Hadn't felt the baby move for a few days so we got a littl worried. Cat was given an immediate appointment at the hospital and the scan showed everything was fine. The baby does still move and kick quite a bit but as she is kicking the placenta and not the tummy wall, Cat can't feel it, and not can I. Reassuring anyway.
Damn pram still not arrived at the store.
The books often explain about the sleepless nigths due to restless sleep, or frequent loo breaks, but one thing Cat has recently been doing is waking up feeling massively hungry. Typically it will be around 5am and she'll jump out of bed, noisely raid the kitchen for biscuits or cornflakes which she then takes back to crunch away in the bed. I in the meantime have fullen woken by now.
Mum is doing acupuncture on Cat now. She reckons that it will ease the labour.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Cat now enters the next chapter of her pregnancy and has just left
work to go on maternity leave. This is a full four weeks before the
due date, but she thought, with the eternal struggle of commuting
and the fact that she has plenty of holiday leave she has to take,
why not?
Today’s antenatal check up revealed that everything was normal
and the little one is now 3/5th engaged into the pelvis. My active
imagination immediately starts to picture a mole like creature
burrowing her head deeper into the sand. The midwife confirmed
yet again that the baby IS normal sized for her development –
despite the fact that Cat has the smallest pregnant bump anyone has
ever seen. Compact seems to be the universal comment from
everyone.
Buggypram thing still not arrived at the pram shop. Why does it
have to take so long? I ring up for the third time – I’m not sure they
know how to handle customers on the phone, all this new
technology seems all a bit scary to them. Heaven forbid they might
actually have email one day. Anyway, we quench our thirst for baby
goods by buying yet more essential items from Mothercare World.
That Edmonton retail park boasts some of the highest concentration
of warehouse retail outlets in London, including Ikea, which we
also went and spent all our money in.
All seems so calm and quiet, guess we better make the most of it
while it lasts.
work to go on maternity leave. This is a full four weeks before the
due date, but she thought, with the eternal struggle of commuting
and the fact that she has plenty of holiday leave she has to take,
why not?
Today’s antenatal check up revealed that everything was normal
and the little one is now 3/5th engaged into the pelvis. My active
imagination immediately starts to picture a mole like creature
burrowing her head deeper into the sand. The midwife confirmed
yet again that the baby IS normal sized for her development –
despite the fact that Cat has the smallest pregnant bump anyone has
ever seen. Compact seems to be the universal comment from
everyone.
Buggypram thing still not arrived at the pram shop. Why does it
have to take so long? I ring up for the third time – I’m not sure they
know how to handle customers on the phone, all this new
technology seems all a bit scary to them. Heaven forbid they might
actually have email one day. Anyway, we quench our thirst for baby
goods by buying yet more essential items from Mothercare World.
That Edmonton retail park boasts some of the highest concentration
of warehouse retail outlets in London, including Ikea, which we
also went and spent all our money in.
All seems so calm and quiet, guess we better make the most of it
while it lasts.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
nappy rush
We suddenly felt the urge to learn how to put on a nappy. So, with a freshly bought pack of newborn baby naps and a handy gorilla toy, we tried out our first dummy run.First problem - which way round does it go?Luckily, this did not stump us too long as the nappy is contoured to fit a baby's anatomy so it was obvious the more generous portion of the fold belonged to the behind side of the bottom.Second problem, how do we undo the sticky tabs? We were picking and peeling away for ages when all it needed was a swift pull of the whole tab to unfurl the bits needed. We felt a little dumb.The rest was plain sailing, mainly cos our toy gorilla did not put up much of a fight and we stuck the nappy on in one go. Easy. The only prob was that one of the sticky tab is now stuck partially to the gorilla fur and I fear baldness should it be removed. so, there it remains.
Our next task is to learn to clean the poo. An empty icing dispenser and choclate flavoured toothpaste are our props. We'll le tyou know how we go.
