It's a Girl!

It's Official, I'm half way there and Baby JVM is a sweet little GIRL! Today I had my Second Scan on the Antenatal care schedule called the Anomaly Scan where they check for all these horrible defects and issues within the baby. I read about all the defects last night and literally did not sleep because I was having dreams that my baby was missing pieces of her! It was awful... 

20 weeks

But baby girl is completely whole! She was sleeping during our scan today and she is already beautiful. Her brain looks great, her heart looks great, there are 2 kidneys, her stomach is in the right place, her spine is good, lips are good, legs and arms measured well and we could literally see her fingers on each hand! It was absolutely amazing. Because everything appeared to be so great, this will be my last official scan until the baby comes (although we are thinking about doing the 3D scan so we can see what her little face is looking like!). 


Baby Girl also got her first gifts today :) My good friend Harry bought her a little pink "coming home" outfit that says "welcome to the world" as well as several other really nice things that she will look precious in! 


The best part of today is that everything looks great. I can wait to have her in my arms! 

How far along? 20 Weeks

Total weight gain: 7 lbs
Maternity clothes? The clothes in the pic are my regular ones, but they are clearly reaching their limits!! I bought a few more tops today and could use a good pair of maternity jeans...maybe I'll find some this weekend :)
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: Awful. Sleeping on your side is hard! Plus I have REALLY vivid dreams that freak me out and wake me up.
Best moment this week: Having the scan today and knowing that she is
Miss Anything? White Chocolate. I LOVE it, but my pregnancy hormones are being spiteful and I can no longer stand the taste. Vino... i REALLY could go for a glass of red wine today.
Movement: I'm pretty sure I felt a couple of flops in there today! I know where the baby is sitting now so I've been obsessing over any feelings in that area. I hope they get a bit stronger!
Food cravings: Cheese. Anything with cheese on it.
Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of the Canteen at work makes me a bit queasy but nothing else specifically.
Gender: Girl! Found out today!
Labor Signs: No.
Symptoms: Indigestion, a few round ligament pains, fibroid pain
Belly Button in or out? Still an innie, but is looking even more distressed - distressed enough to see it's distressed through two layers of shirts!
Wedding rings on or off? on still
Happy or Moody most of the time: Very very happy :)
Looking forward to: Growing more and feeling that first strong kick. I want baby girl to move around!

Ewww! That Tastes Gross

In my almost 20 weeks of Pregnancy, still one of the weirdest phenomenons is that my taste buds change. Food literally tastes different than it usually does and those tastes don't stay consistent.

The first 12 weeks - I could BARELY choke down a veggie yet I lived on salads before then. Now I'm back on the veggies for the most part but can't even take the smell of Coleslaw... which I couldn't get enough of a month ago (of course opting for the mass produced kind to ensure ultra pasteurization). This came as quite the shock/disappointment to me when I picked up my favorite Sony Sandwich yesterday at lunch - Ham, cheddar and coleslaw. Gotta love the Brit staples! 
 
I have only gained 6 pounds so far and I'm supposed to gain AT LEAST 25 during the pregnancy. I know being super sick for a week really set me back, but I am taking the opportunity to sneak a little treat every now and then. So yesterday, I noticed the Canteen started selling Hershey's cookie and cream bars! It's very rare to find any candy over here that's the same as home and these used to be my fav candy bar of all time, so I thought why not? I go to enjoy it last night only to discover it was one of the most disgusting tastes I've ever had in my mouth! This was seriously depressing because white chocolate is my of my most favorite things ever... What is up with this kid?!

Eating for Two is Hard!!

Lunch!

There are A LOT of food restrictions while you are pregnant. They have drastically changed what is on the menu in our JVM household and eating out is nearly impossible! Nothing unpasteurized touches these lips (how I miss you Parmesan cheese and feta)and my steaks...WELL done. It's such a crime. It's amazing how many things can affect poor little growing JVM... here's a quick summary (Compliments of BabyCenter.com): 

• Eggs: undercooked eggs can contain bacteria so it's suggested I cook my eggs myself! That also means no homemade Mayo or Caesar dressing too! 
• Meat: No raw or undercooked meat. No deli or cured meats (for fear for listeriosis and toxoplasmosis). No Liver or pate because too much Vitamin A can cause birth defects. 
• Fish: No more than two portions a week of oily fish or shellfish (with low mercury levels) because of environmental pollutant factors. Shark, swordfish and marlin are completely off limits because of their mercury levels and tuna should be kept at super bare minimum for the same reasons. All shellfish I am supposed to cook myself to ensure it's been cooked properly! And obviously no sushi because raw seafood can cause food poisoning... I really miss the sushi.
• Caffeine: Experts recommend avoiding all together because it crossed the placenta and babies can't process it. It also is linked to miscarriage. At the bare minimum, I'm allowed 200 mg a day. That's like 2 tall lattes at Starbucks (I've checked!). I switched to decaf when I crave a little Starbucks action. Oh and guess what, Chocolate has caffeine in it too! 

