29 weeks 3 days

I can't seem to keep up with the blog at the moment, I hoped to report in weekly but with the amount of winter illness Ayva has suffered I seem to be spending a fair amount of time on my toes!

Last week when we took Ayva into the hospital for a fever of 40C (104F) and a mouth covered in ulcers they did a slew of tests relating to the previous bout of Lyme Disease, wanting to make sure that the illness wasn't related. It wasn't and her blood work came back all normal but the ECG she had did not so we have to go back into the hospital as the doctor is hopeful that the leads were just not connected properly and that her heart is in fact just fine. We are hopeful as well.

Bubs weighs over 2 lbs now and I should have gained around 25lbs (we don't own a scale but Bruce lets out a little unintentional groan, so my number must be around there somewhere!)

Welcome to the Third Trimester...

That was fast! I have arrived at the beginning of the end of my pregnancy. Part of me is relieved, and the other is part is slowly beginning to shake in it's boots.

The relieved part is physical, it's hard work making a person! You have to (or at least are meant to!) consider everything you put into your body, most of the time you are fatigued and/or vomiting (at least in my case), your immune system can't keep up with everything your body is busy doing so every bug your toddler brings home, you get a dose of...

The scared part is definitely mental. How on earth will I manage TWO small children and what on earth possessed me to think that I wanted to go back to night feeding, unexplained crying and 2 more years of nappies (diapers)?!? Ayva has become so much fun and so EASY, why throw a newborn spanner in the works?! Alas my dear, too late now :)

Our baby girl is around or over 2 lbs and 14.5 inches from head to toe. This week scientists believe she will begin dreaming. At least her brain is definitely active. She is now working hard to put on fat stores. Lots of growth (and chubbing up) over the next three weeks.

I too will be doing a lot of growth (and chubbing up!!) over the next 3 months. This is also when one begins to feel tired again (what!? I just got my energy back). I've started getting mild leg cramps. With Ayva I would wake screaming from the pain. Apparently magnesium helps to keep them at bay so I've been stocking up on bananas.

26 weeks

Our daughter is opening her eyes this week and taking in her very dark existence. If we shine a light at my belly she will be able to see it and turn her head in response. Her hearing is much improved now as well, so she should be hearing Mum and Dad when they're arguing over what to name her.

She is now weighing just under 2 lbs and is about 9 inches from crown to rump, 14 inches from head to toe. She must be a bit of a taco by now.

In other news, poor Ayva, who has been ill for about the last 8 weeks, seems to finally be on the mend. On Tuesday I took her to a Naturapath for some help with building her immune system. We have never used an "alternative" therapist before so this was all a bit of an eye opener for me and I can't say that I left his office feeling convinced that our money was well spent but it is now three days later and Ayva is the best she's been in quite some time. So for now - One for the "Quack", and Zero for our GP!

25 weeks

Wow - our little baby girl weighs a whole pound and a 1/2 and measures somewhere between 8 - 11 inches long!

Sorry to have been away from the blog for so long but we have been dealing with Ayva's lymes disease, a trip to family down south, another awful cold that has hit Ayva and I both and just won't go away, and a month of straight rain that has left the whole of Nelson feeling pretty unmotivated!

Not a lot has happened with baby this last month. We are still awaiting a name to fall from the heavens and thump us on the head. People have started to tell me in the last month that I have "popped". A polite way of saying - "Holy ----, where did that come from!" There has definitely been some steady weight gain over the last month. I have gained 15lbs total thus far. If I were to reach the weight I was with Ayva at delivery I would have 18lbs left to gain, which shouldn't prove to be a problem since I am suddenly starving all the time! According to i-am-pregnant.com, my uterus is around the size of a soccer ball now.

From 25 weeks on a baby has a good chance of surviving if delivered but we're planning to keep our little bun in the oven for around 13-15 more weeks.

I recently found out that the midwife that delivered Ayva has not moved back to Alexandra as she was unable to sell her house in time so I have asked her to take over from Andrea and deliver our second baby as well. Bruce and I are really excited about this shift as we feel very comfortable with Sonya and there is a feeling of "been there, done that" with her.

