My day has been made!

Andrew just made my day. I have been watching Groupon, Living Social and KGB Deals for 4D baby scan vouchers.... today, Andrew found one!! I bought it immediately since it was for the Baby Clinic on Harley Street. Harley Street is where all the fancy doctors are in London so I have high expectations. 

4D Scans are recommended from 24 to 32 weeks at most clinics. In my opinion, the later you go, the less chance your child looks like an alien and more chance she looks like she will when she comes out! A bonus is they also do a health check to make sure everything is looking good with the baby. I've been watching the videos of the scans on the different clinic websites and it's really amazing how much you can see! I just want to see what that little face is going to look like :)


With the deal, we get a 4D video of the scan and 8 3D color pics! I can't wait for April 11th! 

Example of 4D Scan and After Baby is Born

 

Is it June yet?

I've reached 24 weeks! The time is flying and going super slow at the same time. I feel like the weeks go by really fast, but 40 weeks still seems SO far away. I want my baby already! 


Good news: I got my baby shower invite in the mail today! My best friend Steph had them made and they are SO cute! The shower is at the end of March and thrown by the same wonderful ladies who through my bridal shower! I really can't wait to go home for it. It will be the last time I see all my family and friends before the baby gets here. It's amazing how much stuff you need for a baby! 


Since I will be going home, I used this as an opportunity to do some online shopping for myself on US sites so I can get it at my mom's! It's so much cheaper to do it that way, ESPECIALLY for maternity gear that you won't get to wear for too long. Andrew and I are thinking about going to a sunny destination in April, so I broke down and bought a pregnancy tankini because I don't have the nerve to wear a normal bikini.... there's just too much of me out there already, I can't imagine how much there will be in April! We shall see how this looks. I do not have high hopes. 


Old navy has been my favorite place to get maternity clothes. They are fairly cheap, have a lot of different choices and are a good quality. Can't wait to see what it all looks like in person! Clearly I am in need of some proper mama gear.

How far along? 24 Weeks

Total weight gain: 11 lbs (no weight gain this week)
Maternity clothes? Ordered some! Hopefully they will fit. Clothes in the pic are my normal clothes (that will clearly need to be retired after pregnancy).
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: OK. Starting to want to hibernate. I could sleep for days it feels like sometimes.
Best moment this week:  Having my favorite security guard at work, Steve, tell me that my "husband must be proud" of me because I look great! A few people have said pregnancy suits me :) Pretty nice compliments! 
Miss Anything? Candy. But that's probably because I gave it up for Lent. It's good for the baby right? I feel like a drug addict.. i REALLY am jonesin' for some gummies...
Movement: Yup!! Especially when I'm hungry this week...like a little reminder to eat something!
Food cravings: Oatmeal cookies... made (and ate!) a batch this week and it was glorious.
Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of fish...It was fish n' chips day in the Canteen. gross. 

Gender: Baby girl
Labor Signs: No.
Symptoms: Just tired and SUPER grumpy when I'm hungry. Literally I will snap your head off and then cry when I go too long without eating. And then I feel really bad about it. Also some round ligament pain if I stand up too quickly.
Belly Button in or out? In. Barely.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Very very happy :) I can visualise actually having the baby in my arms. I'm getting there!
Looking forward to:  Going home for the baby shower. I really need a break and what better break is there than to be with family and friends!

The Name Game

Naming baby girl JVM is becoming a difficult task. There are SO many names out there that I thought I LOVED, but the thought of MY little girl having one of these names as they roll off my tongue has me thinking again. 

I want something unique and special (as most moms probably do) but it's becoming increasingly difficult A) to find one, B) to get Andrew on board! I refuse to be ordinary.

I've ordered a book that I have high hopes for as it got stellar reviews from other readers, that it will give me some clear direction on where I should go with a name. Andrew really wants a name that works in both French and English. I don't see why all names wouldn't work in both, but I am not a Native French speaker so perhaps some are a little harder to pronounce than others.

It's a lot of pressure choosing your baby's name! I am open to suggestions should anyone want to put in their two cents :) 

 

Valentine Love

This year Andrew and I spent Valentine's Day apart. He had to travel to the States for work - it was either Valentine week OR a week towards the end of May when I am going to be 8+ months pregnant! We decided this was the better option. 

