We went back to Baby's Kingdom today to get a baby cot and change table, we went up to Ian's brother's place last week to see what they had, no cot so we decided to get new ones and with Baby's Kingdom having a sale with 20% - 25% off......bargain!!!!

Who would have thought there would be so much to choose from, one of the problems we had was how high the mattress comes up, most have 2 heights, but on some of the cots even the highest height was still too low for me. Basically I would get the baby 2/3 of the way to the mattress and then just drop it. So we went for the "Gro-time Lara" in teak with matching change table...of course.

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!

Baby's first concert was Pink, Ian & I went with our friends Andy & Jemina, Pink was FANTASTIC!!! It was high energy, loud and very very entertaining, her voice was excellent really strong, good dancer and basically she was out on the stage having fun.

The following morning, Friday 8th June we went for our first appointment with our Obstetrician Dr Peres. He had been recommended by 2 couples and for a good reason, both Ian and I really liked him, very relaxed, approachable, open minded. He basically checked my blood results from Dr Joe and from when I had the first scan, my protein levels were good and they took the risk of any genetic disorder from 1 in 1100 to 1 in 8000.
With this result we have decided against the amniocentesis, as the risk of miscarriage with the amino is 1 in 200, after a lot of discussion we went with the higher odds.

We also got to have another look at Casper, this time there was lots of movement, hands in the air jumping around a very active baby. The Dr was pleased but all I could think about was that Casper was still moving around from all the music vibration from last nights concert, having a party of all its own in my womb!

We basically see our OB once a month until 28 weeks and then every 2 weeks until the baby comes, and he will be there when Casper decides to enter the world rather than being on the golf course.

We're now in week 15, and Casper's fingernails are developing and his/her facial features are defined. Casper can now suck its thumb and its now when it begins to put on weight, and apparently so does its mum, the next weeks are suppose to be when my weight increases due to the baby's growth.

PRAM SHOPPING!!!

Everyone who knows me, knows how much I LOVE shopping, and it doesn't really matter what I'm shopping for. Being pregnant comes with a brand new list of things that we need to buy: first up is the pushchair. After doing some research and then going to one of the baby shops, we've narrowed it down to 2 designs, both quite similar and both get pretty good reviews for safety and use.

Photo 1: Urban Buggy Elite

Photo 2: Carrycot attachment for the Urban Buggy Elite

Photo 3: Phil & Ted's e3

Both are more activity pushchairs: good for walking and running (if you can co-ordinate pushing and running at the same time) and they are also good on grass and sand. The carrycot you buy get as an attachment for the UBE (Urban buggy elite) is great for a newborn and can be easily taken off if the baby is asleep. But with the P&T (Phil & Ted's) you can buy a cocoon for a new born which you can pop into the pushchair when its down flat. An added bonus with the P&T is that you can buy an attachment which goes at the back if you have a second child, the smaller child goes in the main frame and the older child goes in the back attachment.

While Ian has been out for his runs he's been asking mum's who have the UBE or the P&T what they think of each one (his own market research). The good thing is we don' t have to make a decision straight away, so I'll let you know what we decide.

Its now week 13 and the happy hormones have definitely kicked in, thank goodness, my skin is VERY slowly starting to clear. I've started back-up with a slow jog which is making me feel very good and I went for a great swim today.

SAY CHEESE!

12 Weeks

Ian and I went up to Randwick Private Hospital to get our first glimpse of Casper!!

After drinking a litre and a half of water and then waiting for 24 minutes my bladder was very full and uncomfortable.

We went in to the opperators suit; I lay on the bed and and the sonographer measured the baby from the top of its head to the bottom of the spine. She then measured the Nuchal Translucency, which is the fluid beneath the skin at the back of the neck of the fetus. She then checked the legs, arms, head and then we got to see the full baby on the screen, which was quite amazing. Ian got very emotional and I was in shock, I couldn't believe that baby on the screen was in my stomach, quite amazing.

They did all the tests and the Dr was happy with all the results. for my age, the results from the scan indicated that there was a very low chance for any abnormality.

BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT.

Being pregnant limit's your exercise regime. I use to go running about 3 times a week for about 45 / 50 minutes and then a long run for about 90 minutes on Saturday's. When I fell pregnant Dr Joe advised me that it would be best for me to reduce my running to zero minutes (well at least for the first 3 months) until everything is secure!