In Ayva news - she got her first black eye last week. Apparently one of the kids at her pre-school was swinging a bat and Ayva walked between him and the ball. They assure me she was very brave and didn't cry for long at all - sounds like our tough little nut.

21 weeks

Our wee baby girl is kicking up a storm. She's especially active after dinner until I go to bed - or maybe that's just when I notice it the most since it's the only time I get to sit down. She weighs somewhere around 3/4 of a pound and is about 10 1/2 inches from head to toe. Her tongue is fully formed this week and she is in there practicing blowing rasberries. Her skin is finally developing some colour and her white blood cells are now under production.



I am starting to feel "the squish" now when I'm sitting down. It is becoming just a bit uncomfortable around the rib cage area. Sleep is also becoming a bit more elusive, with the loose joints in my hips aching at night.

20 weeks and It's a ...

GIRL!!

We are so excited! It was hard to anticipate how we would feel when the sonographer made the *big* announcement but we were both stoked. It really changes the experience of the pregnancy when you can talk about her and she, so I'm glad we decided to find out what I was brewing in there.

And how easy a girl will make things! They can share a room and we already have a ton of clothes from Ayva's extensive wardrobe (now we can focus our finances on far more important things like a dryer and maybe a car that isn't falling apart!)

Plus, the sister bond is one of the most magical and lifelong. I think Ayva is truly blessed to be expecting a little sister.

So Yay for little girls!!! They are just the cutest, and if they make hard work during the teenage years we can always send them to boarding school! :)

19 weeks

Hard to believe that we're rounding the corner on half way. This is a picture of baby at 18 weeks but I can't imagine that things have changed too much in the last week.
I am really feeling the baby move a ton now and feeling real big kicks at times. After seeing the length of this baby's legs though I'm not surprised!

We flew home last week around 18 weeks and have had to spend the last week recovering (hence the lack of posts). Ayva and I have both come down with something so poor Bruce has been trying to balance work and taking care of his two girls.

On Monday after arriving home we caught up with our midwife and she said everthing is progressing well. Ayva was very interested to hear what the baby had to say on the little fetal monitor and when Andrea found the heartbeat and it started chugging away Ayva said "Toot toot!". I think she thinks her little baby brother or sister is in there playing with a train set.

Our scan is scheduled for Friday next week when they should be able to see the sex of the baby (if baby is willing to co-operate).

17 weeks

Baby has doubled it's weight over the last 2 weeks and now weighs in at a whopping 3.5 ounces. It has grown hair on it's head and it's eyebrows and eyelashes are filling in. The baby should measure about 5 inches in length but since we saw ours yesterday (more to come) we know that it has a short body and some long skinny legs!



Open mouth, insert foot -

We took a trip to the emergency room yesterday after 3 days of no fetal movements. I was convinced that something was fatally wrong. After waiting for 4 hours we finally got to hear a healthy heartbeat and then they did the ultrasound to take measurements and make sure baby had 10 fingers and 10 toes. It was a very expensive way of getting some peace of mind but well worth it for everyone. (since I had managed to upset everyone in the house by this point). I felt like a real hypersensitive first time mother but the staff were very friendly (except the ultrasound tech) and treated me with respect. Baby was still 3 days small according to it's measurements (+ or - 8 days).

In other news - Ayva's having a great time splashing G'ma. Don't worry, G'ma had a great time splashing Ayva!

16 weeks

Here it is - the beginning of my baby belly...

to be honest though, I had to have a huge lunch to make it look this good :)

I am definitely feeling the baby move now, at first it was hard to tell if it was gas or baby but now it's more clear and baby seems to be consistently wiggly after dinner each night (possibly struggling to make some more room in there).

