Baby Number 3
"Baby Charlotte" 

Uh oh, ordered to bed rest. What - me, overdoing it?!?

 I've been having some bad early labour pains which got me worried, so we've packed up a few days early and headed over to Welly. Bless the grandparents for being so flexible! We unloaded the car and went straight to see Marg Walmsely, our midwife. She monitored the baby to make sure everything was fine, and then ordered some tests to make sure underlying things were alright. 

Apparently not entirely, because as of this afternoon, I've been confined to bed rest due to high blood pressure, I imagine so I don't develop toxemia. I'd been looking forward to lots of swimming, coffees and catch-ups with girlfriends, but to be honest, bed is where I want to be right now...

On a brighter note, I hadn't posted any bump photos...sorry, baby - I seem to be the picture-taker in this family, so we're a bit limited on the Mummy photo front. Here is one taken by Matt outside Brooklyn Bakery last weekend, when we were child-free and relaxed. 

Okay, we're ready. Bring it on!

 I knew I'd get false (or early, or latent phase) labour, but I was still surprised when it started on 27 August. Still, it kicked things into gear. 
The baby's room has been organised, the clothes all ready. The nappy changing table is ready. The single bed in the room is made up, ready for sleepy mummy to kip in there (or for Daddy to come if baby is in our room!).  Ann has made the curtains, and Dave the Builder has hung them. The pram is assembled for downstairs sleeping and walks.  

On a more decorative note, our friend Nikki (an artist, but also a wedding coordinator) came and started painting clouds on the ceiling. Aren't they gorgeous?

I'm slowing down, and have a terrible cough. Thank goodness that I can manage to rest a lot, but still I'll be grateful when the baby comes out and I can get a bit more comfortable at night!  We're heading over to Wellington for a "dry run" at Matt's parents' house, since we're planning on having it there. We'll house-swap and they will come over to look after the kids. I know - we're very lucky! 

Oh my goodness, this is really going to happen!

No. No! How did "I'm pregnant" get to be "We're going to have a new baby in 4 weeks!"?

I need to do things like prepare the baby's room, pack my labour bag, organise clothes for it, etc.. Strange. 

Even stranger is this familiar feeling of being really ungainly and unable to get out of bed at night, or to bend over and touch my toes. I seem to remember that at this stage with George, I was so huge that I could rest my cup of tea on my tummy. And he dropped at 36 weeks - and I sighed with relief! But then he grew back into the vacated space! Fortunately this one isn't as big - although I did put on 2kg last week. (I was sitting around all week on a course, eating!).    

Growing, growing madly growing...

I haven't posted anything in this blog for 2 months, which suggests that the pregnancy has been relatively uneventful. And it has, which is a good thing! 

I've been enjoying the middle trimester and the (relative) increase in energy.  I have been visited by my erstwhile pregnancy nemesis - indigestion and reflux. And of course, sore hips and sciatica, grouchiness and tiredness.  Oh, and a bladder infection. I'm tempted to say it's not too bad, but I really want to remember the downsides in case I'm ever tempted to do it again - which we have agreed we don't. 3 feels  like the perfect number for us.

The baby actually is slightly smaller than dates would suggest, whereas George was very large and all right out front. I'm not holding my breath that it won't catch up, but I'd be relieved if it didn't grow as fast as George did at the end...  That being said, I'm entering that lovely stage of pregnancy where food tastes amazing - one of the definite positive side effects of pregnancy!  

Mothers' instinct proves wrong!

It's been over a month since I last updated this, but I've been sooo sick and tired. Just recently I realised I'm having fun again, which means I wasn't for about 2 months there.  I've got a lot more energy, and things don't seem to pile up on top of me and sit down heavily. Outings with the children sound like fun again, instead of just a form of torture... 

We just had our 20-week scan. All is well, and developing beautifully! That's a relief, although I've tried not to worry too much.

DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE SEX OF THE BABY!
I was certain with every bit of instinct I had that it was a girl (and still am). But no, it's not...it's a little boy! The ultrasound technician said that she doesn't guess, and doesn't tell people what it is unless she's certain (and they want to know). She pointed out the little bits floating around, and suggested that perhaps he doesn't like being called "Baby Charlotte". 

The scan put the due date at 22 August, which is in between the original one of the 27th, and the new one of the 18th. At any rate, I think it's going to be a big baby. If one assumes that this one will follow the same weight increase trajectory as George, it will be 9lbs 13oz.  Hm. Not too excited about that prospect.  But there's a lot of eating between now and then...

