back into practise though isn't it!?

Vomiting bugs aside, have a very important appointment this afternoon in regards to #1 and his 'wee' problem. Poor thing hasnt been able to go properly for months due to the skin closing over (at his age it should be starting to pull back, not close over!), and today we will hopefully get it sorted. According to the GP, the best (and likely only) solution is to do a circumcision... Ironically he is the only male on both sides of his family (adults and children) that wasnt done at birth, go figure that he ends up being one of the unlucky few who end up needing it for medical reasons later down the track.

#2 has finally managed to finish cutting the 4 molars that have been giving her jip for the last couple of months, heres to having our happy-go-lucky wee miss back! Speaking of, she can now add 'pulling herself up to standing' to her repetoire of tricks! Clever girl!

As for #3 (and the lucky last the blog refers to) I think I have finally found our pram. Its not quite as cushy and comfy as THE pram I wanted, but same basic design, MUCH closer to home, and cheap. The latter being what sold E on it, of course! Cheap means I can use it guilt-free at speedway without worrying about re-sale value once #2 no longer needs a pram, and if, when that time comes, it is still in fairly good nic, I will simply clean it up, and sell it on again, albeit at a much lower reserve of course!

Eek at the poll... 66 days... about 2 months and I'll be far enough along to have the big scan to find out what this baby is packing, and whether #1 will finally get the brother hes wanted, or if he can add another sister to the 3 he already has! First things first, 3 weeks and we'll be able to post more sneak previews of our lucky last... and play guess the gender if I get a good enough angle ;)

Tick, tock - 9 weeks down, 30 to go

Managed to make it through my first saturday without throwing up (still felt horribly vile though!) only to be woken up this morning to a cot full of vomit that put me back in my place. Luckily E was home so he dealt with the vomit, and I, once i had retreated from the toilet bowl, did the bath, and change clothes/bedding job...Still, not bad considering at this point with #2 I was in hospital learning first-hand about the side effects of Cyclizine via I.V.

Otherwise not much to report, ticking along nicely. Going to book another appointment with the GP/LMC in a couple of weeks and get the scan referral form for the 12 week scan.

So far, so good.

First baby photo!

Scan went well, only ONE baby (all breathe a HUGE sigh of relief now!) and measuring a few days behind, but scan was rushed through so I will wait and see what the next scan at 12 weeks reveals as EDD before I go rushing around changing tickers everywhere! Even managed to see and hear the heartbeat!

So poll-voters, that only leaves Option A or B to pick!

5+ a day already!

So according to the ticker on my first post baby is now the size of a rasberry, and the weekly developmental email i get says its the size of an olive, either way, its getting bombarded with fruit/vege analogies already, and its only been in existence for all of 5 weeks!

HCG came back in and in the words of my very professional Doctor I am 'very much pregnant' with an hcg result of 85,000! According to Dr Google thats a snapshot average for someone around 8 weeks, rather than not quite 7 weeks. Scan booked for lunchtime tuesday, so will be a bit of breath holding when the scanner dude/chick starts waving their scanner wand towards my tummy!

Yesterday was a rough day for morning sickness, probably not helped by not eating much, started off today much the same, but after having something to eat/drink, I am back to just FEELING sick, rather than actually BEING sick.

Will update after Tuesdays scan!

Scan - Another Fail

So it turns out the old portable scanners like you see in hospitals arent too flash at seeing anything tiny, I should be hovering around 7 weeks, and we saw... nothing. Just a nice big black hole that is the inside of my uterus. Well gee whizz Doc, that sure takes a load off my mind! Luckily a little persuasion and reminding the GP of my history of miscarriages and twins do run in the family (albeit a couple of generations back) made him change his mind and give me a scan referral to a more up-to-date scanning place. Along with more blood tests. Yippee.

Scan is Tuesday just before lunch, and since i should be well into my 7th week, we should get some decent blob pics!

vomit count stands at 2 as of this morning... doing much better than both the other 2 kids, by this stage I was virtually chained to the bathroom!

