Oh joy..
today i discovered my company will pay me only 6 weeks maternity pay
(which is the minimum required by law)
and then if i want to stay home any longer i get the SMP £128.73 GROSS a week....
IT SUCKS
Have they ever considered that sometimes the woman is the breadwinner????
gosh things re going to be relly tight....
I feel a bit down,i just hope Richard can stay home instead of me as soon as possible....
the hormones are not helping,
This would so have been a good time for a Mojito
instead I think i might have a good cry
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Friday 24 February 2012
22 weeks scan
.. so the day has come and gone, today was the s-day, the scan day
I was a bit apprehensive, and a bit scared, but here is how it went...
We got there quite early (our appointment was at 9... i forced Richard to be there at 8.15am.... the department was still closed... ) and after a wait of about 1 hour and 15 minutes we got in...
the midwife was really really nice and she made me feel immediately at ease
(the blood exam went without an itch and i did not even have to break any bones in richard's hand this time)
as usual i was an emotional wreck, and i was preparing for the worst news possible (i am sorry madam, but you are carrying a dragon baby ... well no wait, that would have been quite cool)
but despite my best effort the baby is healthy
it's got everything,
a heart (amazing to see the cross section of it with the atrii and ventricles), a stomach, a liver, 2 kidneys, and a nice big brain
( it has a big front, its occipital diameter is in the norm but a big bigger than the medium.... Richard was pleased as he related to the old beliefs that this will make it more intelligent)
2 arms and hands ( with all of the PHALANGES :distal,intermediate, proximal);
2 legs and feet; but, alas, it has got greek feet ... you could count on me to give him an prehistorical trait....
for those who do not know what a greek foot is quoting from our friend Wikipedia:
" Morton called it Metatarsus atavicus, considering it an atavism recalling pre human grasping toes. In statuary and shoe fitting it has been called the Greek foot (as opposed to the Egyptian foot, where the great toe is longer). A longer second toe has often been associated with royalty, particularly during the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty when Egypt was under Greek ruler ship. It was an idealised form in Greek sculpture, and this persisted as an aesthetic standard through Roman and Renaissance periods and later (the Statue of Liberty has toes of this proportion). There are also associations found within Celtic groups. The French call it commonly pied grec (just as the Italians call it piede greco), but sometimes pied ancestral or pied de Néanderthal[2]."
It also weights about 417 grams, which is slightly below the expected weight for 5 months (435 grams) but hey better thin than fat... also we suppose it has a sex, but we did not find out... we do not really care as long as it is healthy so at least we will avoid the Disney princess/good soldier syndrome for a bit longer...
It seemed a cool baby, and sarcastic as well as it has learnt already to face palm... (it was quite funny to see it doing it several times during the scan)
so just another 4 months and then we get to grow up, or to play family if you will, for a moment there, while looking at it, we almost thought we could do it...
and now without further ado here is the new member of our family:
and no, the umbilical cord is not its penis :P:P:P:P:P
ciao baby, see you in May for the next check up...
we kinda like you already.
I was a bit apprehensive, and a bit scared, but here is how it went...
We got there quite early (our appointment was at 9... i forced Richard to be there at 8.15am.... the department was still closed... ) and after a wait of about 1 hour and 15 minutes we got in...
the midwife was really really nice and she made me feel immediately at ease
(the blood exam went without an itch and i did not even have to break any bones in richard's hand this time)
as usual i was an emotional wreck, and i was preparing for the worst news possible (i am sorry madam, but you are carrying a dragon baby ... well no wait, that would have been quite cool)
but despite my best effort the baby is healthy
it's got everything,
a heart (amazing to see the cross section of it with the atrii and ventricles), a stomach, a liver, 2 kidneys, and a nice big brain
( it has a big front, its occipital diameter is in the norm but a big bigger than the medium.... Richard was pleased as he related to the old beliefs that this will make it more intelligent)
2 arms and hands ( with all of the PHALANGES :distal,intermediate, proximal);
2 legs and feet; but, alas, it has got greek feet ... you could count on me to give him an prehistorical trait....