Our next task is to learn to clean the poo. An empty icing dispenser and choclate flavoured toothpaste are our props. We'll le tyou know how we go.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Fretting
Cat was fretting last night, anxious about the impending day of labour. She was most fearful about the docs and midwives doing things to her without her knowledge or consent. Things that could damage her SPD hips so she may never walk again. I think this was sparked off by our antenatal class about inductions and forceps delivery. The midwives showed fairly graphically what the procedures involved and the images have clearly stuck in Cat’s head for a while.
I guess this is at the stage where most mums to be experience strong feelings of anxiety and doubts. My few words of support didn’t seem to help much but after this morning’s appointment with the antenatal clinic her concerns were answered by the consultant doctor himself! A real privilege since he is usually ‘unavailable’. He reassured her that nothing was done without Cat’s consent but he offered her an extra appointment with the antenatal physio to determine Cat’s hip details on record. The midwife palpated cat’s belly and confirmed that all was well. In fact the baby was already beginning to descend her head lower into the pelvis and was the correct way up – ie down. It is unlikely that she will then change her position and enter into a breech position. Positive news at least.
I guess this is at the stage where most mums to be experience strong feelings of anxiety and doubts. My few words of support didn’t seem to help much but after this morning’s appointment with the antenatal clinic her concerns were answered by the consultant doctor himself! A real privilege since he is usually ‘unavailable’. He reassured her that nothing was done without Cat’s consent but he offered her an extra appointment with the antenatal physio to determine Cat’s hip details on record. The midwife palpated cat’s belly and confirmed that all was well. In fact the baby was already beginning to descend her head lower into the pelvis and was the correct way up – ie down. It is unlikely that she will then change her position and enter into a breech position. Positive news at least.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Kompakt
Compact - that's the word the midwife used to describe Cat's belly. As you can see here:
I personally wonder if the staff at Asdachav will think she is nicking a watermelon under her jumper.
I personally wonder if the staff at Asdachav will think she is nicking a watermelon under her jumper.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
13 September 2005
A busy baby weekend for us - we had the second of our designated four antenatal classes – this time about pain relief. The options are varied, from nothing, to gas and air, to pethadine to the dread edepidural. Damn! You should see the size of that needle. It is huge! Cat saw it, rushed to the loo, and feinted. She is not a big fan of needles but the sight of that one would have hardened men crying.The midwife knocked down assumptions that it was bad for the back etc. She stated that epidurals in themselves were painless when administered and not bad for you. Unfortunately, the not being able to walk for 10 hours was the cause of back pain afterwards. In any case, Cat instantly dismissed the thought of an epi.
Later on we went pram shopping. Like shopping for a car, buying apram is a considered affair with many visits to various‘showrooms’ and testing out, plus discussion of relevant merits ofdifferent models. In the end we found the model we liked in a littleshop on Chrisp Street Market, near Docklands. The Jane Carrera could fold into something like the size of a golfing umbrella yet could hold all manner of attachments and seating options. And, like a true vehicle purchase, the deciding factor for us was the colour –a deep Mediterranean red that we instantly fell in love with.Finally, after a busy weekend, we sat down to relax – until Cat noticed that her breasts were secreting a clear fluid. Oh my God surely the milk hasn’t arrived already??? We scanned our various pregnancy books for an answer and sure enough, described in medical detail, this was in fact very normal and quite expected at this point in the term. So that was a relief.
A busy baby weekend for us - we had the second of our designated four antenatal classes – this time about pain relief. The options are varied, from nothing, to gas and air, to pethadine to the dread edepidural. Damn! You should see the size of that needle. It is huge! Cat saw it, rushed to the loo, and feinted. She is not a big fan of needles but the sight of that one would have hardened men crying.The midwife knocked down assumptions that it was bad for the back etc. She stated that epidurals in themselves were painless when administered and not bad for you. Unfortunately, the not being able to walk for 10 hours was the cause of back pain afterwards. In any case, Cat instantly dismissed the thought of an epi.