Symptom check:
Sore boobs
Constant nausea (of varying strengths)
Excessive tiredness

Since theres been no bleeding, and I am still feeling absolutely vile, its a safe bet that I am definitely (still) pregnant, but I will feel much better once I see a good strong heartbeat flicking away on the ultrasound screen!

Thats me for the week, will update with todays hcg results once they arrive :)

Battle of the loo: Fail

So I made it to exactly 6 weeks before the fight was lost. I threw up. Was hoping to avoid it, but in all honesty it was my own damned fault for not eating anything before getting up and about in the first place. Lesson learnt!

Tiredness is creeping in and becoming all-consuming, but that may have more to do with the grumpy teething demon that has flown in and taken over our happy go lucky J. Four molars cutting in one go will do that to a child!

Touch wood but we may be able to get my pram for under $200 after all. Just found one that will be about 1 1/2 hour drive away to pick up, but is relatively close to where I drive to every second Sunday to pick B up anyway, so not that much further out of my way. Failing that, apparently Baby City do a very similar model that I may try putting on layby if its close enough!

Got an email about the Big Latch On event in 3 weeks (6th August) and although I wont be able to attend and boost numbers this year, I did manage to get involved last year, and will hopefully be able to last long enough to attend next year too. It is a very worthy cause, and they dont ask for much, just a few minutes to do what we would do several times a day anyway.

Inorganic weekend and cars driving up and down our road... wouldnt be so annoying except for the fact we are a very small cul-de-sac and space is minimum already without vultures hanging around to pick through our rubbish heap! Still, I have old toys and kitchen junk to clear out, and now that my body has cleared out and feels much better, this incubator has to get back to work!

Wishlists and numbers

Found THE perfect pram for us... now to find the money, or a store that currently stocks them! (Trademe has a couple under $200, but finding said $200 is a bit of a mission these days!)


http://lovencare.com.au/strollers-and-prams/hi-rise-tandem/



Still, its the only 'big' purchase necessary, and we can sell on trade me again once J no longer wants to walk... its such a nice pram... wheres a fairy godmother or a winning lotto ticket when you need one? ;)

The other half of my wishlist, a gorgeous set from Pumpkin Patch, have been hunting every store, outlet and the website, but the AIO with feet seems to be sold out everywhere! (for anyone with a PP store nearby, its the same pattern as the hat and overalls ;) )






Oh and the other number is a big one, 1950. To be more specific, thats the beta HCG level from the blood test on Friday morning. Right on the mark for the 4 weeks and 6 days I am pretty sure I was that day. And that is for an average SINGLETON pregnancy, just a pointer to the KIND person who decided to go with option 3: Other on my gender poll!! Shame on you :P

And it seems that my favourite self-saucing chocolate pudding is off the menu for now, someones not too keen on that either... so its not just chocolate, but anything remotely resembling chocolate is off-limits... nice. I'm sure my ass will be thanking this child later on, but right now I'm not! Still, for now I am still winning the battle of whether it stays or goes down the drain. With that in mind I shall keep my head held high, but not TOO high, projectile vomiting wouldnt be a good look.

Time for this incubator to get some sleep, something this wee dot DOES like, and in great abundance too, just a pity its big sister doesnt quite agree with that concept, but 3 molars cutting the gum in one go will do that to a kid!

Vampires and HPTs

So, the appointment went well. Turns out I cant have my old midwife as I now have 2 c-sections under my belt (oh and the fact that shes moving overseas may also have something to do with her not taking me on again) so a discussion was had with the GP to figure out what my other options are. Not too keen on going through hospital midwives as its a different midwife for almost every visit! But we have a solution, my GP is happy to act as my LMC, with a referral to the hospital obstetrician towards the end to get a date for my 3rd (and last!) c-section.

He even pulled out the old portable scanner to see if we could catch a glimpse of the wee dot but no luck, so I am booked in for a do-over in 2 weeks time. Once he has confirmed a foetus and a heartbeat, I will go for an official dating scan.