for those who do not know what a greek foot is quoting from our friend Wikipedia:
" Morton called it Metatarsus atavicus, considering it an atavism recalling pre human grasping toes. In statuary and shoe fitting it has been called the Greek foot (as opposed to the Egyptian foot, where the great toe is longer). A longer second toe has often been associated with royalty, particularly during the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty when Egypt was under Greek ruler ship. It was an idealised form in Greek sculpture, and this persisted as an aesthetic standard through Roman and Renaissance periods and later (the Statue of Liberty has toes of this proportion). There are also associations found within Celtic groups. The French call it commonly pied grec (just as the Italians call it piede greco), but sometimes pied ancestral or pied de Néanderthal[2]."
It also weights about 417 grams, which is slightly below the expected weight for 5 months (435 grams) but hey better thin than fat... also we suppose it has a sex, but we did not find out... we do not really care as long as it is healthy so at least we will avoid the Disney princess/good soldier syndrome for a bit longer...
It seemed a cool baby, and sarcastic as well as it has learnt already to face palm... (it was quite funny to see it doing it several times during the scan)
so just another 4 months and then we get to grow up, or to play family if you will, for a moment there, while looking at it, we almost thought we could do it...
and now without further ado here is the new member of our family:
and no, the umbilical cord is not its penis :P:P:P:P:P
ciao baby, see you in May for the next check up...
we kinda like you already.
Thursday 23 February 2012
tomorrow...
bit apprehensive as tomorrow we have the 22 week scan ...
i know everything will be fine but there is a nagging voice inside of me that says it won't
and then it comes up with all possible crazy outcomes...
the baby is a dragon (could be cool)
the baby has one eye
3 legs
antlers
etc etc etc
will have to wait only another 16 hours....
i know everything will be fine but there is a nagging voice inside of me that says it won't
and then it comes up with all possible crazy outcomes...
the baby is a dragon (could be cool)
the baby has one eye
3 legs
antlers
etc etc etc
will have to wait only another 16 hours....
Tuesday 21 February 2012
Kitten vs Babies
this could be one of the last times i find this is true:
It's the end of an era....
Monday 20 February 2012
It Kicks
... so it had to happen,
finally after months of waiting we have lift off ...
welll let's be clear
yesterday we were in bed, as usual me asking Richard to put me to bed with a fairy tale as i am small and fragileand as usual baby was moving (precisiely it happens every night at 23.23)
usually Richard patientely waits while i ask
"did you feel it???"
"No"
"and now???"
"No"
and so on until we give up
but yesterday it went like:
"did you feel it???"
"No"
"and now???"
"mmmmm"
"and now???"
... follows wide eyed Richard with a terrified expression on his face....
" YES"
i cried a bit, Richard was absolutley flabbergusted .... OMG it is real, the realization was clearly sweeping across his face....
finally he is as freaked out as i am
YUPPEEEEEEE
Sunday 19 February 2012
madness
oh my gosh....
it is beginning, i was hoping to hold it off a little bit longer, but in a moment of boredom i saw this, and now i want to buy it ....
baby bath
i know it is totaly useless, but
I wants it
it is my precious.....
and also this is wanted...
changing station
is this the beginning of the end ???
very soon i will start going crazy with buying stuff i feel it.....
HELP!!!!!!
it is beginning, i was hoping to hold it off a little bit longer, but in a moment of boredom i saw this, and now i want to buy it ....
baby bath
i know it is totaly useless, but
I wants it
it is my precious.....
and also this is wanted...
changing station
is this the beginning of the end ???
very soon i will start going crazy with buying stuff i feel it.....
HELP!!!!!!
Saturday 18 February 2012
Bahamas and the science of speech
This week i had to go on a business trip, so i spent 5 full days in Bahamas....
I know most of you will find the picture very inviting, but i promise the journey was 13 hours (and i must admit it did take its toll) and really it is not my cup of tea, not the place i would ever choose to spend some holiday time.
Bahamas was very strange, a bit depressing, the resort is super luxurios and just outside its door people houses are falling apart and they are boarded up.
