The Pink Kit and Poke/Kick

Today was a really big day, we went to an all day independent antenatal class/workshop. Wow was it good and well and truly worth every cent of the money that we paid. This might sound a bit airy fairy but it was to do with breathing, relaxation and helping to open up the pelvis during labour to assist the baby's birth and also understanding the physiology of what it happening to my body. It was based around the work of a woman by the name of Wintergreen (her whole name) who has created something called the The Pink Kit. We also learnt that Jochen has a really important role to play as my support, not just to sit and hold my hand, give encouraging words and a bit of a massage as I was previously thinking would happen. It will be Jochen's knowledge of me, how I deal with pain and his understanding my body language that will help him to know what I need to do, focus on, breathe through or relax that will be so essential. He will also help me to prepare my body beforehand with massage and stretches so that it is able to deal with the birth hopefully easier and quicker and to use those same techniques during the birth to help open up more room for the baby to travel through. It will be a real team effort and something that we will really be able to share together.

I was so scared of labour before this workshop, actually terrified is probably a better description, but I'm now feeling a lot more confident that we can do this without having lots of intervention, painkillers or an epidural. Jochen and I can do this together to help Ernie come into this world in the best way possible and if for some reason we do need some of that intervention I will know that we have done everything we could. It is nice not to feel so scared anymore, or at least in a more reasonable way. For the first time I actually believe that I can do this and that I will be able to manage the pain in a way that will not harm Ernie.

Anyway, on to Ernie. Our busy little kicker is still busy kicking. Some days it feels like she doesn't stop but I suppose it just depends on what I'm doing as to how much I notice it. Occasionally there has even been a slippery, slidey type feelings - very strange and quite weird. Even more interesting the game that Ernie and her father seem to have developed - a game which I have called poke/kick. A very simple game, with very simple rules - Jochen pokes me in the stomach, Ernie kicks me back. Fun for the whole family. Well those two anyway. Ernie really does seem to be responding to the poking and when you think about it she has done this since the first time I felt her move at 16 weeks. It's not so fun for me when Jochen decides to play this game in bed at night just before he goes to sleep, yes I do mean he. First he stirs her up, then he rolls over, goes to sleep and starts snoring. I'm left being seriously kicked for a good while afterwards and lay there tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable whilst attempting to block out the sledge hammer noises coming from Jochen's side of the bed. Apparently this is all just practice for the lack of sleep that I will have once she has arrived.

Have I mentioned how much I love my little girl lately.... well I do... and I really can't wait to meet her in another 13 weeks or so.

Whose been a bad girl then.....

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted anything for a while, especially as some of you have been a bit concerned about Ernie and I. Everything is absolutely fine. I've started some posts which just didn't get past the draft stage and then haven't been near the computer for ages and they were not finished. I will slowly update everything that has happened over the last few weeks though as I'm using these posts to create a book for Ernie to read when she is older and I don't really want there to be things missing.

Over the last few weeks I have tended to have one good day when I get out of the house and do things and then the next day I seem to fall in a heap and spend most of it on the couch recovering from all the previous days activity. Nothing major, just a bit tired and occasionally nauseous, I am however listening to my body and taking it easy when I need to.

I am really sorry that some of you have been worried though, your concern means a lot to me. I promise I'll try and make sure I get back on track and post far more regularly than I have lately.

25 Weeks and Away we Go.

So today I'm 25 Weeks and whilst I'm feeling so good we have decided to go away for the weekend. We are headed to the Daylesford area as neither of us have been there before. We haven't booked any accommodation but are going to wing it and see what we can find. We are also going to enjoy travelling in the new car.

As for the little Miss, this week -

• The structures of the spine begin to form - joints, ligaments and rings. These will protect the all important spinal cord which serves as the information transmitter for her body.
• Blood vessels in her lungs develop.
• Our baby's nostrils begin to open. There is a study out of Belfast that suggests babies at this stage have the capability of scent preferences!
• The nerves around the mouth and lip area are showing more sensitivity now. When she is rooting for food later on, these will be valuable!
• Her swallowing reflexes are developing.
• Her eyes should open very soon if they haven't already.
  
• Dexterity is improving. Our baby can make a fist and would be able to clasp objects placed in her palm.
  
• She has fully-formed fingernails and the toenails are coming along.
• Our baby's ears are fully functional now, and she may even blink in reaction to a loud noise.
  
• The brain is growing rapidly.
  
• Our little girl has now obtained an approximate length of 34.6cm from head to toe and weighs about 660gm.

As for me, I feel great. I love that I'm looking so pregnant - well I think I am anyway. I'm very proud of my little bump and all that is inside it. I love feeling her kick, even when she gives me a fright. My belly has been a little bit itchy - I think it is because of all of that stretching that it is doing. But apart from that, I can't really complain. I think I love being pregnant.

It's a new car......

Yesterday we got our new car.... Jochen let me be the one to drive it home from the dealership in Traralgon and I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.

It is absolutely wonderful and I love it already. I think Jochen and I will be fighting over who gets to drive it. I don't think I'm going to miss the WRX very much at all.

We have yet to try the second car seat in the back but I don't think it is going to be much of a problem. There seems to be plenty of room. Which is exactly what we wanted.

Slowly, Slowly, Bit by Bit - Week 23

So we have come to the 23 week mark and things are still going well - for both of us. Our little girl is getting bigger and is hopefully doing everything she should be doing. I know - I say that just about every week.

This week -

• The proportions of the body are now quite similar to a newborn although thinner since she hasn't begun to form body fat.
• The bones located in the middle ear harden.
• Our daughter is able to hear. (Low-frequency sounds mimicking a male voice penetrate the abdomen and uterine wall better than the higher frequencies of the female voice - so she will be hearing Jochen better than she will be hearing me.)
• The eyes are formed, though the iris still lacks pigmentation.
• The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. She has begun producing insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars.
• Our baby's lungs have begun to develop surfactant, a substance that will help her lungs to expand following birth and therefore be able to breathe.
  
• She now has REM (or rapid eye movement) patterns in her sleep, which indicates she may be dreaming! I wonder what she is dreaming about.
  
• Our baby can now rotate her head and could experience hiccups. Hiccups are caused by the sudden, irregular contractions of her immature diaphragm (the muscle that supports the lungs) and while she may have been be capable of sporadic hiccups as early as 12 weeks gestation, they are generally stronger and more rhythmic by this stage. So far I haven't felt any hiccups that I know of.
  
• If born now, our baby has a anywhere between a 2% - 15% chance of survival, her odds going up with each passing day.
  
• The average baby at this stage weighs about 501gm and is 28.9cm long from head to toe.

If you like a challenge, I found this Ultrasound Quiz where you have to work out if it is a boy or a girl or occasionally another piece of anatomy. I thought some of you might enjoy having a go as well. It does seem to take a while to load the pictures, so allow plenty of time.

On Monday afternoon we have our next appointment with our OB Dr. Simon which will be good and as per usual I'm looking forward to it. Then on Tuesday night I have the first of my antenatal classes which is physio. I'm not sure exactly what we will be talking about but it will be good to chat to other pregnant women, hopefully some of whom might be due around the same time as me.

On to a completely unrelated topic, last night I was getting such a kicking as I was trying to go to sleep that it was virtually impossible. Jochen was snoring away and I was just lying there coping a beating. I get the biggest kicks that she is gives me a fright quite often. I can only imagine what it will be like as she gets even bigger and stronger. But I have to admit I still love it, no matter how uncomfortable it may get.