Archive for August, 2007

17 weeks


28 Aug

Andrew has now been photographing my belly each week for 2 weeks, so we have 3 lots of photographs. It does seem that my belly has changed shape ever so slightly in that time. I haven’t outgrown any of my clothes yet, except my bras but I did that ages ago but am too lazy to be bothered buying any new ones yet.

There’s not really much else to report. I haven’t weighed myself in the last week, so I don’t know what’s happening weight wise. I’ve been having some little intermittent pains low down, more in the pelvic area, but I don’t know what’s causing them. I don’t know if it’s the baby moving, just general stretching, or something else.  Every morning and every evening I lie on my back in bed and concentrate on my belly, but so far I haven’t been able to identify anything as being the baby moving.  I guess it’s just early days yet, there’s plenty of time to feel the baby kicking.  Andrew keeps telling it to kick me, but so far it’s not listening to him either.  Mind you, it can’t hear yet, so maybe that’s part of the problem.  hehe.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 17 weeks pregnant which is the beginning of week 18. Your baby measures about 19 cm long from head to toe and weighs about 280 grams. Many women elect to have a routine ultrasound between 18 to 20 weeks (usually at 19 weeks). Unborn babies need to be at least 18 weeks gestation for the ultrasonographer to clearly see the normal physical structures of their body, including their heart, lungs, kidneys, brain and spine. An experienced ultrasonographer may even be able to tell if your baby is a girl or a boy by this stage (although this is not always 100% accurate!)

Your baby’s skin is still fine, transparent and slightly wrinkled because they do not have a layer of fat yet. The many blood vessels flowing underneath their skin makes it appear purply-red. The scant whiskers of hair on various parts of your baby’s body have now become a fine layer of down covering them all over (called ‘lanugo’). This hair helps protect your baby’s skin and is only shed a few weeks before they are due to be born.

Your baby will now explore their own body with their hands and if you are having twins or more they may try and locate each other, by touching and exploring the body of their brother or sister. There is plenty of fluid around your baby at this stage, allowing it to turn, twist and change position frequently. Some women definitely feel their baby move now (called ‘quickening’), however for many others, this exciting event is not experienced until 20 to 22 weeks.

The lives of others


28 Aug

Last week Iris organised dinner and a movie at Govindas. Andrew and I had been talking about going back there, because we had such a wonderful time last time we were there. Unfortunately, however, whenever we were free there weren’t any movies that interested us showing there.

Iris decided to take her friend there, and invited Andrew and I as well. The food, as last time, was delicious. I just love the dahl soup they have, it is so very tasty. Then at around 9:15 pm we paid and went up to the cinema which has very comfy lounge-like seats. The movie was called ‘The Lives of Others’, and was in German with English subtitles. It was very interesting, and I really enjoyed it. It was set in the years before the fall of the wall in Germany, with the last bit finishing a few years after the fall. I loved the ending, too, it really was a perfect way to finish the movie.

Six for Sydney


26 Aug

A week ago marked 6 years since I moved to Sydney and started work at uni. I left Melbourne on Sunday August 19 2001 to drive to Sydney, and started work on Wednesday August 22. It seems like such a long time ago now. Most of the time I really enjoy my work. There are times, though, when I don’t feel that I’m doing anything really worthwhile for my fellow humans or the planet/environment.

I’m also starting to feel a little lonely at work. The uni has quite a high turnover of people (staff, students) and so you find that while you make lots of friends, they generally leave again. In the last 12 months my boss has left, and Cheryl has gone back to England. Even if we were working on different things, Cheryl and I would often eat lunch together. Now Aurelie and I occasionally have lunch together, and Aurelie is great to chat to in the lab, but she’s going back to France for a month and then she’ll be back for about 4 months before she leaves again.  Sven was back in Australia for a week just recently, and as we sat around for our Monday morning tea, he realised that in the last 2 years since he left Australia we’ve had a lot of new people come to the Centre.  I realised then that there aren’t many people left who were around when I started work…just 4 out of some 20 people or so.

Life is generally a lot better than it was 6 years ago.  I have a home in  Sydney now, though it took a long time to find a place to settle down in and feel comfortable.  I have a husband, a baby on the way, and the Masters is all but finished.  But I do still miss my friends and family that I left behind in Victoria.