Luckily during the pregnancy I haven't had much of a sweet tooth which seriously disturbs those who know me. Guess the body knows what it needs to grow a tiny human! 


Over the weekend, Andrew and I took a stroll around Kensington High Street and stumbled upon a cute little organic cafe. The YUMMY lunch we had there inspired lunch today. I made a yummy Red Pepper & Tomato Soup and then the Sandwiches are toasted with Olive tapanade, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and hard goats cheese (pasteurized, I checked!!). I guess not all good things are lost even with all the restrictions. 


I'm hoping by me following these rules that Baby JVM is nice and healthy :)
  

Growth Spurt - Dramatically made 19 Weeks

I do not have an 18 week picture because I spent nearly ALL of week 18 in the Hospital. The Wednesday I hit 18 weeks, I started having consistent lower abdomen pain. It was dull at first, and then slowly started getting more intense with sharp bursts of really severe pain. A call to the midwives and I was advised to go to A&E (the Emergency Room) to have it checked out. 

After a few hours in the ER, it was determined that the pregnancy looked OK, but the pain was an issue since it was presenting mostly on the right side. Because I am pregnant I am unable to have many of the normal tests that would exclude appendicitis, so it is recommended that I am admitted for observation. 

18 weeks

The pain was awful for the next three days. Paracetamol with a little codeine was all I was allowed initially for pain management. And it didn't do much. I did finally get a scan that let me see the baby was OK (and stretching all over). I still haven't felt the little one yet so I am definitely looking forward to that first unmistakable kick. They were also able to tell that my Fibroid had grown quite large - 7 cm now. When I push on my stomach, I can feel its mass... pretty gross! Apparently that's what's causing a lot of the pain. 


I finally got released Friday night from the hospital around 10 PM.  We were supposed to be leaving for Paris Saturday morning to celebrate Dea's (Andrew's Step-mom) birthday in Paris with Andrew's family, but with my scare, there was going to be no traveling for me. So instead of a beautiful weekend in Paris, my lovely in laws came to visit me instead! I was really, really touched to have them come. It meant a lot to me. But I felt even MORE awful for ruining their nice weekend. 

I was in quarantine for a bit..

Unfortunately I didn't get to spend much time with them because a condition of my release from Hospital was to immediately come back if my pain got worse or I started throwing up. By 5 PM on Saturday, my pain got worse and I of course started throwing up. So back into the hospital for me and I experienced one of the most AWFUL nights of my life. Let's just say I was up all night being sick - one way or another - non stop. I was quarantined and kept on fluids for the next 3 days... I've never felt so sick in my life. No more scans to check on the baby, but I did get to hear the fetal heartbeat each day so I know at least that was going strong still. This is going to be one tough little cookie! 


I wasn't really able to eat ANYTHING without feeling awful, but all the retching seemed to resolve most of my pain issues so at least that was a plus. The big minus - still not being able to eat all of Monday and feeling super sick and weak. But I did get cleared to go home on Monday night to recover in peace. I am so lucky that I have a wonderful hubby that visited EVERY day I was in the Hospital and brought me little luxuries of home :)

It's now Saturday - nearly a week later - and it's honestly the FIRST day in almost two weeks that I feel almost normal and can eat a real meal. 


All that sickness didn't stop Baby JVM from growing though!! I'm getting super big! 


I saw this really cute blog (compliments of my new pinterest) and so I am going to do the same little updates :) 

How far along? 19 Weeks

Total weight gain: 6 lbs (I was up 10 pounds at week 18 but I'm thinking my week of the Stomach Flu set me back a bit..)
Maternity clothes? Absolutely - i LOVE my maternity leggings. My normal jeans have been collecting dust for a few months now. Just bought a bunch of "roomier" tops on Thursday to help accommodate the growing bump!
Stretch marks? no - keeping my fingers crossed! I use a coco butter stick every night.
Sleep: Haven't slept well in weeks because I am a native tummy sleeper. I can sometimes find a nice spot on my side, but it's becoming more and more necessary to buy a body pillow!
Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat and not feeling sick anymore!
Miss Anything? cheese... feta, Parmesan, you name it, I miss it. Blast you Europe for not Pasteurizing! It's like Christmas if I can find a hard cheese that says it's made from Pasteurized milk!
Movement: still waiting patiently...
Food cravings: I have had more aversions than cravings... right now, biscuits and jam (not the English definition of biscuits, buttermilk flaky biscuits).
Anything making you queasy or sick: super sensitive to smells. Avoiding fish like the plague... veggies are a bit hard to get down.
Gender: Finding out on Feb 2nd!
Labor Signs: No ..thank god. The lower abdomen pains were scary enough!
Symptoms: Acid refulx, indigestion... growing & fibroid pains.
Belly Button in or out? Still an innie, but is looking rather distressed and horribly unattractive (if there is even such a thing as an attractive belly button).
Wedding rings on or off? on..barely.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! At least now that I'm feeling better :) Very happy in fact.
Looking forward to: My scan on Thursday. I really would like to know that everything is developing correctly and that there's no reason I can't expect to have a healthy baby!! I also will know what we are having which I am SUPER pumped about too. It's off-putting calling your baby "it".