Surprisingly, with the absence of a visible foetus, he didnt once ask me to go and do a HPT, just took my word for it that i have '3 or 4' positive HPTs at home (the reality is there are 15!!) and then sent me off to the friendly neighbourhood vampires to get the usual ante-natal blood tests done.

Symptom spotting check...

Nausea is back, getting very close to the return of the vomiting, but have been able to hold off so far.
Reallly sore boobs, without anything even touching them. Needless to say, E has lost his toys, much to his disappointment, especially since they seem to have gotten biger overnight!
Cramps are still coming and going
And last one for today, sooo tired!

Will check back in when blood test results come back!

Baby brain already?

Note to self: Dont make doctors appointments for the afternoon! I was supposed to go in at 4.15pm, and right up until lunchtime I remembered, I remembered as I got home from doing groceries, I remembered as I put J in bed for a sleep, I even remembered when she woke up again. Then I forgot. It wasnt until a friend asked at 5pm how said appointment had gone that i realised my faux pas. Oops!

So, it goes without saying that my antenatal bloods havent been done yet, but never fear, waiting to hear back from the midwife I had with J and see if she'll take me on again, its barely been a year since she last saw me!

More proof

I think its safe to say I can pack/give away all remaining tests now!!


5 minutes


10 minutes (with progression)


Nausea is back, boobs still hurt, and we just had a fun walk around the supermarket with either dizzy spells, or moments of 'Iiiii'm gonna be sick... no I'm ok... or not...'

No actual vomiting (yet!) so we are good. and still pregnant!

P.S

It would seem that the 2nd of the month strikes again... it was at this exact point in my cycle I found out I was pregnant with #2 child, which just so happened to be the 2nd of the month (Oct)... the month prior was #1 childs first half-sister (via his father) arriving into the world(Sept), the month after was #1 childs newest cousin also arriving into the world (Nov)

It is now the second of the month, and, had i not done a sneaky early test, I would have found out today that I was once again, pregnant...

Wonder what next month will bring...

photographic evidence!

So, as promised, photographic evidence of #3 on the way...

Aaaaand just in case you cant see it...

Symptoms... right now, apart from the odd wave of mild nausea... are nil... no more excessive toilet stops, no more random dizzy spells... if it werent for the tests coming up darker, then I'd be a little worried!!

#1 child is at his Grandparents for the first half of school holidays, so for the next 10 days, its just me, E and #2 child (who is a grumpy little grot with teeth coming through faster than we can count them... but said grumpy little grot is full of smiles as soon as anyone ELSE looks at her!) so... comparitive peace and quiet? Hah, let me find some wood to touch before i say anything more...

The plan for now is to trot off to my GP next week to get the standard ante-natal blood tests done with a focus on my iron stores. #2 child caused a large amount of blood to be lost, so iron stores were a bit shaky for some time... Best get onto that in case it happens again! Once those come back, its time to find a midwife who will take me on despite having had 2 c-sections, and planning on a 3rd and last c-section... apparently willing midwives are scarce due to monetary issues...Will cross fingers and hope that my midwife from #2 child will take me on again since she already 'knows' me and my (for the most part) hassle free pregnancies.


Otherwise i will just keep trucking along... and peeing on more HPTs just to watch that second line get stronger each time!


Oh and just for those who will be asking every time (and for my own future reference as I am bound to forget how many weeks/days etc...

So it begins...again.

Well.. time for some math

Queasy stomach upon entering kitchen while food is cooking +
Random dizzy spells +
Frequent toilet pitstops +
The very same cramps that had me sure my period was arriving when in fact I was pregnant with child number 2

=

Number 3!

Here we go again!

Number 1 is a 6.5 year old boy (B), number 2 is a JUST turned 1 year old girl (J)

The test is extremely faint, so much so that I am having trouble recording it on camera, but bear with me another day or two and I will provide photographic evidence of a number 3 child on its way... and as the title suggests, this will be our last!