Later on we went pram shopping. Like shopping for a car, buying apram is a considered affair with many visits to various‘showrooms’ and testing out, plus discussion of relevant merits ofdifferent models. In the end we found the model we liked in a littleshop on Chrisp Street Market, near Docklands. The Jane Carrera could fold into something like the size of a golfing umbrella yet could hold all manner of attachments and seating options. And, like a true vehicle purchase, the deciding factor for us was the colour –a deep Mediterranean red that we instantly fell in love with.Finally, after a busy weekend, we sat down to relax – until Cat noticed that her breasts were secreting a clear fluid. Oh my God surely the milk hasn’t arrived already??? We scanned our various pregnancy books for an answer and sure enough, described in medical detail, this was in fact very normal and quite expected at this point in the term. So that was a relief.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Back to School
Cat and I attended our first antenatal class today. At 10.30am about a dozen nervous looking first-time parents-to-be shuffled into the room and sat down - as far away as possible from the midwife, well until the only seats left were those right next to her. Of course since we were late, we sat right next to her.
Her, was a midwife who spoke in plain terms the various things to expect during labour. It seems that no mater how much you read inbooks or listen from anecdotal stories, hearing the 'facts' about labour and birth from a woman who does this for a living is quite stark. Cat and I left the class with a strange feeling of, how can I put it nicely, I can't - we started shitting ourselves!
Maybe we were living in LaLa Land but it seems Cat and I were kind of mentally putting off thinking about the actual birth process. We often talk about what it's like to have a baby and how we should buy this and that, but for the past 7 months, the birth bit was deep in the denial part of our brains. It seems we were not alone in this as a casual chat to some of the others who attended showed up similar feelings. But, now that we were firmly brought forward to reality, we realised tat we really should start thinking about the birth process now. ie what pain relief to go for, whether a birthing pool is a good idea (it is) and what items to bring to the ward.
During the class, we were given a tour of the birthing unit. It was quiet, for a change, and very clean and functional. What was striking was that the midwife said that a low-risk normal birth means the mother gets dismissed after just six hours from birth. In the old days they kept you in for days! These days, I guess there is always another person to fill your slot.
Since we were both on a weird reality check frame of mind, we both headed straight for Mothercare and immediately started investigating prams. Of course Cat homed in straight away on the very expensive 3-1 travel stroller made by Italian firm Inglesina. Not as posh as a Quinny, but pretty up there. I have managed to persuade her that buying one off Ebay may help shave off a few pounds. We'll see.
A couple of things the midwife did say. One, that although labour and birth is painful, it is only one day in your whole life. The other thing we noted, and what probably sparked off our reality check, was that contractions could begin as early as 37 weeks. Since Cat is already 30 weeks, that really is a very short space of time away.
Her, was a midwife who spoke in plain terms the various things to expect during labour. It seems that no mater how much you read inbooks or listen from anecdotal stories, hearing the 'facts' about labour and birth from a woman who does this for a living is quite stark. Cat and I left the class with a strange feeling of, how can I put it nicely, I can't - we started shitting ourselves!
Maybe we were living in LaLa Land but it seems Cat and I were kind of mentally putting off thinking about the actual birth process. We often talk about what it's like to have a baby and how we should buy this and that, but for the past 7 months, the birth bit was deep in the denial part of our brains. It seems we were not alone in this as a casual chat to some of the others who attended showed up similar feelings. But, now that we were firmly brought forward to reality, we realised tat we really should start thinking about the birth process now. ie what pain relief to go for, whether a birthing pool is a good idea (it is) and what items to bring to the ward.
During the class, we were given a tour of the birthing unit. It was quiet, for a change, and very clean and functional. What was striking was that the midwife said that a low-risk normal birth means the mother gets dismissed after just six hours from birth. In the old days they kept you in for days! These days, I guess there is always another person to fill your slot.
Since we were both on a weird reality check frame of mind, we both headed straight for Mothercare and immediately started investigating prams. Of course Cat homed in straight away on the very expensive 3-1 travel stroller made by Italian firm Inglesina. Not as posh as a Quinny, but pretty up there. I have managed to persuade her that buying one off Ebay may help shave off a few pounds. We'll see.
