Updated photos (approx 10 weeks or corrected 3 weeks)

Liam in his bouncinette.

Liam and Daddy checking each other out.

Just had a bath.

Hanging out in his bassinette.

Tuckered out in his bouncer.

Liam comes Home.....

This is the incubator that Liam spent his first week and a half in. The light, bells and alarms were very scary but we knew that Liam was safe int the hands of the neonatal staff.

Liam is exclusively breast fed although I express each day and Miles does one feed at night with expressed breast milk. He seems more than happy to take bottle or breast even though people told us this may confuse him.

What a wee cutie.....





We were able to bring Liam home from Hospital on the 15 July when he was 3 weeks old. It was so nice to have him home finally. The first couple of nights were pretty horrendous though with Liam wanting to feed every 2 hours, it certainly was a wake up call to parenthood for Miles and I.

Time has flown by and PICKLE IS HERE !!!!

Ok so it's been quite a while since I posted. I don't really know where to start except to say Liam (aka Pickle) is now here. I went into labour on the 20th June and the Doctors managed to hold it off for 48 hours for the steroids to kick in to mature Liam's lungs. He was born on Tuesday the 24th June 2008 at 1332. His weight was 5lb 3oz (2350g) and his length was 46cm. I will fill in a more in depth labour story soon and the last of my belly shots. Here are a couple of photos for now though.

Little Pickles Nursery

Belly photo's Week 23, 25, 27 & 28.

The Home Stretch (Third Trimester)

We entered the third and final trimester on 13 May 2008. It's all been rather uneventful lately!! Which I'm not complaining about at all. It's great to be able to relax and know everything is going well and little pickle is growing nicely. I've definitely rounded out in my belly in the last few weeks and the discomfort of getting bigger is noticed more and more. I'm finding it harder to put my shoes and socks on, dry my feet etc...
I find it funny that as I walk around I notice women of all ages looking at my belly then smiling as if reminiscing when they were pregnant.
Pickles nursery is almost complete. We got the pictures up on the wall last weekend. One is a bright farmyard type mural that I had in my room as a child and one other major piece is a lovely bunny far-away type scene that Granny has given us (Miles step-mum). They both look fantastic in the room and have given it a really nice feel.
I've washed all the nappies, towels, linen and gender neutral clothing as well as a bit of boy/girl clothing. I guess when pickle arrives I will pack up whatever clothing we have in the "wrong" gender and be able to wash more of the "correct" gender clothing....

Anatomy scan. 18 weeks 3 Days

We had our anatomy scan on Friday 14th March at St Georges Hospital. Mum came along with us as she was actually meant to see our 12 week scan but with all the drama - she missed out. This scan was great to see all the "bits" of the baby in detail but overall wasn't as great as the 12 week scan. In the 12 week one you can see the whole baby on the screen so when it moves its hands and feet etc it's all really visible and easy to work out what bit is what. In the 2o week scan , everything is so much bigger and of course the whole baby doesn't fit on the screen so they view the body bit by bit which makes it harder to work out what you're actually looking at. At one point the tech was saying that's your baby's face and nose and all three of us were turning our heads on the side and couldn't work it out at all....
We got to see amazing detail for example - inside the baby brain, the pelvis, kidneys, spine, 4 chambers of the heart etc. Pretty amazing really. It was really great to hear that pickle was measuring right on target and that everything was normal. We got to see him/her sucking their thumb and little lips moving and the mouth opening and closing. Very cute.... ahhhhhh

Over halfway now !!!

Well I am still here - a bit slack I know - last post in Feb !!....
So there hasn't been a lot to tell in the last few months really - thank goodness. It's all been rather uneventful. The only bleeding was a tiny morning of spotting after having two late nights in a row early March. This enforced in Miles and I that I really can't put my pregnancy under risk by being on my feet too long or being too active. So I took a months annual leave starting Mon 25 Feb and was due back at work on Tue 25 March after Easter. We decided we would assess things closer to the end of March to whether I would go back to work or not. We had our anatomy scan on Fri 14th March - more about that later with pics to follow.... The scan was great - no sign of bleeding but after speaking to my doctor and midwife plus all my family - it was decided that the extra $$$ I would make by working for the next couple of months would not be worth the devastation we would feel if by going back to work this may have in turn have caused the miscarriage of little pickle.
So I'm officially a kept woman !!!
We are still counting down till the official "viable" date of 24 weeks so only 2 weeks to go from today.... We received in the mail the other day a packing list for hospital which made it all seem a little more close although Miles and I were saying - everything feels a little surreal still. Even though my belly is obviously looking pregnant now and we've been planning the nursery etc and I'm busy painting old sets of drawers for the room, it all feels like - well I don't even know how to describe it.......

Belly Shots weeks 15, 17, 19, and 21

Terrifying Two Weeks....

