Tiny N's timeline
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Monday, 25 July 2011
Just the 2.8 of us
We might not have a government for more than a year now, but at least we still have our national holiday, which was last Thursday - the perfect excuse for a very long weekend. P and I enjoyed it right here in Brussels, with typical Belgian summer weather (= rain and not warmer than 20°C - but no complaints from my side). And although we did nothing very special, I had a great time:
- walk through Brussels with P (realising that we still had all our hands and arms to hold eachother, instead of a Bugaboo)
- go to the cinema (without having to organise a babysit)
- have lunch at Mc Do (which is special, if it's the first food that actually tastes good in weeks)
- just relax at home, watching crapy reality TV shows together
- have brunch with friends
- go to the last sales and buy stuff for ourselves for once (instead of shopping for Tiny N)
In other words : I really, really enjoyed the long weekend with P.
Tiny N was there with us, kicking all the time, but I'm happy that for once we didn't do any baby-related things. To me, those couple of days off were very special.
As of tomorrow, it's back on the baby-track, with puff class on Tuesday morning, breastfeeding info-session on Wednesday evening, and doctor's visit on Friday afternoon!
- walk through Brussels with P (realising that we still had all our hands and arms to hold eachother, instead of a Bugaboo)
- go to the cinema (without having to organise a babysit)
- have lunch at Mc Do (which is special, if it's the first food that actually tastes good in weeks)
- just relax at home, watching crapy reality TV shows together
- have brunch with friends
- go to the last sales and buy stuff for ourselves for once (instead of shopping for Tiny N)
In other words : I really, really enjoyed the long weekend with P.
Tiny N was there with us, kicking all the time, but I'm happy that for once we didn't do any baby-related things. To me, those couple of days off were very special.
As of tomorrow, it's back on the baby-track, with puff class on Tuesday morning, breastfeeding info-session on Wednesday evening, and doctor's visit on Friday afternoon!
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Tiny N is not so tiny anymore
Our little man weighs almost 2 kg - estimated weight at birth is 3.300kg., and he's about 40 cm long. He's got five little toes on each foot - the doc and I counted them together on the ultrasound, and apparently he was doing some very serious thinking (scratching his head with one of his little fists).
What's very funny at this stage, is that I really feel that he's becoming a little person. He reacts to sounds, to movements, and he has his own little schedule. And he has hickups - sometimes several times a day - but apparently it helps if I rub where his back is supposed to be. Oh, and one more thing we saw on the ultrasound : he's got hair :-) !
While he's in supershape, mommy's feeling a bit less grand. Dizzy spells all day long, and hello good old friend morning sickness (although forget the "morning" part). Of course - you've guessed it - as with all other complaints, "it's completely normal". Due to a change in hormones (you've got to love them) as your body is preparing for birth, you can get nauseous again in the third trimester. So it's back to force-feeding myself - only for Tiny N's sake. For more than a month, I haven't gained a single gram - only lost a kilo from time to time when it got really bad - and done my very best to gain it back again.
When I don't feel dizzy, about to faint, or nauseous, I actually feel very good and with more energy than before. So over the past few weeks it has happened more than once that I think "wow, I feel great, let's do this, this, and that", only to wind up lying on the floor of a tiny fitting room, covered in cold sweat, gasping for air, my heart ready to jump out of my chest. (as you see, "taking it slow", is still the biggest challenge for me during this pregnancy!)
What else this week? I've washed and neatly folded all the baby clothes, I've washed the sheets and made his little bed (okay, call it "nesting" if you want), and I've finally learned some breathing techniques and positions to help me through labour. The girl who gave the session had a baby herself three months ago - and her enthousiasm and confidence was really inspiring - and contagious. For the first time I dared to think "okay, I can do this". Let's keep that thought.
What's very funny at this stage, is that I really feel that he's becoming a little person. He reacts to sounds, to movements, and he has his own little schedule. And he has hickups - sometimes several times a day - but apparently it helps if I rub where his back is supposed to be. Oh, and one more thing we saw on the ultrasound : he's got hair :-) !
While he's in supershape, mommy's feeling a bit less grand. Dizzy spells all day long, and hello good old friend morning sickness (although forget the "morning" part). Of course - you've guessed it - as with all other complaints, "it's completely normal". Due to a change in hormones (you've got to love them) as your body is preparing for birth, you can get nauseous again in the third trimester. So it's back to force-feeding myself - only for Tiny N's sake. For more than a month, I haven't gained a single gram - only lost a kilo from time to time when it got really bad - and done my very best to gain it back again.
When I don't feel dizzy, about to faint, or nauseous, I actually feel very good and with more energy than before. So over the past few weeks it has happened more than once that I think "wow, I feel great, let's do this, this, and that", only to wind up lying on the floor of a tiny fitting room, covered in cold sweat, gasping for air, my heart ready to jump out of my chest. (as you see, "taking it slow", is still the biggest challenge for me during this pregnancy!)
What else this week? I've washed and neatly folded all the baby clothes, I've washed the sheets and made his little bed (okay, call it "nesting" if you want), and I've finally learned some breathing techniques and positions to help me through labour. The girl who gave the session had a baby herself three months ago - and her enthousiasm and confidence was really inspiring - and contagious. For the first time I dared to think "okay, I can do this". Let's keep that thought.