A couple of things the midwife did say. One, that although labour and birth is painful, it is only one day in your whole life. The other thing we noted, and what probably sparked off our reality check, was that contractions could begin as early as 37 weeks. Since Cat is already 30 weeks, that really is a very short space of time away.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Tone deaf
I have discovered a new trick. The baby kicks in response to my singing. Probably to tell me to shut up. It began when Cat encouraged me to talk to the baby through her belly. So I put my mouth on the belly and began talking. Nothing happened, I got bored and hummed some inane tune, can't remember what but it was whatever was on the radio this morning - lo and behold, a hefty kick in my cheek. I continued with a medley of 80's hits and she responded with more thumps.
So far she seems to like songs that go up and down in scale rather more than long slow bluesy type songs. With this in mind, If I was a rich man, tends to get a response, but True by Spandau Ballet gets nadda. Any ABBA is warmly received, but silence on Elton John. I will begin to hum my more heavier classics such as Smoke on Water later, but right now, Cat can take no more of my tone deaf warblings.
So far she seems to like songs that go up and down in scale rather more than long slow bluesy type songs. With this in mind, If I was a rich man, tends to get a response, but True by Spandau Ballet gets nadda. Any ABBA is warmly received, but silence on Elton John. I will begin to hum my more heavier classics such as Smoke on Water later, but right now, Cat can take no more of my tone deaf warblings.
Monday, August 08, 2005
26 weeks
Cat is one of the easiest people to draw a cartoon of. With her big smile, super curly hair and now, big tummy, I can't resist a cheeky sketch:
She just had her 26 week check up with the midwife today. All seems normal. Even the fact that she hasn't put on any weight. The midwife says they do not take into account body weight to check baby growth these days - it is all down to fundus size, which is measured directly over the tum.
We also got given a list of antenatal classes run by various midwives - which are four sessions covering basic relaxation, pain relief and tour of maternity unit. Sounds fairly ok to me as we wanted to do at least a minimum of antenatal classes, but we both didn't seem too keen on the full NCT 10 week course.
Well, the big day is drawing ever nearer and there is an increasing awareness from both of us to at least be seen to be preparing. So our name list is getting shorter, and our scan through the Mothercare catalogue is more earnest. But that's about the sum of our preparation so far.
I am sure there are couples out there who have already decked out their nursery and bought a zillion babyware. Not us, well, not yet.
On the issue of names, it seems that to satisfy both our personal favourites, we are now considering double barrelling the first name. Some combinations sound really nice - although a tad Southern Belle: eg Jamie-Lee or Anna-May (these not actual shortlist contenders).
We probably won't know what to name her until she arrives.
She just had her 26 week check up with the midwife today. All seems normal. Even the fact that she hasn't put on any weight. The midwife says they do not take into account body weight to check baby growth these days - it is all down to fundus size, which is measured directly over the tum.
We also got given a list of antenatal classes run by various midwives - which are four sessions covering basic relaxation, pain relief and tour of maternity unit. Sounds fairly ok to me as we wanted to do at least a minimum of antenatal classes, but we both didn't seem too keen on the full NCT 10 week course.
Well, the big day is drawing ever nearer and there is an increasing awareness from both of us to at least be seen to be preparing. So our name list is getting shorter, and our scan through the Mothercare catalogue is more earnest. But that's about the sum of our preparation so far.
I am sure there are couples out there who have already decked out their nursery and bought a zillion babyware. Not us, well, not yet.
On the issue of names, it seems that to satisfy both our personal favourites, we are now considering double barrelling the first name. Some combinations sound really nice - although a tad Southern Belle: eg Jamie-Lee or Anna-May (these not actual shortlist contenders).
We probably won't know what to name her until she arrives.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Mini-Cat-Phooey
The little one is kicking with real power now. When Cat is at rest, if you put your palm over her belly you usually don't have to wait more than a couple of minutes before you feel the characteristic rumppumpbump of multiple baby movements. At times, it is so strong that you can see the surface of her belly visibly move. I like to imagine her doing karate style air kicks and punches with a few Muay Thai style roundhouse elbows to boot.