Rhinebeck, NY 12572

4th of July fireworks celebration -


Ayva having her first tractor lesson (she's had several since...) -


This is the project that's been keeping Bruce so busy -


Ayva's rain dance :)

15 weeks

Finally the nausea is disappearing and I am beginning to feel like a slightly more normal version of myself. Unfortunately, I can't seem to knock the overwhelming exhaustion, but maybe that's just the way it is with number 2. There's a bump there now but it looks more like one too many cheeseburgers rather than an expectant baby bump.

Baby's fingernails and toenails are starting to grow as well as eyebrows and the hair on his/her head. It also looks more like a baby as the legs are now longer than the arms and the body is finally bigger than the head.

14 weeks

There seem to be three ends to the first trimester, at 12 weeks when the pregnant woman wants it to be over, at 13 weeks when most publications state the end of the first trimester and then at week 14, when a handful more concede the end of the first third. I definitely think that in my case it is best to aim for the later date to focus on as a close end to the misery. Reading through the maternity notes with Ayva, I was still nauseus at 16 weeks and I am definitely still pukey and tired this time around as well.

If we're having a boy, then the prostate gland develops this week. For a wee girl this week, the ovaries move from the abdomen to the pelvis. Baby's bones are getting harder and stronger by the day and the thyroid gland has matured and now baby begins producing hormones which will be used throughout his or her life.

Baby Boogie (13 weeks 5 days)

They say you feel the baby move earlier on in your second pregnancy and I am 90% sure that's what I felt give me a little tickle today.  

I didn't know if I'd be able to recognize it earlier this time or if I'd have to wait until the typical 16 week + mark. I was worried I would confuse it with gas but it's quite a unique feeling.  Very light and gentle, just a flicker, like a "butterfly kiss" but on the inside.  

13 weeks

This week we officially begin the second trimester, the "honeymoon stage of pregnancy".

After the ultrasound, I decided to put our due date back from the midwifes date to mine on the 9th of January so this week had an extra 2 days!

Our baby is now about 3 inches from the top of the head to the end of the buttock and is certainly beginning to make some changes to my waistline.  I seem to be coming out the front this pregnancy rather than the sides which is how I carried Ayva, still it might be a touch too early to tell just yet.   

I threw up again this morning, so clearly I'm going to have to wait a little bit longer before the honeymoon begins.  I found some morning sickness vitamins that worked a treat for about a week but the effect seems to be wearing off now.

I am excited, however, to be in New York and feel very positive just being able to soak up the summer sun, heat, and fresh food.

Sweet Home Rhinebeck, New York

What started out as a fairly promising trip out of Nelson, New Zealand for the Paterson family quickly turned to custard when the flight out of Auckland was delayed by 8 hours, making our new departure time 2 am the next day.  We had cleverly skipped Ayva's afternoon nap so that she would sleep on the overnight Auckland/LA flight, but when it was delayed she gave us a 1 hour kip in the Auckland airport and then got up to spend the rest of the time playing and making friends with the other rather disgruntled passengers.  

When they finally boarded us onto the flight, Bruce and I were more than ready to crash.  Not long after taking off, Ayva was asleep, and Bruce and I settled in for the long haul.  Not more than an hour later, the entire plane was awoken by the screaming of a wild banshee, as I wiped the sleep from my eyes, I quickly realized that the screaming was coming from our littlest bundle of joy.  Her eyes were completely glazed over and she had this wild look about her, not completely awake yet.  As Bruce and I tried to console her the screaming got worse and a flight attendant came by and kindly informed us that there was a large space at the back of the plane if we would like to try walking her around for a bit.  Calming Ayva consumed the next hour and when we finally restored order to the airplane, Ayva was wide awake and rearing to go.  

For the rest of the 12 hour flight Ayva slept for a total of 1 1/2 hours.  Bruce and I took turns trying to get some shut eye.  At one point we looked at each and said "Which one of us is going to tell Mom that we're never going home?!"  