Thursday, 7 July 2011
A lot in one week
In just one week :
- I ordered all the "bare baby-necessities" online (they got delivered today, and I just finished dragging them up the stairs)
- I bought all the baby-room furniture (2 hours in an overcrowded IKEA)
- My dad and I emptied the guest room, and assembled all foresaid furniture
- All the sheets etc for the decoration of the baby-room (that I ordered from Amazon) got delivered as well (and lost at the post office, but in the end, after suffering from a slight nervous breakdown, everything was found)
- P and I went to a pre-natal class on going into labor and the delivery itself. Very interesting - but at the same time the best birthcontrol method I've ever seen. Seriously, everybody only concidering a baby, should go first to one of these, and if then you still want one...well then, I guess, as the saying goes (but to be interpreted quite literally here) "you would die to have a baby". I now know that the average labour-time for a first one is around 10 hours (not counting previous irregular contractions), and the pushing itself can last up until 2 hours (or even longer if you have an epidural). Oh joy. I seriously don't know how I'm going to do it.
The worst part is that there's simply nothing you can do to prepare yourself. You have exams - you study all night and you give it all you've got. You have to give a presentation - you do it in front of a miror until you've got it right.You want to run a marathon - you train that body. You want to loose weight - you go on a diet. Etcetara. And in all the above, "not doing" is still an option.
Here : I don't even know what I'm up against, and there's no such option as giving up or failing. I try to do all I can to get ready - infosessions, physio, ... - but it all feels so useless. And not helpful. What good will it do to know for instance that they will "cut" down there during a contraction, because then you're in such pain, that you don't even feel them cutting?
God, let's just stop writing about is as well, because that's not really helpful either.
Focus on the positive :
- the baby-room looks really cute,
-tiny N is doing well - kicking and moving around day and night,
-P is confident that "I"ll do just fine",
-with all the pricing-research the baby-budget is still very much under control;
- next week, we'll see tiny N again in 3D!
- in less than 8 weeks, we'll have our baby-boy in our arms.
- I ordered all the "bare baby-necessities" online (they got delivered today, and I just finished dragging them up the stairs)
- I bought all the baby-room furniture (2 hours in an overcrowded IKEA)
- My dad and I emptied the guest room, and assembled all foresaid furniture
- All the sheets etc for the decoration of the baby-room (that I ordered from Amazon) got delivered as well (and lost at the post office, but in the end, after suffering from a slight nervous breakdown, everything was found)
- P and I went to a pre-natal class on going into labor and the delivery itself. Very interesting - but at the same time the best birthcontrol method I've ever seen. Seriously, everybody only concidering a baby, should go first to one of these, and if then you still want one...well then, I guess, as the saying goes (but to be interpreted quite literally here) "you would die to have a baby". I now know that the average labour-time for a first one is around 10 hours (not counting previous irregular contractions), and the pushing itself can last up until 2 hours (or even longer if you have an epidural). Oh joy. I seriously don't know how I'm going to do it.
The worst part is that there's simply nothing you can do to prepare yourself. You have exams - you study all night and you give it all you've got. You have to give a presentation - you do it in front of a miror until you've got it right.You want to run a marathon - you train that body. You want to loose weight - you go on a diet. Etcetara. And in all the above, "not doing" is still an option.
Here : I don't even know what I'm up against, and there's no such option as giving up or failing. I try to do all I can to get ready - infosessions, physio, ... - but it all feels so useless. And not helpful. What good will it do to know for instance that they will "cut" down there during a contraction, because then you're in such pain, that you don't even feel them cutting?
God, let's just stop writing about is as well, because that's not really helpful either.
Focus on the positive :
- the baby-room looks really cute,
-tiny N is doing well - kicking and moving around day and night,
-P is confident that "I"ll do just fine",
-with all the pricing-research the baby-budget is still very much under control;
- next week, we'll see tiny N again in 3D!
- in less than 8 weeks, we'll have our baby-boy in our arms.
Monday, 4 July 2011
Beach-time
Tiny N made his first long walks on the beach. Although he didn't have to do anything - just float around in his personal jacuzzi. But the effect the sea-air had on us was amazing. I hadn't felt that good in weeks, and with me feet in the fresh water, I felt as light as a feather again (okay, maybe a whole geese farm of feathers).
Slight moment of fear this morning, when I got weighed at the doctor's. Because Belgian coast also means waffles, icecream, and just great food in general. But apparently all the walking (and being sick last week) took care of that. So a nice status-quo at 59 kg. 7 kg gained, in other words, since day one of the pregnancy. Although when I look at the pictures taken this weekend, I have the impression I more than doubled in size (horizontally, that is - unfortunatelly not vertically).
Being at the sea was also a perfect opportunity to dream about the future : build sand castles with tiny N, fly kites, eat icecreams together, go the the playing ground, drive funny go-carts, collect sea shells ... We'll definitely do all that little man, so stop kicking your mom's ribs for a moment :-).
Slight moment of fear this morning, when I got weighed at the doctor's. Because Belgian coast also means waffles, icecream, and just great food in general. But apparently all the walking (and being sick last week) took care of that. So a nice status-quo at 59 kg. 7 kg gained, in other words, since day one of the pregnancy. Although when I look at the pictures taken this weekend, I have the impression I more than doubled in size (horizontally, that is - unfortunatelly not vertically).
Being at the sea was also a perfect opportunity to dream about the future : build sand castles with tiny N, fly kites, eat icecreams together, go the the playing ground, drive funny go-carts, collect sea shells ... We'll definitely do all that little man, so stop kicking your mom's ribs for a moment :-).
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