I'm developing a bit of a bump now, so will have to start posting bump pictures. To be honest, I was really excited about having a bump the first time, but by this time I'm a bit over it. Sorry, baby - it doesn't mean we love you any less!

Only one - but it's a big one!

In between the last blog entry and now, we've had two scans - one just a quick look in Dr Tuohy's office, and one was the proper nuchal translucency scan.  I was more relieved than I expected to see that there is only one baby in there!

A few days after the first scan, I was overcome with tiredness and then was put onto bed rest after having some bleeding. I'm pleased we had a look at the baby, because the doctor was able to reassure us that it was well implanted and there probably wasn't much cause for concern.   Nonetheless, I couldn't help being concerned and a bit helpless, sitting in bed for days on end.  I didn't get too restless as I was too tired to want to be anywhere else.  After a few days of that, I was up but still utterly, utterly tired. The second scan might have explained why...

The purpose of the nuchal scan is to determine whether the baby is likely to be born with Down's Syndrome, a risk which increases with age. Happily, our result was astonishingly good. I truly am glad we didn't have to examine the options which would have been presented to us had we had a different result - I imagine it would severely test your beliefs and ideals. 
At any rate, they also measure the fetus to see whether it adheres to the dates by which your due date is judged (last period, etc). Well, the fetus is 9 days larger than my due date would suggest! I know there may be about 4 days variation in there, but not 9! I suspect that my tiredness is explained by a sudden growth spurt on behalf of the baby...  And I'm starting to think that perhaps it will be another long (and hopefully skinny) boy!

I'm still terribly, terribly tired. Friends have been amazingly helpful in looking after the children while I rest. Creche and our housekeeper, Ann, have been great too. Thank goodness it's the weekend and Matt is around tomorrow and Sunday!  He's having a night out tonight at the local pub, but my idea of a good time right now is a bath and bed.

Fetus gets a nickname

Lucia has taken to calling the baby in my tummy "Baby Charlotte". So I guess that's its' in utero nickname. Lucia was "Peanut" and George was "Oscar".  Contenders for names are Carrington, Charlotte or Louis if it's a boy! There are some other front runners but we have to keep something a secret...

Baby Charlotte is 10 weeks old now. And no, we don't know what sex it is (yet). If it turns out to be a boy, we'll have to hastily do a name change. Again, like with the cat! My tummy is burgeoning already. It's very low and feels to be another bladder-sitter like Lucia was, but we'll see. I've been feeling quite sick, so have lost weight rather than gained it.

We have our first doctor's visit in a couple of days. We're excited to see the heartbeat. And, I must confess, I will be relieved to be assured it's only one! Twins run in the family, and I'm told that as women get older they release more eggs.  Part of the good thing about becoming pregnant now is that the whole child-bearing thing will be over by the time I turn 35! Yes, the plan is that this is the third and final baby we have. Of course there are many smaller decisions between the idea and the actual "snip", but that is our intention.

The morning sickness was worst around 8 weeks, when Matt was banned outside to cook any meat on the barbeque! I couldn't bear the smell. Now it's better, but I still don't want to eat any meat - it just doesn't appeal, not even my favourite - fillet steak!

You may not want to know where and when it happened, so feel free to skip this part! We went to Matt's work Christmas party at Cobar, and organised a whole roster of babysitters to stay the night with the children. So we were able to drink to our heart's content, and stayed out until midnight before getting the ferry back to Wellington.  We stayed at the Wellington Club (Room 11), and...well, you don't need to know the rest. Needless to say we didn't take the usual precautions, otherwise we wouldn't be able to pinpoint the actual date! Yes, kids, you can get pregnant by being unprotected just once.

A week later, I was pretty sure I was pregnant without doing a test.  I thought felt the onset of my period pains, but it must have been the fertilised egg implanting itself. So when the expected cramps didn't arrive, I got that little tingle of excitement combined with "Uh, oh, we're moving next week!".   That night I tried a sip of wine before dinner, and it tasted awful. That's how I've known with the other two - the taste of alcohol is disgusting. All the same, we didn't do a pregnancy test until our first morning in our new house. It was as though I just needed to focus on one thing at a time!

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This photo was taken the first morning we woke up in our new house

It was actually pretty poor timing, because I had hideous morning sickness while trying to coordinate our move into the new house.  And then while having 13 people for Christmas dinner!  But it all worked out fine, as there were lots of willing hands helping.  The awful morning sickness abated as I got lots of rest. That's a good lesson for me to try to keep from doing too much!