Marina's pregnancy log (for Lucia)

 
37 - 38 weeks: Gosh, I've been a slacker about writing. The rate of acceleration in my appetite is only matched by Peanut's growth and weight gain. People constantly look at me and say "Well, you'd be due any day now!".  Still 2 and a bit weeks...  

They say you get really sick of being pregnant around now, and I must say that I'm looking forward to not lugging all this extra weight around. 

All this makes me wonder how our doctor could have been concerned about Peanut's size, but this week he ordered a higher-resolution scan to check whether we were "small for dates".  Nope - everything measured perfectly for 37 to 38 weeks.  My sister Christina looked as if she were carrying a small baby and she gave birth to a 9-pound boy.  Ouch!  

Anyway, here's a photo of me at 37.5 weeks. I'm telling the doggy to shush because she wanted desperately to be in the picture and/or play with tennis balls. I should be grateful that she gets me out of the house and moving several times a day, but I sometimes forget to see the upside of enforced exercise.

They say I could go any day now - which might be a relief - but I'm intent on enjoying my last two weekends as a "non-mother".   :-)

34 weeks: And bigger...:-) I must say I'm enjoying eating all the time.  I demolished a whole watermelon yesterday! 

33 weeks:  Yep, bigger again. Holiday time in the Coromandel, so lots of swimming, eating, drinking (boring non-alcoholic things), naps, playtime with Daisy and quality time with the proud father-to-be. 

Everyone says how summer is the worst time to be pregnant because of the heat, but I think it's great because I can relax so much - and my constant absent-mindedness isn't as much of an issue! ;-) 

32 weeks:  Once again the bump has bulged out and I don't see how it can get any bigger!  Sorry about the earnest photo but the smiling photos show an appalling chip in my teeth. Baby seems to be taking all the calcium it needs at the expense of my teeth - never mind my daily banana yoghurt smoothie!  :-)  

We're off on Christmas holiday, taking the bump with us for lots of walking, swimming and eating. The Pup is coming too! 

Just a note for other pregnant Kiwi mums-to-be - I'm amazed and delighted that Trelise Cooper's normal clothes fit the pregnant body beautifully. Thankyou Trelise - I am forever grateful!  

28 weeks:  We didn't realise this until writing to a friend in the states, but M&M having a Peanut is just too much like Peanut m&ms....trust us, we didn't do it on purpose! 
The bump has fairly bulged out since the last update, and I'm sure I look obviously pregnant.  I find with surprise that all sorts of people now smile at me benevolently in the streets and help me with my groceries. Total strangers ask when Baby is due, and girlfriend's hands gravitate to my stomach! 
We had the official results of our anatomy scan and blood tests and all is normal (except that I'm a bit anemic. That would explain my extreme tiredness (and grouchiness - poor Matty!)), so we're hopeful that iron will help - it seems to have already! Other than that the pregnancy is going very well, which is quite lucky..

23 weeks / 5 months 		23 weeks: Don't read this if you don't want to know what sex we think it is!  
During the anatomy scan we asked if we could find out what sex it is, and after ascertaining that we really did want to know, they showed us that it's most likely a little girl!  That is, there were no dangly bits visible.  So while we'll proceed with caution and not buy too much in pink, we're fairly certain that Matt will be surrounded by adoring women - wife, dog and baby peanut! 

And yes, that photo is in the Louvre, next to Cupid & Psyche. Peanut does Paris! 

19 weeks / ~4 months 		19 weeks: We had our anatomy scan, but Peanut was sitting bum-down on my bladder and wouldn't move so they could measure the relevant parts, so it's been rescheduled for 22 weeks. 
 

13 weeks

this is peanut resting, with the head to the right. the upper white bits are the facial features, and you can the back and arm in the middle of the photo.


this is peanut's hand and wrist. the whitest bit is the top of the index finger.

  10.5 weeks: 
Then a scan at 10.5 weeks shows it kicking arms and legs like mad, and jumping all over the place. So now it's the Kicking Peanut. Watch for more silly nicknames...

7 weeks: 
We weren't really sure what to call 'baby' so we call it "Peanut". At 7 weeks, the scan showed a heartbeat in the relevant area, so it became the Ticking Peanut. 

After much trying and hoping, we've won the baby jackpot! It's due on 15 February - practically Valentine's Day. And ironically, the date the pregnancy starts from is 12 May 2002 - Mother's Day!