Three Magpies or Four?

Remember the Magpie rhyme?
One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy.

Well, on the way to our 20 week scan, we didn’t see a single black & white birdie.
Big help.

I knew from the start that I wanted to find out the flavour.
Of course I was more concerned that my little space prawn was doing okay in there and that everything was ticking along as it should be.
And I honestly had absolutely no preference either way, I was 20 weeks pregnant with my first child, more excitable than 20 small children full of sugar on Christmas Eve – either way, pink or blue would have made me grin like a loony, really didn’t matter.
BUT, I did want to know.

1. I’m a neurotic control freak. I like lists, I like to plan. I like to be in the know.

2. I hated the idea of the sonographer knowing something I didn’t. It was MY baby, in MY belly, how would that be fair??!

3. I’m not really a fan of yellow.

The Daddy wasn’t 100% for finding out- one day he wanted to, next he didn’t, next he’d say it was up to me… not that it mattered – I was fully prepared to bully him with the whole it’s inside meeeee argument 😛
But I didn’t need to- the big day came, and we both wanted to know.

I lay there nervously – part scared and panicky (please let everything be okay, please let everything be okay), part inwardly squeeing & hoping the little prawn wouldn’t be hiding his or her modesty.
On went the jelly, out came the proddy thing.
And there was my baby.
I instantly welled up just like I had the first time and grabbed the Daddy’s hand.
The sonographer pointed out the spine, the feet, the heartbeat.
‘Is everything good’ I asked?
He said it all looked perfect, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I grinned at the Mr & he said ‘go on then!’

‘Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl??!’ I gushed
‘I know’, said Mr sonographer – a little too smugly for my liking.
‘Because we only want to know if you’re definitely sure.’ (told you I was a control freak!)
‘You’re having a boy.’
‘And you’re really really sure?’
‘Yes. If it’s a girl, she’s got the biggest testicles I’ve ever seen.’
Okay, pretty sure then.

The Mr & I grinned at oneanother, clutching our new baby pictures, gazing lovingly at our little boy.
It was like peeing on the stick all over again, our special little secret that only we knew.

Not that it lasted long – we were soon telling anyone that would listen about our blue bump, buying babygrows covered in monsters and robots, deliberating over the perfect name. So much fun.
And I loved that I could start calling the bump ‘him’. Every morning when he kicked me awake, I’d give him a rub & say ‘morning little dude!’.
When daddy left for work, he’d kiss the bump and say ‘Bye little Dude’.
Space Prawn was a prawn no more. he was our little dude, and we couldn’t wait to meet him.

And while I can absolutely understand why some people choose to wait, I’m still glad we didn’t.

Note to self:

Just incase I get all baby-brained in the next few months (which is quite highly likely), I am writing myself this note.
So if anyone catches me getting all misty eyed & nostalgic about being a preggopot, please point me back here!

…………………………………………………………………………………

Dear Leslieanne,

This is what’s left of your sensible pre-mummy brain talking, please pay attention!

Today, you took the little dude to the weigh-in clinic, and couldn’t quite believe that the tiny little person you brought home 15 weeks ago, now weighs over a stone. 14lb 4oz to be exact. We’ve certainly come a long way from those horrible few days back in hospital where he was struggling to put on any weight at all… in fact, that all seems like about a million years ago now.
But I’m steering away from the point.

At the clinic, there were lots of really tiny babies. As in, of the just a few days and weeks old variety, and you struggled to remember the Little Dude ever being that little.
Those dinky pink wrinkly bundles, with their eyes barely open, their arms and legs still curled up tight, their tiny little fingers… well, yes, they made you go aawww, and they made you smile.

And yes, one day, you’d very much like to give The Little Dude a little brother or sister to play with, but NOT YET!!!

So just incase you get too clucky too quickly, and before you launch yourself at The Daddy saying ‘I want another one!’, please remember:

1. Being a preggopot was hard work, and you promised yourself at least a 2 year break before doing it again.
2. There are no more free rooms in the house!! Do you *really* want to move again already?
3. You are *this* close to being back in non-preggo jeans. Let yourself enjoy being vaguely skinny again for a little while at least!
4. The Little Dude is now giving you a good solid 6 hours of sleep most nights – it did not start that way!! Do you really want to go back to an hour or two at best just yet?
5. The Little Dude is amazing. He is changing & learning & developing daily. He’s coming up with his own little personality & picking up new skills (and anything else he can get his hands on) all the time. He makes you beam with pride on an hourly basis. Do you really want to miss one single moment of the excitement because you’re too tired being all pregnant with numero deux? No.

Our time will come again, and it’ll be magical all over again, but for now, let’s just enjoy what we’ve got!

