A Bedroom Fit for a Toddler

We are about to start work on C's new bedroom so there is room in the nursery for blue bump and more immediately all his clothes.  Cutting it fine I know!  Unfortunately there have been fundermental other areas of DIY that needed completing before we could begin.  C's new bedroom used to be hubby's study and that needed to be moved before we could be begin.  Also upstairs has been completely rewired and replumbed as part of the process.  I have already ordered her carpet and bought the paint, and hubby has already replaced the radiator.  It needs replastering and the wiring needs completing, then we can think about putting it back together.

I am so excited to be creating her a girly room that she can have all to herself.  The nursury is tiny and was difficult to put a stamp on... this room on the other hand has allowed me to be creative.  I want something girly but not too over the top.  I want it to reflect the fact she is stilll very young but don't want something that needs to be redecorated in a couple of years time because she he outgrown the decor.  I guess I am trying to create a room that can grow with her.  Here are a few of the items i've purchased so far...

Not everthing for her room will be new.  I have aquired an old children's wardrobe from my Grandma.  The wardrobe itself has seen better days but I have purchased some fun replacement knobs off ebay which give it a new lease of life.  There will also be a gorgeous wooden chair which was mine when I was little and was made by great grandfather.

Pictures of the finished project will hopefully follow in the not too distant future...

13 Weeks Pregnant

Last Thursday was my 12 Week NT Scan.

I was very good that morning and didn’t check baby's heartbeat with the Doppler. I had nothing to gain from doing so.  The scan was going to happen regardless and the result would be what it was.

The scan was at lunchtime and luckily the morning passed quite quickly.

We entered the hospital and checked in at the X Ray department to be directed to the correct ultrasound room.  We were directed to Foetal Medicine, the main department of the hospital where all things pre-labour are done.  We sat down at in the waiting room. It felt very strange to be back here. Last time I was sat there was 24^th February 2012. I was waiting to be examined after my waters had unexpectedly broken at 35 weeks pregnant. What I did not know at the time was that less than 24 hours later I would be holding my little preterm baby in my arms. It was very surreal to be back.

Unlike the last visit, we did not have to wait long to be seen.  We were ushered into the ultrasound room and I made myself comfy on the table.  The sonographer put the wand to my stomach and there on the screen was baby bopping around.

Everything looked good and after a bit of wiggling on my part, the sonographer managed to get an NT length of 1.6mm.  She concluded that I was measuring not 12 weeks 4 days as per my normal cycle length, but 13 weeks 4 days! If I am honest I think the reality is probably somewhere in the middle.  I do not think it is possible for me to be a whole week ahead as I am pretty sure I know when I ovulated, give or take a couple of days.   Of course it doesn’t really matter.  This baby will arrive when he or she is ready. It just makes it more complicated when people ask how far along you are.  For the time being I have decided to go somewhere in the middle and say I was 13 weeks exactly on scan day.  This would give me an estimated due date of 27^th/28^th November.

We then went round to have my NT bloods taken.  Being lunchtime I expected it to be packed and have a long wait, however I was astonished to see the waiting area almost empty and when we took a ticket from the machine we were the next ones to be seen.  I must have been in and out within 5 minutes which is unheard of!

In the car, I could tell that hubby was unnerved by the change in my pregnancy dates.  As I have previously mentioned, he was convinced this baby was going to be another girl based on a variety of factors, including dates.  If my dates were wrong it would mean the odds of being a girl were considerably less.  I am not sure why the thought of having a boy terrifies him so much.  Maybe he feels there will be more responsibility on him with regards to his upbringing.  I really don't think this is the case as the majority of little girls I know are "daddy's girls" and the boys "mummy's boys".  In any case, what we be will be and we will find out at my 20 week scan in the middle of July.

It has to be a Girl

DH is convinced this new baby will be a girl. He has numerous theories for this:

1. We only BDd once that cycle, about 3 days before ovulation.  There are various theories that "girl" sperm can survive longer than "boy" sperm, while "boy" sperm can swim faster. The Shettles Method suggests if you BD just before ovulation you are more likely to have a boy as this sperm gets to the egg faster, while if you only BD a few days before ovulation, only the "girl" sperm has survived to fertilise the egg.
2. C is a girl and as his sperm has a low count and low morphology, he thinks the only good ones must be "girls".
3. Some men and more likely to have girls, others boys. The fact he has fathered one girl statistically increase the odds of him fathering another.
4. He is used to C and can't imagine having a boy :-)

Is he talking sense or in cloud cuckoo land?.... watch this space... 

Inguinal Hernia Surgery

As mentioned previously, C had a large lump on her groin that kept coming and going.  I suspected it was probably a hernia. In January we took her to see our GP and although the lump was not visible for the Dr to examine, the photo I had managed to take a few days before was convincing enough for him to refer us to a Consultant Paediatrician at our local hospital. Unfortunately he was spread across all the hospitals in our region and only available in our local hospital once a month. We were therefore warned that it may be a couple of months until we got to see him. 

We eventually received an appointment date of 22^nd March.  In the meantime I was noticing C’s suspected hernia more and more frequently. In seemed most visible in early afternoon after a bowel movement however didn’t appear to be causing her any distress.  

A couple of weeks ago, a week after her 1st birthday, C was being grumpier than normal.  This soon deteriorated into howls of pain.  Nothing I could do would soothe her, it was quite distressing.  I should stress again that at no point until now had her hernia caused her any noticeable distress, therefore it was just a passing thought to check her groin at this point. I was shocked to see a lump swollen to the size of a golf ball and rock solid.  I ran into DH’s room where he was on a conference call and gesticulated wildly at him. After making his excuses to his colleagues and taking one look at C, we are in the car on the way to A&E.