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. :)

A sigh of relief (10 weeks 6 days)

Our second midwife appointment was this morning. I have been anxiously awaiting it as I knew that she would be looking for the heartbeat. They say that once you've heard the heartbeat, the chances of miscarriage are greatly reduced. So needless to say, I was very very keen to hear that little ticker!

Our first appointment with Sonya when I was 10 weeks along with Ayva was when we first heard her heartbeat and I remember Sonya was able to find it so quickly. So I'll admit I did have expectations for this time around.

I let her know in advance that I was nervous and that I was really expecting to hear the heartbeat today...or would be needing a scan to confirm that all was well so that I didn't give myself a hernia waiting till next week.

To cut a long story short, she found it. But let's just say that by the time we heard that swoosh swoosh of baby's beating heart we both had beads of sweat perspiring from our foreheads. It took a really REALLY long time. I don't think she was going to give in though until she found it!

Ayva's Growth Chart

A Poem of Thanks

My beautiful castle and birds,
put up by my Mum in a cinch

greets me each glorious morning
to measure every last inch

So thanks to Great-Grama and Grampa
- now I finally know

With just one glance I see
I still have SO far to grow!

10 weeks 2 days

I didn't throw up this morning! YES!

And I almost didn't throw up yesterday morning.

I am still very very tired but when you consider what I'm brewing up in there, the exhaustion makes nothing but perfect sense.

And I do still feel glowingly happy about what we're doing...despite my eating us out of house and home :)

10 weeks

Today our little jumping bean graduates from "embryo" to "fetus", the classification it will stay in until it is born.


Pretty much everything is there now and we are entering a period of rapid growth (good-bye waistline!). I am too afraid to report on how I have been feeling for fear of jinxing myself again but if I were to report I would say that overall I have been feeling quite a bit better with mostly just morning nausea (occasional evening) and with very little (but some) improvement in my energy levels. Of course, I'm not going to report on how I'm feeling, so I won't be saying any of that. That's just what I would say if I WAS going to report.

In just 2 short days

Counting down currently to the 10 week mark when our wee one officially becomes a fetus and the placenta begins taking over some of the hormone production. From that point on the nausea, emotional chaos, and fatigue should start to slowly fade away (at least by weeks 16!) at which point I will be entering the honeymoon phase of the pregnancy.

Yes, please!

9 weeks

Our little embryo is not really a bean anymore. Rather, 1 to 1 1/4 inches (2.2 to 3cm) from head to butt. I am noticing now that my stomach is no longer returning to it's nice flat shape in the morning but rather there is a bit of a bulge :) Our baby is also starting to dance around in there and if it happens to connect it's hands with some other part of it's body, like one of those skinny little legs, then baby can wrap it's little fingers, already marked with it's own unique fingerprints, around it. Amazing.
(sorry the image isn't very clear, I had a bit of trouble finding a good one this week)


My cravings have really changed again. Protein is OUT and fruit/vegetables are IN. (Milkshakes are still okay though!) This baby is way more of an "impostor" than Ayva ever was. I didn't have many cravings while pregnant with her and certainly not these huge swings in preferences. I can't even look at chicken right now without heaving. Last week it was all I wanted to eat! I keep going out and stocking up on my latest craze and now there is all of this food sitting in the cupboard that I can't even look at! Thank goodness Bruce is a big eater...

Monty

Here's our beautiful little boy enjoying being home (and the chaos!) -


As a side - After I blogged about how much better I was feeling, things quickly turned south and I have returned to suffering from fairly debilitating all day nausea. But, as my (very Southern Kiwi) Mother-in-Law said - "Oh well, you'll get over it". :)
And she's right, just 3-4 more weeks. ugh - counting down to the end of the first trimester!

8 weeks 2 days

Friday again, but in much better spirits. I am feeling a million times better than I was this time last week. I have given in to my cravings (of which I am having a ton more than I ever did with Ayva) and my body seems to be rewarding me with less intense nausea that is lasting for a shorter period of time. It is now only in the morning really and the rest of the day I'm feeling pretty good (not counting the debilitating fatigue of course, but that I'm keeping in check with a nap in the middle of the day).