16 weeks


21 Aug

I seem to have stopped itching, thankfully.  I don’t know what that was about, I was itchy for weeks!  Otherwise, my belly seems to be starting to grow, though I’m definately not at the stage where anyone would look at me and think I’m pregnant!  So far I haven’t put on any weight from my pre-pregnancy weight, even though it has fluctuated a few kg up and down in the last few months.  But I seem to be back to my starting point now.  I guess it will start going up soon. 

From Birth.com.au

You are now 16 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 17.  Your baby is about 17 cm long from head to toe and weighs approximately 200 grams.

Itchy


18 Aug

I’ve been so very itchy lately.  My back, shoulders and legs from the knees to the ankles have been the biggest culprits.  I’ve scratched my legs so much that there are scabs all over them now, and I have to keep asking Andrew to scratch my back, particularly around the shoulder blades!  There doesn’t seem to be any obvious reason as to why I itch, though Andrew says that the skin on my back is dry at the moment.  I just want all this itching to stop!!!

Godfather


18 Aug

Last Saturday was Angela’s christening. Andrew, as godfather, was a big part of the ceremony. Andrew had worried about being Angela’s godfather because he’s not religious, but Gabe and Julie had assured him that they thought it was more about the relationship that Andrew has with Angela rather than him providing a spiritual role model for her. So he had accepted, but in the ceremony he had to read some passages that said he believed in God, so I’ve been picking on him ever since and asking what sort of a godfather he’ll make since he’s lied from the start!!

It was a lovely ceremony that I found rather interesting, having never been to a christening before. I’d been asked to take photos of the event, but I was really nervous about walking around and using a flash until the priest/father indicated that I could, which was very nice of him.

After the ceremony we all went back to a hall near Gabe and Julie’s place that had been set up for the gathering, to celebrate her christening and first birthday. In fact, Andrew and I had been around at their house all morning so that they had time do what needed to be done. Angela had a rather extended birthday celebration, with a BBQ with just Gabe, Julie, Andrew, the kids and I on her actual birthday, a birthday celebration at Carol’s house the following weekend, and then the big birthday/christening some 3 weeks later.

Angela was a bit hot in her christening gown, and although Gabe tried to get me to take photos of everyone with Angela, he had to give up because she was very grumpy. After a change of clothes, however, she was fine and spent most of the evening being passed around and sitting on people’s laps.

15 weeks


14 Aug

Andrew took the first photo of my belly on the weekend. It’s a shame that we don’t have a really early photo so we can see the difference. I don’t particularly like having photos taken of me, and to bare my belly for photos is even worse. But I’m sure that one day I’ll appreciate that we have them. Andrew is under strict instructions not to let anyone else see them though!

I am still feeling well, this pregnancy thing is a bit of a breeze so far! I’m a little nervous about the appointment with the doctor next week though. I hate the thought that my blood pressure might still be high…I don’t want high blood pressure!! It also means they may not let me go to the Birth Centre, but I guess all I can do right now is wait and see.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 15 weeks pregnant which is the beginning of week 16. Your baby has grown to around 15 cms in length from head to toe, or about 10cms from ‘crown to rump’. It probably weighs about 120 grams and are more in proportion physically, but it’s head still accounts for about 1/3 of their body.

When lying down, the top of your uterus (or fundus) can now be felt hearly half way between your pubic bone and belly button. Women who have had a baby before may start to feel small sensations of their baby’s movements this week, but this is more common between 18 and 22 weeks.

A few women start producing colostrum from their breasts after 16 weeks to 20 weeks of pregnancy (although this does not happen for every pregnant woman and is not a reflection of your ability to breastfeed your baby). Colostrum is the first fluid a woman’s breasts produce. It is a clear or creamy-yellow substance that is syrupy in consistency. It may be possible for you to hand express drops of colostrum from your nipples during pregnancy. Or you may notice colostrum leaking.

Your baby’s vocal chords are now formed and they now make different facial expressions. They can grasp with their hands and suck their thumb and may explore the inside of your uterus with their hands. If your uterus is pressed from the outside, this may produce a small startle response in your baby. One of the many normal newborn reflexes present after birth.

