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2004-06-09 - 12.09pm��previous entry��next entry
18 weeks, 5 days - fetus pictures!
Getting near to 19 weeks now! I am still nervous about my cervix so every week that passes without incident at the moment is gooood! I can't WAIT till my scan. I am being so boring about that lately. Every day I seem to say at least 3 times, "I can't WAIT for the scan!" Man, there are still 3 weeks and 1 day to go. Not that I'm counting or anything! ;)
Thanks for the guestbook messages! I plan to take a full "me" photo for the 20 week belly pic, because that will be my half-way mark and you should know that I have a head and feet as well as a belly. I think my last belly pic was somehow exaggerated (!!), because I'm sure I don't look as big as the photo shows me to be! I think it was that sweater top I was wearing, it made me look huge! I look smaller in shorts and a little summer stop, which frankly is still FAR too many layers now it's got this hot and humid. Bleurgh. I have never been good with heat, but yuck, I'm so glad I'm pregnant THIS summer and not the last one. That one was record-breakingly hot and unbearable. I don't know how any pregnant woman got through it! I have the fan on me a lot of the day at the moment and that works quite well.
Yesterday I went out (gasp!) for a walk (shock!) to the post office (not very far) and I bought stamps and posted a couple of letters (okay, cheques for eBay items!), and then I walked to Homebase and bought a new washing line (ours broke 2 days ago). On the way home I dropped my stamps somewhere, so when I got home I had to walk back along my route and find them. I did find them, and it meant that I got a good little time of exercise, maybe 30 minutes in total, which is good for me! But maaaaan I was so hot when I got home!! I had to sit in front of the fan eating a frozen Capri-Sun drink (the ones in the foil pouches). A popsicle or ice-lolly is not nearly big enough to cool me down sufficiently - I'm always still too hot by the time I've finished them. But a frozen 200ml drink works pretty well! :)
So yay, I went out!!! I have been getting dizzy here and there since Sunday. I can't tell if it's the heat or if it's the low blood pressure thing like at church. I do get really woozy when I stand up from lying or sitting, so I'm guessing low blood pressure. But the heat doesn't help I suppose. I can never be bothered to take my blood pressure when I'm actually feeling dizzy and gross, so I can't confirm it.
My UTI symptoms are much better now, whcih is lovely! It doesn't hurt to pee anymore so I'll wait on going back to the doctor. I have a suspicion I might get these symptoms on and off quite frequently, so as and when they come back I will go back to the doctor. I am good at getting sore pee, pregnant or not, infection or not. So we'll see. But yay, it's nice to feel better in that dept! Bean is a little rascal for kicking my bladder still, particularly at night, no matter what side I am lying on. It's still not exactly comfy but it's so much more bearable now my bladder doesn't feel sore.
I have pictures to show you!!! In my book (A Child is Born - Lennart Nilsson) there are amazing photos of fetuses in the womb at different stages. There's a set of photos on a double page spread where the writing says, "18 weeks - 9 inches long" I have been putting off scanning these pictures because I can't actually believe they are accurate. For one thing I did NOT believe that Bean was 9 inches long, but actually I think he/she must be, since Babycentre says a baby is 6 inches long from crown to rump at 18 weeks, and if you add legs to that you get roughly 9 inches. Yikes. I can't think where I'm keeping a NINE INCH baby in my not-as-big-as-the-photo-suggests bump!! That's HUGE!!!! But sometimes when Bean is lying really close to the surface of my tummy, we can trace a vague shape, and the curve of the back really is about 6 inches, and we imagine where the little legs must be curled up, and they would surely add up to another 2 or 3 inches. So yeah, the book must be right.
The other reason I can't believe the pictures in the book is that the baby in them is soooooo big and advanced!! I mean, so perfectly formed. I keep seeing Bean in my mind's eye as a little curvy creaturey thing (!), to my mind he/she still doesn't yet look like a fully developed baby. These pictures took my breath away. I just can't get my head round the fact that I must have a baby that far developed inside me.
Okay here are the pictures, and you'll see what I mean. The baby in these pictures is quite clearly a little girl! :)
See?! Isn't it amazing?!!! Look at the perfect little feet and hands, and the little gently pointed elbows!! I just cannot cannot cannot believe Bean looks anything like that, my head won't do it. But it must be true. Wow.
Seeing all those elbows and knees and bumpable parts (!) it is making a lot more sense to me now, how much I am getting bumped and pummelled! I get so many bumps all at once, sometimes in different places at the same time. Looking at those pictures it makes sense because there are just elbows and knees everywhere, not to mention the obvious punching bits - the hands and feet! I forgot that I might be feeling elbows and knees by now as well as the hands and feet. I just can't believe how well developed the baby is now. Wow.
What else can I say this entry? My appetite hasn't been so great since the weather got hot. Thankfully it's supposed to cool down a bit for the rest of the week, but it still feels just as hot and sticky to me today. I have been pretty queasy again this week, but again I don't know how much of that could be down to the heat. Pesky summery weather! ;) Bring on the cool, fresh rain, I say! Ahhh...
We asked Neil's parents what they want to be called this week, for after Bean is born. They were really sweet and said they would give my parents first choice. We told them my parents' choices (Nana and Grandy), and so Neil's parents selected Grandma and Grandpa. They wanted to be called those names from the start anyway, and Neil's mum sounded very pleased that my mum hadn't chosen Grandma! I like my parents' choices, they are more unique and special, which reflects my parents in any case. I don't mind that my children will have a Grandma and a Grandpa, but honestly I think those names are super dull. I don't mind them in the least, they just seem boring to me. But it's not important what I think! Neil's parents are the ones who will be called these names and they love them so that's cool.
We have yet to ask my own grandparents what the would like to be called, but I am planning to phone them today and ask. To me, they are Granny and Grandoug (my grandfather's name is Doug, and he chose Grandoug for his name when my parents were expecting me). But it seems weird to continue calling Granny, "Granny" because that's a grandparent name and she will be a GREAT grandparent. I don't know. I will ask them incase they want Bean to know them by a special name. I have a feeling Grandoug will stay Grandoug, but that's fine because it's unusual, and I like that! :)
We have made a final decision on names for Bean at last!!! We are now 100% decided on a full boy's name and a full girl's name! Woohoo! We spent most of last weekend going back to the drawing board and the books/lists, etc, because we had a difficult decision to make on the boy's name after some issues with a dear friend of mine. And while we were at it, we settled on a girl's name for sure! Yay! So we now have the names ready and waiting. We are saving them for when we find out Bean's sex, which we're hoping will be at the scan. As soon as we know what Bean's sex is, we will name him/her and start using his/her name from then on instead of Bean. I'm quite sad about the end of "Bean", because I've grown so fond of it! But I'm excited about having a baby with a real name, the name it will have all its life to come. Anyway so you will know the name just as soon as we know the sex!
Did I mention the scan is in 3 weeks and 1 day?! Heh. And that I can't WAIT?!!!!! All this waiting is doing my head in. I hope the next few weeks fly by, and that would be good for the cervix worries too.
My womb comes up to a fingerwidth below my tummy button now, and in the mornings when I'm lying in bed it's about an inch above my tummy button! This morning was the first time I felt my womb above the tummy button - very weird, but exciting! Bean is growing in there!!! :)
Okay there is a Royal Mail van outside and I'm going to finish because I'm hoping it's delivering something to meeee!!! Yay! I'll be sure to tell you next entry if I get anything exciting! :)
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