Still, can’t hurt to carefully pack away all the tiny little clothes the noodle is growing out of… just incase 😉

setting the scene…

as i said in my first post, my little boy is actually 5 weeks old already, but for the sake of continuity (i’m a bit neurotic like that!), i wanted to share my ‘story so far’. so, here we go…

my little dude, or LD , or the noodle (on account of his being all long & wriggly!), arrived on April 20th 2009. but let’s rewind 9 months (41 weeks and 3 days actually – he kept me waiting!), and i’ll give you the readers digest version of my pregnancy.

the daddy and I had decided, after much discussion, that we wanted to take the plunge. we wanted a baby. so, i stopped popping pills and started taking daily folic acid supplements instead 🙂
we didn’t want to get all obsessed with the ‘right’ dates and all that stuff, so we just let down the defences (hahaha!), and carried on with the good stuff (:D).

in august 2008, i missed an important visit from mother nature – got myself a stick to wee on, and then got the doctor’s confirmation that yep, we were having a baby!
we were absolutley over the moon, and spent the next few weeks just grinning at eachother like loonies 🙂

we were fit to burst after a week, so gave in and told a few close friends – the temptation to share the news with anyone who’d listen was immense, but we resisted and managed to wait till about 10 weeks to ‘go public’.

that’s when i felt really pregnant – saying the words out loud to people felt bizaare, but brilliant. everyone was so pleased for us – and i’m sure it was mostly hormone-induced, but it was a really special & emotional time 🙂

i was very lucky – hardly any morning sickness, no swelling, no headaches – just an unquenchable craving for anything cheesey!! i was really impatient waiting for my bump – it felt like i was at that ‘just looking a bit chubby’ stage for years – hated it!! but, just as everyone warned me it would, time went very quickly, and before i knew it, i was the size of a planet & having trouble getting off the sofa without help! i loved it though. i really bonded with my bump, as did the daddy, and of course it was lovely to have everyone tell me i was blossoming and blooming and glowing! (though i really didn’t always believe them!!)
by the end, this was me & my bump:

that feels like years ago now!

i really did enjoy being pregnant though – i loved the midwife appointments, hearing baby’s heartbeat, the scans (amazing!), shopping for baby goodies, antenatal classes, visiting the delivery suite – it was terrifying at times, but so exciting 🙂

admitidly though, i did get impatient at the end. i was convinced i was going to deliver on my due date. HA! not likely. a week & 3 days i spent eating spicey food, having lots of sex, drinking red raspberry leaf tea, taking hot baths, cold baths, long walks, short walks, bouncing on an exercise ball, you name it, i tried it – all for nothing!

finally, on Sunday afternoon, I felt a twinge. I remember thinking ‘wow, if that was a contraction, this is going to be a doddle’. silly sily me!!
by 11pm, they were hurting, but manageable.
by 4am, I was screaming the house down & my man decided it was time to go to hospital.

my labour was NOT what I had planned.
the birth plan page in my notes was full of hope for a natural, calm, straightforward delivery. fate had other ideas.
by the time i got to hospital, i was 5cm dilated, my contractions were about 5 minutes apart, and i was getting very very vocal!
i got in the bath, i moved around the suite, i tried lying down, standing up, bending over, nothing was comfortable 😦 i ended up in the birthing pool (which i had sworn against!) for about 4 hours.
when i was re-examined, i was 6cm dilated.
ONE centimetre, in about 6 hours. i was exhausted, i was in agony, and I decided to cut my losses & accepted an epidural.
which failed.
what happened after that, to be honest, is a complete blur to me, but in short, every contraction I had was causing mine & baby’s heartbeat to dip, so the doctor decided an emergency c-section was needed.
i remember feeling like i was in an episode of ER, there were doctors & nurses whizzing about all over the place, i was crying my eyes out, the daddy was trying (and failing) to keep me calm, it was incredibly traumatic, and I think I’ve probably blanked a lot of it out, basically though, it got so bad, that they wouldn’t even let me be awake during the op, & the daddy wasn’t allowed in the room.
The next thing I knew, I was waking up, feeling very dizzy, and the first thing I saw was my man, holding a tiny little baby. Our son.

It’s still hard for me to talk about, but I do feel sort of ‘conned’ at not being able to deliver naturally, especially after working so hard. I hate that I didn’t hear his first cry, and that his daddy didn’t get to cut the cord. But, I have to make myself look at the bigger picture. It didn’t happen the way I wanted it to, but the end result was the same – I have a gorgeous, healthy, baby boy.
And he’s the best thing in the world 😀

And there you have it.
April 20th, 09:35am, my little dude joined the world, weighing in at 6lb 16oz, and life would never be the same again.
And I couldn’t be happier 😀