The work side was quite intense, but mostly i have to report that on Wednesday night after coming back from the beach party and i was lying down on my bed relaxing....and i think i felt the baby kicking, not moving ( we are way past moving) but i had the impression it was a proper kick, the ones you feel on your hands; but it could have been just my impression.
n.1 i really do not like resorts
n.2 Bahamas is really USA a little more tropical...
and n.3
gaining 4 kilos in the first 5 months does not make you look pregnant... not even a bit overweight...
So in case you find yourself over there and find your hormones are taking control avoid at all costs talking to your bump
Not even if you are in the toilets, or on the beach, or in any public area as you will nott be looked upon with tenderness, nor cuteness....
example
I got very emotional a couple of times while looking at families and missing Richard so i did talk to the bump; saying things like
"Yes I miss Daddy too" and hormonal crap like that ...
and what happened?
I was told
(by a woman, no other)
to stop drinking so early in the morning and when i responded that i was pregnant and i was talking to my baby she looked at me, looked at my tummy and muttered somethinglike "yeah Right"
i moved up from drunkness to madness... and she just moved away shaking her head..
i was looking like this more or less (could not take pictures of me at the pool as i was alone) don't i look a little bit pregnant?
Bahamas was very strange, a bit depressing, the resort is super luxurios and just outside its door people houses are falling apart and they are boarded up.
The work side was quite intense, but mostly i have to report that on Wednesday night after coming back from the beach party and i was lying down on my bed relaxing....and i think i felt the baby kicking, not moving ( we are way past moving) but i had the impression it was a proper kick, the ones you feel on your hands; but it could have been just my impression.
Also a couple of things that i will take away from the trip are:
n.1 i really do not like resorts
n.2 Bahamas is really USA a little more tropical...
and n.3
gaining 4 kilos in the first 5 months does not make you look pregnant... not even a bit overweight...
So in case you find yourself over there and find your hormones are taking control avoid at all costs talking to your bump
Not even if you are in the toilets, or on the beach, or in any public area as you will nott be looked upon with tenderness, nor cuteness....
example
I got very emotional a couple of times while looking at families and missing Richard so i did talk to the bump; saying things like
"Yes I miss Daddy too" and hormonal crap like that ...
and what happened?
I was told
(by a woman, no other)
to stop drinking so early in the morning and when i responded that i was pregnant and i was talking to my baby she looked at me, looked at my tummy and muttered somethinglike "yeah Right"
i moved up from drunkness to madness... and she just moved away shaking her head..
i was looking like this more or less (could not take pictures of me at the pool as i was alone) don't i look a little bit pregnant?
Sunday 12 February 2012
is this a bump?
A girl at work asked me my due date...
"so when is the baby due?"
"26th June"
... she makes calculations with her fingers....
"So are you like 6 months pregnant??"
"No, almost 5.."
"But no, if the baby is due end of June you are 6 months, no?"
"No, almost 5.."
"But doesn't a pregnancy last 12 months????"
"NOOOOOO IT DOES NOT"
Now really, this week we come to the end of week n.20 ... still 18 or 19 or 20 to go; so we can say we almost made it to the halfway mark...
And the internet tells us:
Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel, the lenght of a banana ( runs to the kitchen picks up a banana and puts it against tummy to gain perspective)
He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper
Yuppeeee!!!
Nnow it pees and poos; oh happy moment, I can now prepare to become a poo mum (mums that only speak about their children's poo)
How do i feel? Surprisingly good, still moody as a crazy cow, but not sick anymore
(except on the train on wednesday morning ...sorry fellow commuters i will get a baby on board badge so that you will stop looking at me like if i am the scum of the earth)
- upbeat and chirpy generally
the only thing i am really missing now is a bump ....
i keep on seeing pictures of women on week 20 with shapely bumps, and i do not feel i have one yet....
what do you think? Can we call it bump yet? Do i look pregnant or just a bit fat???
week 20 and still 55KG
now breathe in
and breathe out
"so when is the baby due?"
"26th June"
... she makes calculations with her fingers....
"So are you like 6 months pregnant??"
"No, almost 5.."
"But no, if the baby is due end of June you are 6 months, no?"
"No, almost 5.."
"But doesn't a pregnancy last 12 months????"
