Halfway there

Well we finally reached 20 weeks and now with the beginning behind us we can are getting more and more excited for the end. I'm looking more pregnant everyday and I am loving every minute. Through the exhaustion, through the discomfort and through the constant need for the loo, I am enjoying my pregnant belly and feeling baby kick and move around. I've always been the one who rubs pregnant bellies and will be the first to spoil and help out any pregnant woman I know, friend, colleague or family. So now that it's happening to me I can only but stand back and watch it happen. Everyone wants to rub my belly and the first question people ask me is, "so when is baby due?"

Well to catch up with week 20, here's what's been happening.

We've been for our 20 week scan and baby is doing really well. The scan took quite a while because the sonographer couldn't get baby to turn over to measure baby. But he was able to measure baby's arms and legs, check baby's heart and brain and, well everything else. It was so surreal when baby turned and looked straight at us, probably one of the sweetest moments to date. The one thing Cameron didn't notice was when baby gave us the thumbs up, it was the funniest thing, as the sonographer looked at baby's arms, s/he literally put his/her thumb up at us. When I spoke about it later on in the car Cameron looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about, we then realised he didn't pay attention to that part. I guess the ultrasound doesn't really look like much to him. Even though the sonographer said, "oh look he's giving you the thumbs up". And no, he didn't mean "he" literally because as we begun the whole ultrasound I quickly blurted out, "please don't tell us the sex, we don't want to know just yet."

Here's some pics we got from the scan, he didn't give us the full profile but did give us baby's face profile and his/her little hands... if you can actually see that it's hands!

Cameron also took snaps of my belly this week...

So we're getting closer and closer but we are so far from ready. We've yet to get anything besides the first bits of clothing I bought a few weeks ago, but we've decided we'll get through Christmas first and enjoy our time with Bradley & Shamini and focus on getting all baby's stuff in the new year. I've already booked my maternity leave and will be finishing work on the 23rd of March but have to get a letter from our midwife so I can formally give my notice. We see Deb again on the 8th of December so hopefully we can get it all finalised then.

Here's to the next 20 weeks...

Patience is a Virtue, so they say!

Ok, so I should have been just a little more patient. I was so eager to feel baby kick and well, yesterday was the first time I felt it! It was a definite kick. So exciting, so surreal, so magical! I have never felt more happy, more ecstatic in all my life. The first thing I did was call Cameron, and the first thing he said to me was, "are you sure it's not indigestion?" Just got to love him!!

Here's what happened.

We went for a lunch date down to Jack Tar in Wynyard Quarter. It was a beautiful day in Auckland and was a good excuse to get out and enjoy the day. So after lunch we went back to the office and a few hours later I was just sitting at my desk busy with my day, when I felt this little flutter. I've been feeling these for a while so didn't pay much attention to it. But a few minutes later I felt this literal kick, like a huge bubble bursting on the inside. It was defined and caught me totally by surprise. I know it was a kick because I've never felt that before. I know what indigestion feels like, I am acutely aware of all the fluttering going on over the past few weeks and this was nothing remotely close to any of that.

This is just another reason for me to give God thanks. Thanks for choosing me as the vessel to bring forth this glorius life, the first in the next generation for the Pillay family, another one to add to the Bonhomme brood and an extension of Cameron & myself.

18 weeks

Well we've officially reached 5 months, so they say. I don't count it like that but hey, who am I to argue!

Well there's not much to report on, still haven't felt definite kicks yet. Still some flutters and every now and then its more defined but still not convinced. Can't wait until it's defined, frequent movement. But I'm being patient and enjoying this pregnancy for everything it's worth. My belly is really starting show now, there's no denying that we're in the second trimester. No cravings yet, although I am still loving fruit and oranges are my new flavour of the month. Backache is becoming more and more frequent but luckily our new bed arrived this weekend so Im sleeping blissfully. I can finally stomach chicken, which thrills Cameron considering he wants to eat chicken 5 out of 7 days, at least. Although I'm not quite there yet, I can't eat it everyday! I don't have to eat every two hours anymore which is much better and there is absolutely no nausea anymore. Yesterday we noticed a little swelling in my feet, but I think as it was a busy day at work yesterday I was a bit exhausted and just needed to put my feet up. Once I did that, the swelling went down.

Anyway, I think that's all I can think of reporting at the moment. So here's some pics that Cameron took yesterday.

So the next scan is in 2 weeks so we'll have to have a bit of a report back then. We also see Debbie again on the 8th of December.

I've read that baby is about 14cm or so now and should weigh around 190g (or so). It's also interesting to note that baby's reproductive organs are already formed, so we could definitely see whether we're having a boy or girl at our next scan. Babies nervous system is also fully formed and functional and his/her bones are starting to harden into real bones, so the movement should become more apparent in the next few weeks.

We're almost halfway!