There is an advert my Maltesers here in the UK in which a heavily pregnant women places said choccy item on her bellyonly for it to jump several inches into the air due to the baby kicking. I am not sure if that was set up or for real so I will definitely be trying that little experiment soon.
By popular request, I have finally uploaded the 20 week scan for all to see. It is not as clear as the 12 week on since she has obviously grown much bigger and I guess she moves around a lot, contributing to a fuzzy picture. But you can still see the head profile, belly, umbilical cord and internal organs.
Some have mentioned that the profile already looks like me, but I doubt that. People see what they want to see. It is a well known psychological phenomenon - for example seeing faces in clouds or fuzzy noise. The brain automatically interprets recognisable imagery out of chaos. Regardless of this - Cat and I still have fun playing the 'I wonder who she will look like the most' game, that all couples go through before their baby is born.
Well, it is not long now - only three and a bit months to go and the baby name still rages on.
Cat seems to hate all my suggestions so far and I have hers. We're hoping from inspiration from Dad, who returns from China soon, will help. But then again, it may add to the growing list of possibles.
There is an advert my Maltesers here in the UK in which a heavily pregnant women places said choccy item on her bellyonly for it to jump several inches into the air due to the baby kicking. I am not sure if that was set up or for real so I will definitely be trying that little experiment soon.
By popular request, I have finally uploaded the 20 week scan for all to see. It is not as clear as the 12 week on since she has obviously grown much bigger and I guess she moves around a lot, contributing to a fuzzy picture. But you can still see the head profile, belly, umbilical cord and internal organs.
Some have mentioned that the profile already looks like me, but I doubt that. People see what they want to see. It is a well known psychological phenomenon - for example seeing faces in clouds or fuzzy noise. The brain automatically interprets recognisable imagery out of chaos. Regardless of this - Cat and I still have fun playing the 'I wonder who she will look like the most' game, that all couples go through before their baby is born.
Well, it is not long now - only three and a bit months to go and the baby name still rages on.
Cat seems to hate all my suggestions so far and I have hers. We're hoping from inspiration from Dad, who returns from China soon, will help. But then again, it may add to the growing list of possibles.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
So Do You?
The weather is seriously hot in London now. Not the greatest of weather to contend with when heavily preggers, especially in rush hour. I try my best to help - carrying bags, giving lifts in the car, but it would help if commuters were more alert and offered their seats up on the tube.
To be fair, in most cases, it only takes a few minutes for people to catch on, especially as Cat is now very good at making her presence known. But sometimes, a carriage full of people absorbed in their newspapers and magazines is tough to crack.
Cat's latest obsession is sudoku. A sort of crossword with numbers to guess and fill in the blanks. Devilishly simply by design, evil to finish quickly. I personally saty away from time-wasting activities like this, but Cat is totally obsessed. As you can see...
Maybe she is hoping to transfer some mathematical prowes to the baby by doing more puzzles.
To be fair, in most cases, it only takes a few minutes for people to catch on, especially as Cat is now very good at making her presence known. But sometimes, a carriage full of people absorbed in their newspapers and magazines is tough to crack.
Cat's latest obsession is sudoku. A sort of crossword with numbers to guess and fill in the blanks. Devilishly simply by design, evil to finish quickly. I personally saty away from time-wasting activities like this, but Cat is totally obsessed. As you can see...
Maybe she is hoping to transfer some mathematical prowes to the baby by doing more puzzles.
Friday, July 08, 2005
The Day London was Bombed
Yesterday 4 terrorist bombs hit Central London. Cat and I were making our usual commute into town when we were evacuated from the central line at St Paul's. Little did we, or anyone, know of the scale of the horror. We simply put it down to the frequent tube disruptions that we Londoners cope with almost daily.
Cat got on a bus, I tried to walk towards Barbican. This was all around 9.30-9.40 am. Seven minutes later, the Tavistock Square bus exploded and all the buses and tubes were suspended. Cat made it to work and called me to warn me from taking any public transport. I was stuck in Bank and just walked all the way home, where I was shocked to see the events unfold on the TV news.