"NOOOOOO IT DOES NOT"
Now really, this week we come to the end of week n.20 ... still 18 or 19 or 20 to go; so we can say we almost made it to the halfway mark...
And the internet tells us:
Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel, the lenght of a banana ( runs to the kitchen picks up a banana and puts it against tummy to gain perspective)
He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper
Yuppeeee!!!
Nnow it pees and poos; oh happy moment, I can now prepare to become a poo mum (mums that only speak about their children's poo)
How do i feel? Surprisingly good, still moody as a crazy cow, but not sick anymore
(except on the train on wednesday morning ...sorry fellow commuters i will get a baby on board badge so that you will stop looking at me like if i am the scum of the earth)
- upbeat and chirpy generally
the only thing i am really missing now is a bump ....
i keep on seeing pictures of women on week 20 with shapely bumps, and i do not feel i have one yet....
what do you think? Can we call it bump yet? Do i look pregnant or just a bit fat???
week 20 and still 55KG
now breathe in
Sunday 5 February 2012
Schroedinger's baby
... i will rememebr this week as my first week living with the Schroedinger's baby
for those who are not yet familiar with the now popular Micio di Schroedinger (Thank you big bang theory)we are talking about the ficional experiment used to explain Heisenberg uncertanity principle,The principle that it is not possible to know with unlimited accuracy both the position and momentum of a particle.
the experiment:
We place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a device containing a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is, in the chamber, a very small amount of hydrocyanic acid, a radioactive substance. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, a relay mechanism will trip a hammer, which will, in turn, break the vial and kill the cat.
Since we cannot know, according to quantum law, the cat is both dead and alive, in what is called a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive).
so this week has been exactley the same... but in baby terms...
according once again to the evil internet, man i should really stop reading this crap,this week "You may have started to feel your baby movementes"
and to be honest yes you can feel there is something moving inside you... so it is either i am really pregnant or i have a 30 feet tape worm swimming around my intestines... the problem is when you do not feel it... i start to wonder, are you there? are you all right? are oyu dead or alive? can i just open the tummy for a few minutes and check??? just like a schroedinger's micino...
During the day i am far too busy and everythign is far too noisy to actually feel you my little baby, so i do get worried ... so worried i wake up at night, at about 4 am every night when everything is quiet, soft and clear and then i can hear you moving... tap .. sflop ... trippety top ... and then i relax and know you are alive... please keep on moving at least at 4am so at leastonce a day i do not feel the need to open that box to check on you... i am pretty sure it would not be too good nor for you, nor for me... i knda like you already... so do not play silly tricks on me :P
and now for your pleasure Micia awake at 4m:
for those who are not yet familiar with the now popular Micio di Schroedinger (Thank you big bang theory)we are talking about the ficional experiment used to explain Heisenberg uncertanity principle,The principle that it is not possible to know with unlimited accuracy both the position and momentum of a particle.
the experiment:
We place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a device containing a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is, in the chamber, a very small amount of hydrocyanic acid, a radioactive substance. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, a relay mechanism will trip a hammer, which will, in turn, break the vial and kill the cat.
Since we cannot know, according to quantum law, the cat is both dead and alive, in what is called a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive).
so this week has been exactley the same... but in baby terms...
according once again to the evil internet, man i should really stop reading this crap,this week "You may have started to feel your baby movementes"
and to be honest yes you can feel there is something moving inside you... so it is either i am really pregnant or i have a 30 feet tape worm swimming around my intestines... the problem is when you do not feel it... i start to wonder, are you there? are you all right? are oyu dead or alive? can i just open the tummy for a few minutes and check??? just like a schroedinger's micino...
During the day i am far too busy and everythign is far too noisy to actually feel you my little baby, so i do get worried ... so worried i wake up at night, at about 4 am every night when everything is quiet, soft and clear and then i can hear you moving... tap .. sflop ... trippety top ... and then i relax and know you are alive... please keep on moving at least at 4am so at leastonce a day i do not feel the need to open that box to check on you... i am pretty sure it would not be too good nor for you, nor for me... i knda like you already... so do not play silly tricks on me :P
and now for your pleasure Micia awake at 4m:
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