On Monday 28 Jan I started the day as per normal but during my lunch break I was rushing around trying to get too many jobs done in limited time. I knew I had over done it a little bit as I was feeling a bit yuck and puffed out so before I went to eat my lunch (good old roast veges & gravy!) I went to the toilet. I noticed a small patch of old blood on my underwear and as I wiped there was pink on the toilet paper. I stayed calm putting it down to the rushing around and thinking it would settle back once I relaxed. Had my lunch and checked again and it seemed to be getting worse. By 3pm it was definitely red new blood and I fell to pieces at work. Rang Miles and Mum and then St Georges Hospital as were were due to have our regular NT scan on Wed anyway. They managed to fit me in at 5pm so Miles met me at work and a friend from work dropped us off at the car. Then we went to the hospital but they said they needed a referral which of course was at home as we weren't due to have the scan till Wed. After calling the midwife and having no luck I remembered the Fertility Centre. Miles ran over and managed to get one from them thank goodness. They took us slightly early and all I can say really was that it was the most amazing experience in my life to see this little being wriggling around inside me. Pickle was alive and well - Very active. We even saw her/him opening and closing their mouth and doing lots of stretches and even hiccuping! It was just so beautiful - we'd both gone in with pretty negative views but came out ecstatic.
They couldn't see any reason for the bleeding so sent us home.
I'd love to say it ended there.......
But - the bleeding did stop that night but the following night I got extreme cramps, I felt awful. I had a hot water bottle all night but this didn't ease the pain much. The next afternoon I started bleeding again and once again it got steadily heavier. I ended up going to the Doctor on Wed who referred me to the Gynecology Assessment Unit in Christchurch Womens Hospital (CWH). Firstly we had a scan and once again - there was Pickle swimming around the screen. The scanners were so much clearer at CWH and we had some fantastic close up views. They managed to find a Hematoma outside the baby sac at the fundus end close to the Placenta. They said it was small but does slightly raise the chance of miscarriage but there's nothing we can do to stop it. Pretty scary really.
The bleeding stopped that day and I didn't have any problem until the following Wed 06 Feb. I woke up and sensed something was wrong. I felt very wet and when I pulled the sheets back there was a large amount of blood. When I stood up it gushed down my legs and onto the carpet. I yelled to Miles and then went to the toilet where more blood came out onto the floor and all over the toilet. This was way more terrifying than the earlier episodes. I called the midwife and once again we were referred immediately to the Gyn unit at CWH. They had skeleton staff on as it was Waitangi Day. We had a nurse use a Doppler to find the heartbeat which was nice and strong. Then we waited for another couple of Doctors to do a scan. It was just a mobile little push around scanner so we didn't see great detail or get any pictures but it was reassuring to see little Pickle all snug in her water balloon. They weren't able to give us any more information on the bleeding or whether the expelled blood was the remaining part of the Hematoma so we have to wait till our next scheduled scan at 19 or 20 weeks.
I'm still spotting now (Sun 10 Feb) and I'm just a little over it.... I hate this not knowing what is going on or what the end result will be.

Ultrasound Photos at 11 Weeks 6 Days.

These photos were taken on Mon 28 Jan 2008 at St Georges Hospital during our NT scan.

Ultrasound Photos at 12 Weeks 2 Days.

These photos were taken on 31 Jan 2008 at Christchurch Womens Hospital. The first one is a profile pickle shot and the second is a tiny foot. The whole foot measured 1cm !! Pickle is measuring approx 8.5cm at 12weeks 2 days.

Our first scare.

Ok, so Wednesday was my day off work and I'd been feeling really great so decided to tackle some baking. After making a batch of scones and cupcakes I decided I wasn't up to the challenge of making lunch as well so I whipped one of my frozen supermarket meals out of the freezer. BAD MOVE. I've had these before so didn't think anything would be wrong. I started eating it and thought - wow this tastes strange, salty and just kinda wrong. I thought maybe it was just my taste buds as they have changed a bit during the pregnancy so far. I ate about a third and decided nah I'll have toast and some fruit instead. Well, no problems for the rest of the day but 2.30am. Bang. Woke up with cramps - thought I might just need my usual nightly pee - got back into bed. Still painful. Hmmm maybe I have gas - as the minutes ticked by it got worse and worse until I went to the toilet and nearly blacked out. Had major diarrhea, gagging, head-spins, chills, sweating and clamminess. Poor Miles found me on the floor curled up in pain and wasn't sure what to do. After about 15 mins I was able to make it back to bed. I reassured Miles that I was sure I wasn't miscarrying as I wasn't bleeding and surely vomiting and diarrhea don't go hand in hand with miscarrying? I rang my midwife in the morning and she reassured me as well that this wouldn't have affected the baby but I needed to get lots of sleep and fluids.

SCARY STUFF - made us realise how much we love this little pickle already and how fragile he/she is.

Belly Photo's Week 8 - 11

Ok so I'm seeing changes.... Still doesn't look like I'm a major preggo chick yet.... Hmmm. Keep growing belly.

10 Weeks today !!!

Yippee. We're 10 weeks today. Changes are definitely more visible to Miles and I in my body but not really visible to others as yet - I just look like I ate more than my share of Christmas dinner over the Christmas break...
We went for a mini break up to Kaikoura and Golden Bay over New Year. It was a great trip but I got incredibly sun-burnt early on and now my bottom lip has 2 great big sun blisters on it and I have been on another round of antibiotics as my glands have all come up again. I have found I am more prone to travel sickness since becoming pregnant and found the hours of driving rather uncomfortable. I don't think we'll be going on any major road trips for the next few months now!!

So far I've put on approx 2 kg's. I seem to be swaying around the 1.6 to 2.3 kg mark which is all in the normal ranges so far which is great.
Lots of people have been saying now we're 10 weeks we can breathe a sigh of relief. I don't really feel comfortable doing that yet. I really feel that until I have that precious wee healthy bundle in my arms - I'll still worry all the way. We are scheduled to have our 12 week scan on 30 Jan and I am feeling extremely nervous about it. I have heard so many stories of people getting to the scan to find no sign of the baby. We would be beyond devastated and I don't think I would cope. My head is telling me - you've had no signs of problems, no bleeding, no cramping and surely there would be signs if something had gone wrong... But it's still hard not to worry when you're carrying something so incredibly special and precious inside you.