Upon his return, I was given the CUTEST Valentine gift... Baby Girl's first swimsuit! We are hoping to go to the south of France in August to spend sometime with family, so she will need a little something something to wear. The icing on the cake is that it's also 50 SPF! I really can't wait to put her in this :)

Other than that, I've been feeling really good these last couple weeks. I'm REALLY starting to feel Baby Girl move now. Sometimes she even kicks hard enough to feel from the outside! Andrew has only felt her once and that was last night. She already has a flair for the dramatics... will kick kick kick and then when Andrew goes to feel, she stops! 

Here's my latest update: 

How far along? 23 Weeks

Total weight gain: 11 lbs
Maternity clothes? Clearly I am in need of more pregnancy clothes... my regular clothes are about to burst!! I am currently looking for a baby shower dress.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: OK. I just got a body pillow which makes a WORLD of difference :)
Best moment this week:  Feeling baby girl kick from the outside!
Miss Anything? Champagne. I've been drinking sparkling water with a touch of apple juice to feel like I'm drinking something fun...
Movement: Yup!! She's definitely most active in the evenings - right after dinner. She's like her mama - food makes her happy :)
Food cravings: Nothing special
Anything making you queasy or sick: I'm having a bit of an issue with ground beef at the moment. No chocolate for me.
Gender: Baby girl
Labor Signs: No.
Symptoms: Just tired and easily out of breath!
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Very very happy :)
Looking forward to:  A 4D scan. This is my new obsession and I'm just now reaching the window of possibility for this. Still doing my research.

On the Move!

Baby Girl is on the move! I am feeling her more and more! For awhile there I wasn't sure if it was air moving around or her, but now I am able to tell when it's her now :) It's such a weird feeling - like someone taking their finger and pressing on me quickly from the inside. Or like she is doing flip turns (like in swimming). It's not much of a poke like I thought it would be.

All the movement is in my lower abdomen and mostly in the evenings after dinner, probably because that's the only time I am sitting still! Although, I did feel her a bit during lunch today. Maybe she just likes when I eat! What a little fatty :)

Pram Problems

On the weekends, we try to get me out and walking since my exercise regime is quite pathetic these days due to the fact that I am extremely out of breath after walking up a small flight of stairs. Because the temperature has been in the 30s all week, today we chose to do some walking around Westfield mall! Andrew and I used this as an opportunity to do some baby gear recon.  

Mamas & Papas is a glitzy baby store in London so we started there. Our main mission was to check out strollers (or Prams as the Londoners say) to see if we could find something lightweight, since we don't have a car and will be using the tube and buses a lot, and versatile, since they are quite pricey over here and so we'd like it to last as long as possible! 

Urbo

After looking at a few of their massive selection, we enlisted the help of a salesgirl. Andrew explained our situation and the girl said there were two clear front runners for our reqs. 

Urbo with Carry Cot

The first one was the Urbo. Weighing in at the amazingly low weight of 9 kg, this is the lightest option we have found out there. The standard seat it comes with can be used from birth (as it lays completely flat) to 3 years old! There is also a Carry Cot option you can purchase which suits baby from birth to 6 months. The perks of this option is if you get the overnight mattress, baby can actually sleep in this like a moses basket which might be an interesting option for travel. Both seats switch in and out with ease and can face mama or outwards. The frame folds into a reasonably small size, but would be hard to manage on my own if I needed to fold it for stairs or anything like that. But then again, I think I would have a hard time managing a stroller on the stairs with a baby at the same time regardless! 

Sola

Option 2 was the Sola. Basically all the same features and the Urbo, but the frame is a tiny bit bigger (yet the whole thing still only weighs 10 kgs) and the pushbar adjusts so it can be a bit higher than the Urbo which might be nice for Andrew. 

Sola with Carry Cot

Andrew and I both really like the Urbo a bit more than the Sola, but both are a bit pricey so we will do the same exercise at John Lewis to make sure we know what ALL the options are before we commit to "the one." 

Choosing Baby gear is overwhelming to say the least. There is just so much stuff out there. There's no way you need it all right? Decisions, Decisions!

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!