Catching Up on Baby JVM

12 Weeks

I'm Back! After 10 weeks of feeling hungover, a few weeks in the States for Christmas, Hospital Stay #1 for a baby scare and then Hospital Stay #2 for an alleged Stomach Flu immediately after, we have successfully reached 19 weeks of Pregnancy! 

The Dating and Screening scan we had in December showed that again we were a little further along that we thought. Baby JVM's due was moved up a few more days to fall on June 20, 2012. The ultrasound technicians were also able to deduce that everything was developing as it should..WHEW!! The test did show that I had a couple fibroids, which at the time, didn't concern me. One was 5 cm and one was 1 cm. 

17 Weeks

I started showing really early. By 12 weeks I had the "did you eat a big dinner?" belly and by 14 weeks, at least in my eyes, I had a definite "bump." 

I tried to be super stealth and keep it from my work colleagues since the majority of my family and friends back home didn't even know. Baggy shirts and dresses were my trick, but literally 3 days before I was due to fly home we were out for leaving drinks for one of our guys and Baha asks me "so do you think you'll have kids soon" (after our other co-worker was talking about his baby that was due in a month). What was I supposed to say other than "Yea, I am going to have kids soon." LOL. That's when Nick looked over and said "Are we not meant to know you're pregnant?" Guess that cat was out of the bag!! Again, my not drinking "in ages" really just blows any cover you think you have. 

But it was really fun telling all my family when I got home and having everyone speculating what I was going to have. I think the count is boy: 8, girl: 1. I don't know how you would know one way or the other. From all the old wives tales I read about, my gut led me to start thinking it was a girl, but all these boys votes started seriously swaying my thinking...so much so that I started looking at boy names only! Andrew refuses to talk baby names until we know what we are having. What a buzz kill!

Christmas flew by and we were back in the UK and before I was back to work, I had my 16 weeks check up with the midwives. I have to say, i LOVE my midwives. They have to see a million pregnant women in a week but they make you feel special and get excited about YOUR baby. 

Once I hit 12 weeks, there were no traces of morning sickness. I literally felt completely normal, just a bit fatter (I couldn't wear my normal pants from week 10... they just wouldn't button anymore!). Because I felt fine, I started wondering how I was supposed to know my baby was OK! But at the 16 weeks check up the midwife was able to fine the Baby's heartbeat in a matter of seconds and it was nice and strong! 152 bpm. 

A few days later I was back at work in full force. I've been plugging along and growing ever since! Grow grow grow baby! I find out on Thursday what we are having and again, if everything is going along A OK. 

Houston, We see a Baby!

In the UK, your Antenatal Care is handled by your Hospital. To get a referral to the Hospital, you start with the GP. The Hospital will then post you an appointment. 

Well, it was going on two weeks from my referral appointment with the GP and I hadn't heard anything so I took matters into my own hands and called the hospital directly. The Antenatal Ward at Chelsea Westminster Hospital was super nice and booked me my Dating and Screening Scan for December 5th. They also informed me that because I had miscarried in the past (plus being unsure of how far along I was) I was entitled to an early scan at the Early Pregnancy Unit. This was made for 11/11/11. 

Andrew ducked out in between meetings to come with me. When we walked into the room, the same doctor from before saw me and said, "Wow! That was fast. You guys are really fertile!" 

There was a new doctor starting at the clinic and I'm pretty sure I was his first scan as the Doc I had met before kept saying thing like, "OK, what do you do now..." and "What else should you be looking for.." But the second he started scanning, they turned the screen towards me to show me my baby and it's little heart was beating!! And beating strongly! Everything looked good. 

They also told me at this time, I was 7 weeks and 4 days... about two weeks further along than I thought! That puts me currently at a June 25th Due Date, well, to be confirmed on December 5th! 

We're SOOOOO Happy with this news! 

Staying Positive

A good sign of a pregnancy moving along? Morning sickness! I have horrible, horrible nausea. I have to eat all the time to keep it at bay. I'm not really complaining because I definitely seem to always be hungry. It's at its worse from about 10 AM until 4 PM.

I think I'm probably almost 5 weeks along. This time around, I can't even wear my normal jeans if they don't have any stretch in them. I think I am going to have to break down and buy the Belly Belt that allows you to keep wearing your normal pants, just not buttoned. I don't know if I'm bloated or starting to show already, but the pants aren't happening and I've only gained about a pound and a half with all the extra food I've been eating. 

I'm trying my best to stay calm and healthy and not to worry that I may miscarry again. I've started going to church regularly and that has really helped me to stay grounded. I prayed for this baby and I feel like God has answered my prayers and that He will help keep everyone safe and healthy. 

I also joined the Fitness First gym by work because everything I'm reading (plus talking to my GP) says that exercise is really good for your pregnancy - shorter deliveries and helping your body bounce back. I had a lovely trainer Andrew who kicked my butt! 

I have all these really good signs around me... I feel really good about this pregnancy :)