This has been driving me crazy, I've been swimming, but now as its getting cooler, the pool becomes less and less inviting. So I've been power walking, but not too big a stride as I don't want to dislodge my pelvis!!!

Another activity I've decided to take back up, is pre-natal yoga. I went today, Saturday, for my first class, and I had the smallest bump, compared to the rest of the class I look like a fraud!! :o)

The class was good, but man my muscles were tight, having done a lot less exercise in the past 2 months than what I usually do, my back and shoulders had really tightened up.

So that is basically me for the next 6 months or so, walking, swimming & yoga.

This is me at 12 weeks, not really a bump more relaxed belly muscles.

DECISIONS DECISIONS

Nine Weeks

I've been reading the baby books and apparently eyelids have appeared and the internal sex organs have started to develop into girl or boy bits, but you can't tell from the outside yet. And the embryo weighs as much as a grape and is nearly 2cm long.

I had my second appointment with Dr Joe, Ian came along. All tests came back good, everything which is suppose to be high is high and everything which was suppose to be normal was normal.

The next decision was whether to go private or public, Obstetrician or midwife or a mixture - so many decisions and everyone has a different opinion. I really wanted a female obstetrician but apparently they are quite rare, but I did find a good one but you need to book a year in advance, very busy and couldn't fit me in for November!! So I got another recommendation, a male, first appointment Friday 8th June. And my first scan is on 21st May up in Randwick

DINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

Week 8

Last night we ahd one of our big dinner parties which we'd actually organised weeks ago, before finding out, but decided to use it to make the announcement to everyone.

Before dinner I phoned and spoke my good friend Jen in Brisbane and she was soooo excited, I kept receiving text messages from her and Michael all night.

Guest list: Allan, Minime, Paul, Simon, Buzzy, Chi Chi, Moby Dave, Michael, Malcolm & Ken.

We made the announcement but half of them had already guessed - can't keep anything from this group.

We also caught up with Andy & Jemina on the Sunday to tell them, so that was many of our close friends in Australia who had been told, no going back now!!

BACK IN SYDNEY!!

Week 6

Back in Sydney: first time I had to travel internationally without taking a sleeping tablet (I was actually dreading it) but managed to get a pretty good nights sleep.
I did another test when I got back, just in case, and yep still positive, so booked in to see the Dr this Saturday.

We were catching up with Anne & John this week so we thought we might as well start telling family. We gave my mum & dad a call that same morning and amazingly both were in, so I made the announcement (well i didn't really say anything, I started laughing and mam guessed). Lots of congratulations before mum left for work, where she started phoning and sending emails to everyone in the North East and Wales (Aunty Ali).
We had dinner with Anne & John, took a bottle of bubbly up so this kind of gave it away, more congratulations and some tears.

Then by coincidence, friends of ours Matt & Kylie were having dinner in Coogee so we popped down to have tea with them. And Kylie's reaction is still the best reaction I've had, jumped up in surprise and excitement.

Went to see Dr Joe who basically said if 2 home pregnancy tests have said yes then its a definite yes. But he sent me off for a blood test to check blood cells, iron levels, folate level and other things.

Dr's work out how pregnant you are from the first day of your last period, which to me is a bit crazy as you can't be pregnant then, but i suppose they know what they're talking about they've been doing it for a long time!!! By their calculation 7 weeks pregnant with the due date of 30th November.

30th November, which means that we cannot go to my friend Rosie's wedding at the beginning of December, very annoyed, but hey what can you do.

APRIL FOOLS DAY!!

Sunday April 1st
Novotel Peace Hotel, Beijing, China

Sitting in the bathroom wacthing the strip - first line appears....tester......second pink line appears....Oh Mi God!!! It worked!!
"Last proper holiday EVER" Ian and I walk around Beijing in a bit of daze all day.

That was the day we found out, everthing changed and a million things start going through your head.

Not only was I pregnanat, I was in China and pregnant. The food, the smells, we had to start taking survival pack with us at all times, which contained digestive biscuits because as long as my stomach was full I didn't feel sick. Which basically meant I was eating constantly because every smell in China was making me feel nauseous.