We had another 5 hours in the airport which Ayva spent wide awake and playing with two little Jewish kids she roped into chasing a ball after she threw it for them.  When they called us for the flight to NY, Bruce and I were beside ourselves with exhaustion, and headed for the plane, stumbling down the gangway, accompanied by Miss Ayva dancing and skipping her way onto yet another exciting plane ride.  As we took our seats, Bruce and I glanced at one another with that desperate "is it your turn or mine to sleep??".  Luckily by the time we decided which of us would be getting the next rest shift we looked between us and there was our little angel passed out and snoring in her little seat.

Ayva stayed in that exact position until the plane landed in New York.  We had to wake her to get off the plane.  As Bruce carried her off you could hear her little voice say "bye-bye plane".  Ayva had had a great trip and besides the one hour of uncontrollable banshee screaming she had been in good spirits the entire time, but Bruce and I walked off that plane very different people.  

I will be returning home with Bruce, rather than ever extending my tickets, and I will never again plan to travel back to the US on my own with a toddler.  There is no way that trip would have been possible if one of us had been without the other.  I question, once there are two children, whether Bruce will ever consent to another trip before the youngest is over the age of 4 (maybe 5!).

Once in NY, Ayva took a 3 hour nap and then slept for another 15 hours overnight...

Bruce and I are still recovering.

12 week Scan

We took some video of the scan but I'm having trouble uploading it so here are a few photos in the mean time. The first one is a profile of our baby. If you look on the left hand side you can see a little foot (it looks to be floating in mid air but I assure you it's
attached to a leg).
In this shot baby is looking directly at you. You can see both hemispheres of the brain and the eye sockets.


This last shot is our wee alien child giving you a big old wave hello!


Between 11 and 14 weeks they can measure a fold on the back of the baby's neck and tell if you have an increased chance of having a baby with Down Syndrome or other chromosonal abnormalities. The fold on our baby was so tiny that she had an awful time getting a measurement. She got me in there three times over the course of the day hoping the baby would be in a better position. It seems our baby is on the small size, only measuring 11 weeks 3 days. According to the midwife dates (which she bases off of my period) that makes the baby 5 days small, but according to when I know it had to have happened ;) it is only 3 days small, and that is within the range of normal, small...but normal.

12 weeks and 2nd trimester names

Wow - tiny feet!




Our our little bean sprout is pretty much fully developed now and looking far more like a real person than a tadpole, although the head still makes up about half of the body. Many of the vital organs are already working and the baby can swallow and pee.

I am noticing that my tummy no longer goes back to normal when I wake up in the morning and at times I catch my reflection and think - wow, I might be starting to look pregnant. If so, then that is far earlier than I began showing with Ayva.

Tomorrow we go in for our 12 week ultrasound. I am very excited to see the baby jumping around in there, since it will still be a few more weeks before I can feel it.

I've put up the new baby names. Feel free to cast your vote. If you don't like any of them then I suggest you pick the one that you think you can best tolerate! We're actually so desperate for a boys name that we're willing at this point to take suggestions. Go ahead and give us what you've got! :)

Emergency Room Visit

(Don't panic - not for me or our growing bean sprout).

Ayva and I were playing this morning and she was crawling all over me so I grabbed a hold of her two hands and was swinging her backwards to which she was responding with a fantastic grin when all of the sudden her face changed and she gave me this look of "how could you - your own daughter!", dropped to the floor holding her arm and began to scream. In walks awful pangs of guilt and I am left wondering "what just happened?!". Ayva is very upset for the next hour at which point she proceeded to pass out in my arms and sleep for the next hour. Bruce is fairly relaxed but I am not. When she wakes up and still seems to be in such a terrible amount of pain, we decide it's time to head to the emergency room.

When we arrive she is still whimpering like a beat dog and I carry her in, cradled in my arms, looking very pathetic, and explain that we need to see a doctor, my daughter is in an enormous amount of pain, we think there's something wrong with her arm because she hasn't moved it since the incident.

"uh huh, yes, and how did she hurt her arm then, Dear?"

"ah, well - ruff housing with me, Mam"

"Hmmm...(sceptical child beater face)...I see. Take a seat then and we'll be right with you."