The amniotic fluid increases around your baby, so they move freely, floating like an astronaut in space and their umbilical cord is now completely mature. The cord contains two arteries and one vein, enclosed and protected by a thick gristle-like substance called ‘Wharton’s Jelly’. This makes the cord slippery and allows it to move freely around your baby and avoid compression.

Sydney boat show


07 Aug

On Saturday we went to the Pyrmont Farmers Market and afterwards had a walk around Cockle Bay to have a look at the boat show.  There were some magnificent boats on display!  We also came across a boat building competition where the competitors had to build a boat from the supplied materials (wood and glue) within 2 hours.  We arrived about 1 hour into the competition and we watched until they were finished.  I was absolutely amazed at the different designs that were being built, and I watched with interest one boat that seemed to be better built than the rest.  Most of the competitors were ship building apprentices, but the very well built one was a bit of a show off (to show what they could do) as they took their time and finished just outside the 2 hour time limit, and they had brought along a fibreglass top.  When it was built it looked like a little speed boat!   They all went for lunch and came back to have a race around Cockle Bay!

Andrew and I decided to do the same.  We had some lunch at Dixons and then went back to watch the race.  It was pretty funny!  Some had much better paddles than others (they also had to build their own paddles) and one looked more like a barge and had two inflated sheep on the deck.  Obviously they did very poorly on the race and didn’t really get very far.   A boat that was there for support threw them a rope to help them back to dry land, but the entire thing tipped over when it was pulled by the boat.  🙂

It was a fun Saturday.

14 weeks


07 Aug

There’s really nothing to report.  I feel fine.  I’m not really sure what my belly is doing…Andrew says that it’s poking out a bit more than it used to, but I’m still wearing my normal clothes.  I usually go for the comfy fit, so maybe that’s why I’m not noticing anything yet.  🙂

 From Birth.com.au:

You are now 14 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 15. Your baby measures about 12 cm long from head to toe and weighs approximately 85 grams.

Your baby’s placenta is now fully functional but remains larger than the baby (until about 16 weeks). The placenta supplies your baby with oxygen, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals as well as removing carbon dioxide and waste materials, by filtering them through the placental tissues attached to the uterus. This intricate process of diffusion makes these exchanges possible because the tiny blood vessels of mother and baby are incredibly close together, yet remarkably always separate.

Out and about in Melbourne


06 Aug

We flew to Melbourne on Saturday morning the weekend before last.  Andrew’s parents collected us from the airport, took us back to their place in Greensborough and gave us a car to use for the weekend!  We drove over to Brighton to catch up with Kate and the kids, and to meet Morgan for the first time.  Kate’s parents gave us lunch and we had a lovely time.  We dropped in to see my grandmother (Oma) on the way back to Greensborough to tell her that (all going well) she’ll become a great grandmother in about 6 months, and she was so happy that she had to ring both my uncle (who lives a couple of blocks from her) and her sister (who lives in Austria).  My parents were visiting Oma’s sister to help celebrate her 90th birthday, so at least they got to find out that the scan had gone well. 

 We had dinner that night with Andrew’s parents at a Japanese restaurant in Greensborough.  The food was absolutely delicious, and I think Andrew’s dad was quite surprised at how much he enjoyed his meal. 

Sunday morning we went up in the balloon, had brekkie and drove back to Andrew’s parent’s place for a snooze.  Then we went to the city to meet up with Janis and go to the Pixar exhibition which was a bit of fun.  We then wandered around the city, bought some chocolates at Coco Black (very yummy chocolate) and wandered along the Yarra River to the bells.  Unfortunately they didn’t chime at 5 pm as the sign said they would, so after waiting for 15 minutes in the cold to hear them chime, we decided it was time to call it a day and Janis went home while Andrew and I went to find somewhere to have dinner.

After dinner we stopped to visit Tricia who was staying at her boyfriend’s house, so we got to meet the new man in her life.  He seems very nice and I think it’s wonderful that Trish has someone in her life who makes her so happy.

Monday I did the experiment that I had come to Melbourne to do, and got Andrew to help out.  We had lunch at one of Andrew’s favourite restaurants, picked Andrew’s mum up from work and got dropped off at the airport.  It was a really busy weekend!

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