Unfortunately the house looks like a BOMB went off! I just can't seem to face it, when I have a spare 5 minutes all I want to do is sit. I'm refusing all guests until I can get myself sorted out. I'm hoping for a motivating husbandly hand this weekend as he has three days off with Queen's Birthday.

This week is important as it marks the 2nd month without my period. A very good sign that thing are on track and staying healthy. :)

It has been a short week this week as we were in Christchurch on Monday breaking Monty out of quarantine. It is so good to have him home. Ayva has gone absolutely bananas over him so he has gone to work today with Bruce for some peace and quiet! He has settled in really fast (there was actually no real "settling" to speak of), he just seems really happy to have his family (+ 1) back. It has been delightful having my afternoon naps on our bed with him :)

Another short week next week with the Queen's Birthday. Thank God for small favours!!

8 weeks

About the size of a quarter now inside a uterus the size of a grapefruit -

Pregnancy Folklore

Thought you might enjoy some of these weird and wacky old wives tales about gender.

If you got pregnant right away - your having a girl. (Well, that was true with Ayva) Tries for this baby - just the 1 (tries for our lost baby - just 1) If this were truly the case I would say Bruce and I are destined for only girls. If it takes more than 6 months, then it's a boy.

If your morning sickness lasts all day - its a girl! I seem to have a reprieve of a few hours in the middle of the day but yes, it's pretty much all day. If you're morning sickness is virtually non existent or gone by the end of the morning then it's a boy. What I wouldn't give for a boy!

Improved complexion means you having a girl - hmmm, that one's not true for me but then it wasn't true with Ayva either..

If you conceived under a full moon, then it's a girl - true for us this time (about 2-3 days prior)! Interesting, so I went and checked the lunar calendar for around the time that we conceived Ayva and sure enough, almost a full moon (exactly the same time on the lunar calendar, 2-3 days prior!!!).

Eating breakfast everyday and eating throughout the day, helps to have a boy. That is certainly true for me this time, not true last time.

If your having a boy, your pillow faces north when you sleep, if it's a girl then your pillow face south. So I thought about this, got out the compass and yes! I do rearrange my pillow to face North!! Amazing! Until I realized that then the other end of my pillow faces south. What sillyness! :)

If you crave protein, it's a boy (if you read the last blog, you know I'm CRAVING protein). If you crave sweets and orange juice then it's a girl. (definitely not!)

Hmm...Seems the old wives are split on whether we're having a girl or a boy. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

7 weeks 2 days

Friday here, the end of a very long week. I woke up this morning feeling very discouraged. I am nauseous all day long (which is incredibly debilitating), and struggling to sleep at night which is leaving me exhausted during the day. Bruce gets up and leaves us at 6.45 am and doesn't return until 6.15 - 6.30 at night. He has arrived home both Wednesday and Thursday evening to no dinner as I have just been too incapacitated to even cook. The strong smells of food are enough to make me sick. I am feeling a ton of guilt and the short 5 weeks that is needed to get us towards the end of the first trimester and on a plane to New York is seeming increasingly further and further away.
I also have had to give up my routine of juice with barley grass in the morning, followed by a fruit and nut milk smoothie and lunch was generally a salad, or raw veg wrap and then later freshly juiced carrots with some combo of vegetables. Now before you all start to wonder what's happening to the better part of my taste buds while I'm standing upside down on the other side of the world, let me explain.
This is all part of my new raw food diet, something I picked up after our miscarriage when I had felt so unwell for such a prolonged period of time. It seemed that I couldn't mentally or physically pick myself up and this dragged on for about 2 months when I discovered raw food and the amount of healing it could bring to a persons damaged body. I have spent a lot of time researching raw food, and although I had not converted 100%, I believed that I was seeing the effects of having a real balance of raw and cooked food in my diet. Raw food seemed to provide so much energy for me so I was eating it in the morning and as much as possible throughout the day. Sadly, I cannot stomach the sight of raw food, let alone eat it at the moment! At least not in the way that I had.
I get up now and consume a glass of milk (cows milk!! gross!) and wait for it to start to settle my stomach. Then all day long I crave breads, cheese, yogurt, eggs, chicken, protein, protein, protein, mostly animal protein which grosses out my vegetarian side but my pregnant side seems to be able to gobble it down just fine. I am really struggling to find a balance right now and am disappointed because I believed that I would provide my baby with this wonderful nutritious start in life and now instead all the little bean is getting is dairy cow products. :(
On the very bright side - we are headed to Christchurch this weekend to pick up Monty from quarantine!! Talk about excited Paterson family. Looking forward to curling up with Monty at nap time.

