28.10.08
Posted in Baby, Journal at 4:03 pm by Sarah
I’m 20 weeks tomorrow. 20 weeks! That’s halfway. 20 weeks to go before a little person enters our lives and (most probably) turns them upsidedown.
An aside – did you know how confusing baby dating is? I mean, people generally think that it takes 9 months from conception to birth. UNTRUE! It’s actually 10 months. But technically it’s not 10 months because each baby ‘month’ is only 4 weeks. And when I say that I’m 5 months pregnant I could be anywhere between 20 and 23.99 weeks… because you’re not 6 months until you hit the 24 week mark!
If you understood all of the above – well done.
You can understand how confused I got trying to figure this all out. I don’t think H has quite got his head around it since he depends on me to remind him of where we’re at. But I can understand why people don’t explain the whole thing… ‘5 months pregnant’ seems much easier.
Current news: baby is still kicking regularly. I’m pretty sure it’s hard enough to be felt from the outside – but H’s hand never seems to be in the right place at the right time. Slightly frustrating – since I feel selfish being the only one who can experience these little moments. Of course I’m sure it will happen eventually. Someone was telling me today that it’s even weirder later on when you can actually identify the body part that’s jabbing you!
I also saw Mum on the weekend and received her accumulation of gifts. Most went into the baby box – toys and onesies and blankets. But a few were for instant gratification. One being an awesome heat pack (the kind you heat up in the microwave). It’s flat and wraps around your body really easily. I coveted it when I was in Parkes last and Mum generously gave it up to relieve my aching stretched muscles. The other was a body pillow – with a hot pink cover. If you don’t know – a body pillow is basically a very long cylindrical pillow that you can hug while sleeping on your side – putting the bottom part between your legs. It’s supposed to be helpful during pregnancy because it aligns your hips and spine and helps your belly not get too squashed. It’s kinda funny to look at – a huge hot pink sausage! But it definately aids comfy sleeping!
1 day shy of 20 weeks
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27.10.08
Posted in Seen at 12:26 pm by Sarah
Jane Brocket’s book of recipes for food found in children’s books is available!!
‘Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer’
Those who are inclined to buy me Christmas presents – take note. 
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23.10.08
Posted in Baby, Journal at 10:24 am by Sarah
A milestone occurred this week. I finally started to feel the baby move.
I wasn’t really expecting it this early. The sonographer had said it would take a while longer than usual since my placenta is at the front – cushioning the kicks. But sure enough, Saturday night I felt a slight movement. Like a muscle twitch… but weird and deep. Since then I’ve learnt to recognise the kicks.. and they’re getting stronger by the day. Hopefully soon H will be able to feel them through my belly… but for now they are a bit too soft.
It’s a very very cool thing. It gives you a pretty constant connection… just knowing when the bub is asleep and awake. Talking to the bub seems more natural now.
And yesterday we had our 19 week ultrasound. The sonographer was pretty busy whizzing around taking measurements so it was pretty hard to get a good look at anything. But towards the end she slowed down and we gazed at the little heart, the little hands and feet, and a little face. Everything still doesn’t look quite right as the ultrasound picks up on bones… making everything look very skeletal. Plus the bub doesn’t have any fat yet so it’s very skinny.
But everything is good. All the measurements are right, and there are ten fingers and ten toes. We left with a few snaps, and a DVD to show the grandparents.
They gave us a ’show bag’ of sorts which contained samples and brochures and magazines. Just a glance through the magazine gave me a panic attack. It’s a whole new world of cots and prams and car seats. And there are so many choices… and the prices! It makes me even more apprehensive about going anywhere near a baby store. I think we’ll leave that for later…
19 weeks
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17.10.08
Posted in Journal at 12:13 pm by Sarah
I have a really cool bible study group at my work. It is awesome to all sit down together and discuss God’s word each week – it really excites me.
The only thing is that pretty much every person, besides me, has some sort of pentecostal persuasion. As long as we are looking at the Bible, everything generally is ok…. sometimes I choose to disagree with people… but the truth is usually revealed (yay for the Bible!). But if the Bible is nowhere to be seen… that’s when things get a little hairy.
My lunchtime yesterday was marred by the fact that I was preached prosperity gospel for about half of it. That really gets me peeved. When I witness people who are so seriously misled like this, it makes me feel sick. When they try to convert me – that makes me even sicker.