I have since been sat at home ruminating over the events. Those bombs could have been targetted anywhere. We were ALL targets. Someone I knew could have perished. My heart began to sink at the senselessness.
My Mum called in to report ok, as did Cat and both made it home ok too.
Maybe the events of the day got to me, maybe I do this all the time, but I did something bizarre last night:
In the middle of last night, I apparently broke into full song. I never knew I sleep talked but Cat was awoken by my singing. I was singing, in a loud voice, a made-up tune about hybrids, cloning and doing the washing up. It was so loud she was screaming at me to shut up. I even had a full conversation after the singing with me denying I was singing, apparently. I awoke in the morning totally unaware of all this but with her GLARING at me. It has taken a lot of apologies and pleading of innocence to get her to forgive me - oh and the washing up.
A small moment of humour during a bleak and depressing 24 hours.
Cat got on a bus, I tried to walk towards Barbican. This was all around 9.30-9.40 am. Seven minutes later, the Tavistock Square bus exploded and all the buses and tubes were suspended. Cat made it to work and called me to warn me from taking any public transport. I was stuck in Bank and just walked all the way home, where I was shocked to see the events unfold on the TV news.
I have since been sat at home ruminating over the events. Those bombs could have been targetted anywhere. We were ALL targets. Someone I knew could have perished. My heart began to sink at the senselessness.
My Mum called in to report ok, as did Cat and both made it home ok too.
Maybe the events of the day got to me, maybe I do this all the time, but I did something bizarre last night:
In the middle of last night, I apparently broke into full song. I never knew I sleep talked but Cat was awoken by my singing. I was singing, in a loud voice, a made-up tune about hybrids, cloning and doing the washing up. It was so loud she was screaming at me to shut up. I even had a full conversation after the singing with me denying I was singing, apparently. I awoke in the morning totally unaware of all this but with her GLARING at me. It has taken a lot of apologies and pleading of innocence to get her to forgive me - oh and the washing up.
A small moment of humour during a bleak and depressing 24 hours.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Pink or blue?
Had our 20 week scan today. I was very surprised, although Ishouldn’t be, at how far developed the baby is compared to theprevious scan. You can really see everything from fingertips totoes, arms, elbows spine an’ all. The baby is in rude health and atone point, appeared to be sticking its finger towards us…nice! Catimmediately noticed that the facial profile resembled my face,including my distinctive generous upper lip. Something thatapparently I share with my dad and my sister.For the past few weeks Cat and I had been gently rallying likelynames back and forth. But the debate has hotted up recently. She strongly veers towards Chinese names and I towards Gaelic names.I do agree that the baby should have a Chinese name, but as amiddle rather than main name. Not everyone can ready Pin Yin andpronounce it correctly.The name issue would only be relevant if the baby was to be a girlsince we have already decided on a boy’s name. A name that is laiddown in my Father’s family tree. But we were fairly convinced thebaby would be a boy so did not seriously debate the girl’s names.Well… the scanner operator told us that we would have a girl, sonow the race to find a name we both agree on begins.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Mrs and I are back refreshed from a little break in Crete. The island and in fact Greeks are wonderful. The climate, food, scenery all of it wonderful. The only downer was the so-called 5 star resort which hated, but Cat thought was ok. There were too many dodgy things going wrong and it was expensive and not at all what I expected. Still, I got myself a decent tan and Cat enjoyed a break from work.
Just now, lying in bed, I put my hand onj Cat's belly and we both think we felt a little kick from the baby. Just a tiny movement, but definitely there. A nice if slightly weird feeling.
Tomorrow will be our 20 week scan where the operator may tell us the gender of the baby.
Just now, lying in bed, I put my hand onj Cat's belly and we both think we felt a little kick from the baby. Just a tiny movement, but definitely there. A nice if slightly weird feeling.
Tomorrow will be our 20 week scan where the operator may tell us the gender of the baby.
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