7 weeks

This is the embryo's hand at 6 weeks 6 days -


and here it is just 3 days later -


Our baby has an amazing growth spurt this week more than doubling in size (from 4 -5 mm to 11-13mm). So from the size of a pea to the size of a black bean! Our baby's tail is continuing to shrink while the brain and heart area are becoming more complex. The eyelid fold are forming as well as the tip of the nose and the arms now bend at the elbows.

First Midwife Appointment

When the midwife arrived at our house this morning for our first appointment, lets just say - she was not what I was expecting. Our Alexandra midwife has been a underweight middle aged woman who looked like she hadn't slept in over 2 years, was never on time, and was still reeling off the adrenaline of the last baby she'd delivered. Andrea, our current midwife, is a rather large and very relaxed looking woman who pulled up to the house at 10am on the dot. She is a very friendly and good humored woman full of good information, confidently presented and I am very happy with our choice. Andrea has around as many years experience in midwifery as I have years of life. Now don't get me wrong, we adored our crazy eyed adrenaline junkie, infact I phoned her to see if she could be our midwife again but unfortunately she is moving back down to Alexandra. Andrea was her recommendation, so thank you Sonya!

Now might be the point at which to mention our birthing plan, just to help people warm up to the idea, as I know that in the US this is not the regular approach. We have a sleep out behind our house that is currently tenented which we plan to use as the birthing room. In Nelson you can rent a birthing pool so we will have that set up out there and the midwife tells me we'll have to fill it quickly (and high looking at my height!) as she's predicting a quick labor based on Ayva's speedy descent into the world. No drugs, no instruments, just all natural!

She has bumped my due date up a day, making it January 7th. And putting me at 7 weeks today. Either way, it's all an estimate! We've decided to do a 12 week scan just to check things out and ease our minds after our recent loss, but Andrea assured me that it wasn't necessary as she could see no reason why this baby wouldn't go to full term. I feel confident in this pregnancy, it feels so much like the pregnancy with Ayva in '05. Except that I haven't put on any weight yet. (I had gained around 4 lbs by now with Ayva - so is this a boy??? Old Wives Tale - you chub up less with boys!)

Row Row Row Your Boat!

ah yeah, more cuteness....

In the Polls

This is the last time we'll mess with the name polls for a while, there were just a few glitches that needed sorted out. Firstly, you can now vote more than once from any computer, so if there is more than one voter in your household they can now have their say!

Bruce and I sat down last night and went through a name book so that we could give you a more realistic picture of names we thought we might actually give our child. We are having a really tough time (as you can see) with boys names. There doesn't seem to be much that we're interested in!

In regards to the boys name, we are currently thinking that we'll stick to the Paterson family naming tradition of the son's first boy being named after his grandfather. We do, however want our child to feel individual as well, so we will be calling the little monkey by his middle name exclusively. eg. G. Orion Paterson.

Happy voting and thanks for your input!!

As a side - it seems the pukeyness has begun - although I haven't lost my lunch yet, my stomach was very unsettled after dinner (it's the indian food the little bean is craving!) and then when I woke up this morning I felt very pukey indeed. I had to set aside my regular morning routine of OJ and Barley Grass (followed by a yummy smoothie) and had to settle for an immediate banana stomach settler. Alas, might be time for crackers by the bed side...