I'm pretty sure the nurse took in the bump on Ayva's forhead and the fresh scratches down the side of her face (she had a cat run in this morning...!).

We sat down to wait. Naturally, as all children do when they're brought into the emergency room by their frantic parents, Ayva begins to perk up. Then she crawls off my lap and starts waving at the passing cars (with her good hand). She proceeds to cradle the sore hand - but that's a marked improvement since every time Bruce or I went near it she started to scream. Bruce and I start to giggle as she starts wandering around the emergency room, cradling her arm, and looking at all the other patients like "what's up with you?" The nurse flashes us a "it's not a laughing matter when you abuse your kids" look. We put our heads down and went back to our trashy waiting room magazines (like that would somehow make us look like more respectable parents!)

After about an hour they finally called us in and the nurse ushered us into the kids room, at which point we commented to Ayva - "you've been in here before, haven't you love?".

"Have you really? (So you beat your children often then do you?)" asks the nurse, arching her child abuse eyebrow, as we quickly start stuttering out a story about food intolerances, and a colic reaction.

Once we explained what had happened the nurse looked quite relaxed, stating "I think I know what it is, it's quite common for children this age to dislocate their elbow." (DISLOCATED HER ELBOW?!?) Before we even register what she's done, Ayva is in tears, and the nurse is dusting off her hands stating that she'll return in 15 minutes to check on us but that Ayva should be fine and using her arm again in minutes.

Well I'll be damned, that's exactly what happened. Ayva was fine within a few minutes, wrapping her (both!) arms around Bruce's neck for a hug and then jumping off the examination bed to deliver the same to me. Fine. She was absolutely fine. It was as though it had never happened and she hasn't mentioned it since.

11 weeks 4 days

It has recently come to my attention that the little person that I am carrying is the very LAST chance to carry on the George Paterson line, that since Bruce's parents have had 3 girls before finally conceiving Bruce, he is the only child carrying the Paterson name and so regardless of how many sons their girls have, his would be the only one that would be a "Paterson".

Sheesh, no pressure Kristin!

I'm thinking it's a little girl, simply because it seems too "perfect" to get one of each, and also because not one of my friends in Nelson has managed to have anything but the same sex of child for number 2. This could just be a matter of water you know- nothing to be done about it...

It would not disappoint me in the slightest to have a girl, I think that the sister relationship is one of the most wonderful and unique. Ayva will be a very lucky girl if she gets a sister out of this. I will have my work cut out for me in about 14 year if Ayva gets a sister out of this.

That said my very initial gut feeling when I first knew I was pregnant was that it was a boy - but it was a fleeting moment and may have been swayed by the fact that I was rather excited about having just found the name Orion.

Speaking of names, I am very excited to reveal the new name lists. We've been working very hard on picking some great new names for y'all to vote on (Wednesday is the big day). And looks like we'll be saying goodbye to some of our beloved favorites, Pacey, Gwyn (bruce never really liked that one), and Sylvie.

11 weeks

(Sorry to steal ;) your photo this week Katy but it seemed to be the only 11 weeker I could find - neat shot too!)



Our babies skin is still see through and will be for a lot longer yet but it's hair and nails are already starting to grow. If born now, you would be able to tell whether we were having a boy or a girl, but I think we'll keep cooking and see what they have to say at the 20 weeks scan. The little kidneys begin to function this week, and our baby is already practicing swallowing and can get the hiccups (cute!).

We are already a quarter of our way through this pregnancy! Over the next 9 weeks (which will see us through to the halfway point) our baby will increase it's weight by 30 times and will triple in length, so needless to say - I have a lot of work to do!

I am feeling better on and off now. I haven't thrown up in 3 straight mornings but am still just as tired. I can't wait to start feeling a little more like myself. The size of my stomach seems to fluctuate throughout the day from pretty much normal (maybe a little extra pooch at this point) to I'd say around 4 months pregnant. Since the uterus is only now growing out of my pelvis, I know that all that "baby belly" is actually the massive amount of food that I've consumed that day. :)