Ultrasound 3

This week was actually quite busy and I had two days of almost normal activity. Last Sunday in the market looking for furniture for the new house, I found this amazing shop that makes teak furniture in asian, classic, western and modern styles. After leafing through reams of catalogues, my eyes rested on a Chinese style tv stand. Naturally, I had to make some alterations to make it slightly more original and functional (hide away wires, fit DVDs into the square drawers etc). Since then I have also designed my own desk and am looking forward to going there to see if what I imagine on paper is at all possible in reality. Work has also been slowly mounting up again.. my private now comes three afternoons a week and I have done a few mornings at the school to cover for sick teachers or do testing. My time is also taken up with marking SAC essays.. which truthfully are driving me up the wall. Yes, this does mean that I am feeling good. My nausea has more or less disappeared, though I did vomit one night this week while brushing my teeth! Well, it was after a really nice birthday dinner with some friends. I think the combination of heavy rich Indian food and eating late was the cause which was then triggered by the taste of strong toothpaste and a toothbrush near the back of my throat.. lol.. details ;-)

The house is also ready for us to move in and the landlady already gave us the key. Huge disappointment with the sitting room floor though. A 'professional' tile cleaning company decided to put some chemicals on the floor, which instead of removing the stains as I had requested, stripped the colour and shine leaving the floor dull with even more grey patches. Deposits and first month's rent paid two weeks from moving in there isn't much that can be done. It was good practise for me not to get panicky and pedantic about it (for the pregnancy) so I had to let it go. Hope that our carpets will do the trick. Our elderly Thai landlady also (out of the goodness of her heart) bought us a dining table and chairs as we had requested. You can imagine the shock when I saw a round marble topped gaudy Chinese table with opulant carvings of ribbons and flowers painted in gold. This of course complete with eight chairs in similar style. The table top has a 'lazy daisy' (turn centre) which doesn't leave much room for western sized plates. Best intentions of course.. she paid 2,000 euros for it. All I wanted was a simple teak rectangular (all my table cloths are in this shape) table with either wooden or fabric chairs. I have seen beautiful dining table sets for 800 euros. Well, I really can't live with a table that looks like it belongs in an old fashioned palace, particularly next to our beautiful modern dark wood kitchen... so for now we are keeping the table and buying our own chairs. Hopefully a tablecloth will do the trick or we will eventually buy our own.

The head is now on the right hand side and you can see four (thankfully) white dots which are the limbs (arms and legs).
Today was our third ultrasound and once again everything was rosy. Our baby has doubled in size 2.97cm which corresponds to 9 weeks 6 days, meaning that it is one day bigger/older than it actually is (9wks 5days). It's heart rate is still as fast as it should be - 185bpm and most excitingly it has four limbs, a brain developing in the cranium (thanks to all the folic acid), the correct thickness of skin behind the neck (screening for Down Syndrome) and has even started boogying!! Restless little thing didn't stop moving.. bending and swaying :-) The doctor is very pleased and is confident that we are no longer at risk. Having said that he did warn us not to have sex (orgasms) yet.. until 3 months (that'll be almost 5 months without it.. don't think I have every abstained for that long!! Well, all for a great cause). He has okayed our trip to Portugal for christmas and doesn't foresee any complications. We won't get to know the sex until around 18 weeks.. I was hoping to tell the family as a christmas surprise.. but it'll have to wait until January more than likely. Our next ultrasound (they will no longer be vaginal and be through the belly instead) is in three weeks.. which will take us over the the crucial three month mark. I have to say, I feel wonderful and very confident. The only side effect I am having is tiredness which is easy to deal with. I consider myself lucky to be having such an easy pregnancy - well, considering the financial, physical and emotional strain we had to go through to actually get pregnant.. perhaps this is deserved :-) I still find myself counting my lucky stars that this has worked on our first IVF attempt.. a miracle in my eyes!

Heartbeat!!

Look how much bigger everything has become! Now, 1.37cms. You can see the head on the top.. looks a bit like a bean ;-)

Heartbeat.. 159 per minute! Feeling so happy.. everything finally feels real. I can start to believe that there is actually a live baby in there. Relief and joy prevail.

Walking down the hospital corridor after the ultrasound, emotions of sheer relief and happiness welled up, spilling tears over my cheeks. Amandio had his arm wrapped tightly around me - people who saw it must have thought that we had received some bad news.. but they were tears of happiness. I suddenly felt like I could finally trust everything. Hearing the baby's heartbeat had a profound impact on both of us. Amandio has become even more protective of me (tenderly placing a hand over my belly to secure the baby when we drive over bumps - as happens every second minute here on these streets!!) and he too feels confident. He can't tear his eyes away from children in restaurants, commenting on their actions.. he has even adopted a little gecko that has been living in our bathroom, feeding it ants! So, all is well - relaxing....

Updates: normal?

Life is slowly reestablishing itself. Not to give you a false impression.. the baby and crossing of fingers and toes that it is developing as it should be is always first and foremost on my mind. Last week was a time for socialising: a romantic Italian dinner with Amandio, Sunday brunch with our portuguese friend, staff dinner with work (see photos), Morrocon dinner with friends. Thankfully, I can still eat. My 'morning sickness' is non existant in the mornings and only rears its sickly head late afternoons and evenings. Though I haven't actually thrown up, I have come close many times. Those who know me well, know of my aversion to vomiting and how I will avoid and prevent it at all costs, despite the knowledge that it can help me feel better at times. The nausea is similar to what I get when I am really hungry (shaky, irritated, hot, dizzy and queasy) so my first reaction is to get something to eat. This sometimes helps... Eating has become less of what I feel like having but more what the baby needs. For instance, I met Amandio for lunch yesterday and we had lunch in an organic restaurant which is famed for its paninis (I am a huge fan). However, I sensibly chose vegetable soup and salmon (when does one ever really 'want' salmon?). I can't stand the smell of garlic anymore and after eating an egg a day for a week (good source of protein) my stomach turns at even the thought of them. Broccoli, an all time favourite vegetable, is another one that I overate and have become 'allergic' to. Oatmeal porridge has become my latest obsession.. we will see how long it takes for me to turn off it.


I started back at work yesterday teaching only two students (10am-12)... very relaxed. It feels great to be back in the office though being up and active that early did make me look a bit unsightly when I met all my colleagues. They were polite enough not to say it at the time, but the look of concern made it obvious and the tactful.. you are looking perkier now.. at the end of my lesson. Only teaching these girls every second day is great and also gives me time to teach a private student at home on the days I am off. A nice slow introduction back into the land of work.


The move is fast approaching and we are already busying ourselves with organising and, my favourite, throwing away things as well as getting removal companies in to give quotes. We have decided that we want them to pack our things too, which hopefully will make it all stress free. Unfortunately, asking them to unpack is futile seeing as we don't really have the furniture yet to do that. Therefore, we have been spending the past few days pouring through catalogues for shelving units, tv stands and desks. I think that a trip to Chatuchak market is in store ;-)


Right, I'm off to the pool to read 'Empress Orchid by Anchee Min' and get a bit of vitamin D in the morning sun.