6 weeks

The Beginning of the Embryonic Period -


From now until week 10, it is one of the most critical and sensitive times in the baby's development. Most malformations occur within these four weeks.

My body has been taken over by a very demanding little 4mm bean.
1. Eat 2. drink 3. pee (repeat steps 123 hourly until baby is born).

I am so hungry now that it seems I can't go two hours at a time without eating. I went into the supermarket this morning on an empty stomach (empty = haven't eaten in the past 2 hours) and I damn near came out with the entire store stuffed into their little trolly. Our little bean is currently craving chocolate and Indian food (good tastes! - I can live with that:)

To stay on top of the fatigue, I'm having a nana nap every day when Ayva takes hers. And then I barely make it to 8.30pm before I'm ready to crash again.

I'm already up once a night to empty my bladder. This, in my professional opinion, is by far one of the most annoying symptoms of early pregnancy.

We have definitely hit full first trimester pregnancy swing!

Dancing Monkey

A Poem

Hey look, a banana!!
Thanks for that Grandma -

Despite your gaul bladder
You've shown that I matter

For me, its off to the shops
Won't you say hi to Pops

Hope your singing a new tune
And you get better soon!

I think the video speaks for its self. (Isn't she cute?!)
Miss Ayva -


FYI - If you would like to comment on any of the posts there is a button at the bottom of each blog entry titled "0 comments", or 1 comment etc depending on the number already left. We'd love to hear from you!

Happy Mother's Day (5 weeks 3 days)

We've been away this weekend with friends down in Hanmer Springs celebrating our 2 year olds joint birthdays and visiting our beloved Monty at the Canterbury Quarantine where he has currently served out half of his 30 day sentence.

On Thursday we hit the 5 weeks mark - a real milestone for us since we lost our baby #2 in February at 5 weeks. Admittedly, I'm still feeling a little paranoid about losing this baby but trying to suppress the feeling since there is no real reason we shouldn't be able to carry this one to term. Every day right now feels like a real gift.

No exciting pregnancy symptoms to report yet. Sometimes I feel as though the whole thing is rather imagined...except then i feel that *empty* pit in my stomach just a 2-3 hours after I last ate a full meal and then I remember that there are small hints all the time and that I am not dreaming, (which normally results in a small panic attack and then I'm fine again) :)

This week our little bean has developed a heartbeat, an umbilical cord and arm and leg buds! See?! -

Ayva's 2!!! (4 weeks 5 days)

We are celebrating Ayva's second birthday today. Big Kid!!



As the baby name polls don't allow me to make changes easily without losing everyone's votes, I am going to set them up by trimester. Each trimester, depending on the votes that we have received we will set up a new poll until we finally come to a decision. This poll finishes June 26th. Thank you all for your input!

4 weeks 4 days

Seems I've made a bit of a mistake with the dates and am one day ahead of where we thought we were!!! Hey, every little bit counts :)

Our official due date is January 8th, 2009

I also did a test this morning and got some slightly more convincing results

4 weeks 2 days

a photo -


This is what our new addition looks like now. More lizard than human but we love our little bean anyway :)

I have added a name poll onto the left hand side. This is very preliminary as we haven't thought all that much about names yet so you can expect it to change and evolve over time. I'm sure more names will be added as we think of them and others removed as we get sick of them. Please feel free put your votes in all along the way, and if you change your mind or your choice dissapears just vote again!!

4 weeks

Ladies and gentlemen - we have a winner!!!


I've missed my period now and have 3 (very faint) positive pregnancy tests, so...

I'M PRETTY SURE I'M PREGNANT!!!

Telling Bruce was the BEST feeling and we are so very happy and excited and nervous (all rolled up into one big bundle of baby expectation!)

Can You See It?! (3 weeks 5 days)

After about a week of feeling "funny" I decided that perhaps I could do a pregnancy test and see if it would confirm my suspicions.

The test time for the stick is 5 mins - after that you have to throw it away and never look at it again.

4 mins...nothing
4 1/2 mins...nothing
4 mins and 59 secs...nothi...is that a faint faint faint line?!?