The basic gist is that God’s promises are available to us NOW! God promises to give us a good life NOW.. not just in the one to come. Of course the implication of this is that if you do not have a good life, or if you get sick etc… your faith must be weak. And you must ‘pray the blood of Jesus’ over that person. The verse they keep quoting is ’I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly’ John 10:10.
I don’t know whether this is connected – or just due to dodgy teaching – but they also talk about ’speaking positive things upon yourself’… as if your words have some sort of magical quality.
Either way, I have yet to be able to come up with a more comprehensive answer than ’I don’t believe that is true’. Probably because I’m too polite/wussy to tell them what I really think at the time, and also because I can only think of good answers a few hours later. I also feel like the big mean person breaking up the party… telling them that these wonderful things they believe are not true. How do you say ‘Actually, I think the Bible says that God’s promises for a perfect life only apply to heaven, and you will probably experience suffering in this life because the world is a sinful place… sorry!’ .. in a nice way?
There also a few things that are still sitting fuzzily… the ‘now, but not yet’ theology is firmly embedded in my head… but (typically) I can never come up with Bible references to support it on the spot. Something to work on I think….
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15.10.08
Posted in Baby, Journal at 12:14 pm by Sarah
The word of the week is TIRED!
I have occasional bursts of energy – like last night when I made some delicious homemade chicken nuggets (although crushed up corn flakes do not taste as good as bread crumbs – no matter how hard you try). But generally I am so exhausted I can’t move.
.. which happened on Monday. I got up, threw up, went back to bed and didn’t move again for a long time. The fact that I’ve been able to drag myself to work for the last two days – and actually get stuff done – is a testament to the female body.
Perhaps this is my preparation for the pure exhaustion that I’m told will come with a new baby… time will tell.
Otherwise I’m still getting sick (as previously mentioned) but much less often. Smells are still unpleasant but more bearable. And people keep telling me I’m not showing which really bugs me. Did they really think I was this big before I was pregnant? There is a BUMP people!
I wonder when those cranky hormones will be kicking in??
18 weeks
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10.10.08
Posted in Journal at 4:44 pm by Sarah
The future is something we are continually considering in our house.
Considering how many big decisions we’ve made in the last 12 months, you would expect it to look a lot clearer than it does. But there are so many things we don’t know yet. How much should we say yes to? How will our college interview go? When will we move? What church will we go to? How will we cope with a baby? Will they be one of those fussy, cry-a-alot babies or will they sleep all the time?
Of course these things will sort themselves out in time… but that doesn’t stop them from whirling around in my head in a scary way. It’s hard making choices when we don’t know the full story yet.
*sigh* I feel like life is on hold right now. We can’t commit to anything new church-wise.. I feel like there’s no point making any proposals or developing any campaigns at work since I won’t be the one to implement them. It depresses me that for a while now I haven’t been going to a bible study – for various reasons.. the latest being that I have been too tired/sick. And I feel more and more isolated as old friends grow further apart. Currently I’m closer to work friends than anyone in our church scene.
What I do know is that no matter how freaked-out I get about everything, I am really looking forward to alot of the changes next year. Things like; a house that we can make our own, a child that we will love very very much, a new church where (I pray) we will be blessed with some much-needed pastoral care and new friends, a husband who will be back on track striving towards his big dreams. Simple joys…
Till then…
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08.10.08
Posted in Baby, Journal at 9:44 am by Sarah
Last week’s holiday consisted of alot of sleeping, reading (I clocked up 4 chunky books) and fish & chips on the beach. So relaxing! We stayed on this farm property in a tiny cottage looking out into the bush. They had lots of wild kangaroos and wallabies, many of which had the cutest little joeys – which we could watch hopping around from our little verandah.
We took a couple of trips into the beach… but generally we just relaxed. I took the opportunity to really give in to the exhaustion and slept and rested alot.
My long weekend was not so much fun (apart from watching a very gratifying footy game).. I spent Monday on the couch in pain wondering what was going on. It continued into the night, and kind of freaked me out a lot.
A doctor visit later I felt a little stupid. Apparently the ligaments and muscles in my stomach are stretching.. and this can be more painful for some people. My obstetrician appointment that afternoon confirmed I had panicked for nothing. The baby was fine.
Although I was surprised how much they had grown in such a short time.. My last U/S showed the bub lying on the bottom of a tear-drop shaped uterus with plenty of room to move. This time the uterus was almost kidney shaped with the baby taking up pretty much all the room. I guess I have lots of stretching to do!
17 weeks
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