Baby's first clothes and 16 weeks pregnant

This week marks our 16th week of pregnancy. They say I should only start feeling baby move around week 18 - 20 but this week I'm sure I've felt baby move around. Every now and then when I lay really still or I'm relaxing while watching tv or reading I'll feel a little movement, like a butterfly fluttering within me. Who knows but I'll keep believing that it's baby! This week I've also noticed a lot of stretching in my abdomen and aches & pains in my abdomen and back, they say the stretching is called Round ligament pain because the ligaments in my abdomen are stretching to accomodate the growing uterus and baby. All the little things they don't tell you about before you fall pregnant.
Here's some pics Cam took this week of me at 16 weeks pregnant.

The baby's clothes I ordered the other day finally arrived this morning (so glad I took a sick day so was home when they arrived). I've taken some snaps just so I never forget what were the first baby clothes I ever bought for this little gift of ours.

Yes, everything is white and lemon because there wasn't much else to choose from JK Kids online that was gender neutral, and as we don't want to spoil the surprise and wait for the birth to find out what baby's sex is, I had to buy anything that wasn't pink or blue!

I am happy to report though that the morning sickness and nausea has come to an end, there are a few days when tension headaches rule the day but I am finally feeling normal and my old self again. Here's to an awesome pregnancy!!!

Sweet sounds

We had our second midwife visit today. Deb unfortunately was called away so we had Gail, one of her back ups to see us. It was a surprisingly short visit though. She confirmed that the blood tests had come back clear and that the 12 week scan was also clear and that no abnormalities were found. Then she sweetly said, "Now let's hear that heartbeat." When she said that my own heart skipped a beat. We've been waiting for so long to hear baby's heartbeat but at every turn realise how different things are done here in NZ. I know in SA you would go to your obstetrician for all your check ups and they would so all your scans, your bloods, etc. And at the scan you will hear baby's heartbeat. Here in NZ you only go to an obstetrician if you're having a difficult pregnancy and you go to your midwife for everything relating to your pregnancy, except you would go to a radiology lab and see a sonographer for your scans. The midwife uses what they call a Doppler device that listens to baby's heartbeat. It's looks like a mini transducer, which they use when you go for your scans. She placed it on my tummy and tried to warn me that it is sometimes hard to find the heartbeat, especially the first time. But the minute she placed the doppler on my tummy the heartbeat went crazy! Baby's heartbeat was so strong and loud. Gail says that we have a strong, healthy baby! She was very happy with everything and put us at ease with her bubbly personality.

To say that we were ecstatic in that moment is well, an understatement. We've been waiting for 15 weeks to hear this baby and when we did we couldn't contain our happiness. The sounds still resounds in my head, even as I write this.

Another milestone today, I've bought some baby clothes. I bought them online so waiting for them to be delivered and as soon as they are I will post pics.

Can't wait for this baby to come, s/he is going to be so loved. S/he already is.

Thank you Lord for this blessing!

Rugby World Cup 2011

I think we've been very fortunate to have been living in a country that hosts a World Cup, TWICE. First when South Africa hosted the RWC in 1995 and won, and again in 2011 in New Zealand. In 1995 I was too young to enjoy the World Cup, but because my brother Kale was a ball boy we got to enjoy all the hype surrounding the games. I remember he got to hold the Webb Ellis Cup and took a photo of it, not sure where those pics are now though. Anyway, this year we got to experience the World Cup in all it's glory! We had planned to go to a few of the SA games but because we were still in the first trimester of pregnancy and I was battling with nausea and exhaustion, we decided to stick to the games they played in Auckland itself and decided to go to just one. So we went to the SA vs Samoa game held at North Harbour stadium on Septemeber 30th. It was awesome. But it was a Friday so it was a manic rush to get to the North Shore. We met Cameron's manager, Kevin who had a few SA friends over from the UK & Australia, so it was a good crowd to go with. The buzz in and around the place was amazing, we took a bus from Kevin's place to the stadium, and it just so happen that every person on that bus was a Springbok supporter so the bus was literally shaking with all the singing and screaming! Then 3 Samoan supporters got on the bus about half way to the Stadium, WHOA, they couldn't escape the Springbok support then!!!

Here's just a few of the pics we took at the stadium.

South Africa won this game but it was too close for comfort. The stadium atmosphere was electric and it was defintiely worth it. I think I screamed til my throat was raw. But we got to see our boys (even though they weren't in green & gold) up close, including my favourite John Smit and others like JP Petersen, Brian Habana and Victor Matfield (who captained the team for this game).

And baby makes three

Cameron & I have been married for over 3 years now and well, people keep asking us, "when's the baby coming" and we keep saying "oh, soon, maybe next year". Well next year finally came! Cameron's mum & dad are really eager to be grandparents and I promised his mum that by her 60th birthday she would be a granny. And she's held me to it! Anyway, at the beginning of the year we decided that once my pack of the pill finished we wouldn't go get more but rather start the plan to get pregnant. So April this year I started the 3 month "planning phase". When July came we decided that this would be the time to start trying so that we could hopefully be pregnant by Christmas, I thought we would fall pregnant by Oct/Nov and have baby by July 2012. Well, God had other plans for us. On August 11th I realised I was a week late and on the way home I bought a HPT (Home Pregnancy test). I didn't want to tell Cameron just in case it was a false alarm so come Friday morning (the 12th) I took the HPT and well, within seconds this is what happened.

I quickly ran to tell Cameron and we sat staring at each other & the HPT for what seemed like forever, each with a silly little grin on our faces.
We then steadily got ready for work and went about our day. I can tell you this, it was the hardest day to go through!!! I then made an appointment at our doctor and just after lunch we went to the doctor's offices. He did another urine test, but the line was quite faint so he sent us to get some blood tests done. I was due to do one the Friday and then again on Monday. But Saturday morning I had a slight bleed and so we decided to go to the hospital to see if everything was ok. At the hopsital, they did more blood tests and from the one I'd done the day before they could see that my HcG levels had increased, which was a good sign. They also did an internal exam and as there was no bleeding I went home. We were still in the "are we pregnant or aren't we" stage, cos we could not get a definite answer. It was still so up in the air at that stage. Auckland hospital had made an appointment for me for that Monday at Greenlane Clinic's Early pregnancy centre. So Monday morning we were off there, where they did more bloods and a scan. The scan showed that there was definitely a pregnancy and although it looked viable we had to wait for the blood results to confirm it. The nurse at Greenlane then called me once the blood results were back, which was later that day, and confirmed that the HcG levels were increasing and that she could confirm that it was a viable pregnancy! I was so ecstatic... But we decided just to keep it a secret until we were out of the "risk zone". But Cameron was so happy and it was hard for him to keep it quiet, so we finally told his parents, my mum and Bradley & Shamini. But it was under strict instruction to not breathe a word to anyone else until we knew for sure that everything was going well. Everyone's reaction to the news got us even more excited and it was really hard for us to keep this quiet.We then had another appointment at Greenlane the following Monday, they wanted to keep an eye on me to see if anything had changed and the scan that Monday once again proved that baby was doing well. It was strange though because at 6 weeks there was just a little spec in my uterus that kept blinking at us! The fetal pole was strong and that was a good sign. After that scan it was hard to keep this quiet so we decided that we would share the news with everyone. In a split second Cameron had put in on Facebook and within nanoseconds it went viral. Then we called my brother, Quentin and he's reaction was awesome. It made us miss being home so much, to be surrounded by friends and family at the moment is all we wanted. Luckily the friends we have here in NZ are our family and we were surrounded with them.

Once everyone knew and the doctors had confirmed that it was indeed a viable pregnancy we then had to find a midwife. Luckily I'm surrounded by friends who've just recently had babies. A friend of mine who lived in the same area we did had a South African midwife and highly recommended her. So I contacted her and we went for our first appointment with Debbie Ross on the 22nd of September. The week before we moved house though, I started having slight bleeding again and was getting really stressed about it. I contated Debbie and she assured me it was okay but to put my mind at ease arranged for another scan. I went for a scan during my 9th week, by this time our little blob was a really a baby (well a foetus to be technically correct) but there was a head and arms and legs and a little heart beating.

At that moment, everything became real to us and it wasn't just a dream of a dream anymore! I couldn't stop staring at this picture of this baby that was growing inside me, and couldn't wipe the grin off my face. My gratitude to God for choosing me to be the vessel that brings forth this special life was so profound in that moment. The sonographer assured me that all was as it should be and that baby was developing well for the 9 weeks. We walked out of that radiology clinic with all the pride and happiness this world could offer. With all our anxiety in not wanting to tell everyone, I remember my mum telling me when I first told her, you're pregnant and nothing can change that so why not tell everyone! (Or words to that effect!)It didn't make sense to me at the time but I soon realised that this is God's plan and nothing was going to change that! I'm so glad I have a mother who is a prayer-warrior because everytime I would feel ill, or get a scare or have a moment of anxiety I would call her and she would reassure me that this baby was ordained by God and that nothing was going to change that!


Here's the pic of that first scan at 9 weeks.

On the 22nd (week 10) we headed off to meet Debbie for the first time. So weird how she's South African and from Durban too. Small world! All in all, the appointment went well and I'm glad we've chosen Deb. She organised another scan for week 12 and another round of blood tests which would look for hormonal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome, etc. This scan was even better, baby was moving around quite a bit and it was so surreal for me cos I couldn't feel anything but watching this baby move around I was like, seriously? How can I not feel that!!! But baby was bigger and his/her legs and arms were fully formed and moving around like crazy! The sonographer showed us baby's head, torso, spine, everything. Cameron had the silliest smile on his face, it was priceless.

Here's baby at 12 weeks.

We also finally took a belly pic, I've been so self-conscious cos I wasn't really showing much so felt weird taking pics of my tummy, but this morning I finally just gave Cam the camera and just got him to do it.

Here's me at 13 weeks pregnant, be good to see how this belly grows over the next few months.

We have another midwife appointment on the 27th of October (2 weeks time) and then another scan at 20weeks. We haven't had the chance to hear baby's heartbeat yet and I'm hoping this will be done at our midwife appointment. Will keep you posted.

Our official due date is the 16th of April 2012. At this stage we've decided not to find out the sex of the baby as we would love to leave it as a surprise at the birth but we will see how we feel when we get to that scan.

Right now we are just enjoying being expectant parents and we're waiting patiently and very excitedly for the birth of our first baby and the extension of our family.