And breathe...

When I was about 15 weeks pregnant, I started doing prenatal yoga classes. My yoga teacher is a professional pregnancy coach and she's a really down-to-earth woman who is a source of loads of information. Each lesson, we spend the first half hour with a cup of herbal tea discussing and learning about various elements of pregnancy/parenthood. One week, we talked about the various pregnancy ailments and how to cure or ease them - heartburn, morning sickness, headaches, pelvic pain and much more. Another week we talked about post partum depression and how to recognise the signs. This week we talked about the brain development of the baby.

After our half-hour of information, we do the yoga exercises we came for. She especially focuses on breathing techniques, designed to relax the body and ease the contractions. We also learn about the various birthing positions as well as exercises we can do now to help with pelvic/back pain and Braxton Hicks. It is all wonderfully relaxing and I always fall asleep - no fail - at the end of the class when we lie down and do relaxation exercises.

Last night we had our first couples evening. R wasn't too keen initially but donned his track-suit bottoms nonetheless and drove us determinedly to the yoga centre (of course he's decided my route is inefficient and he tried to figure out the ultimate directions to get there - hey, he's a man). After the informative section we got down to the nitty-gritty. We (the women) had to breathe deeply 'through our stomachs' and then expel the air slowly. Our husbands had to stand behind us with their hands on our bellies and shift their weight (and ours) to the left and to the right with each exhalation. A few people got the giggles when they looked around and saw everyone doing this rather strange dance, but it was actually incredibly relaxing. We did a few other breathing exercises sitting down, to be used if the contractions become very intense or the woman is starting to panic. R was sitting there with his hands on my ribcage, muttering "Speed it up, come on, breathe faster!"

Finally all the mums-to-be had to lie down and the men were taught a massage technique they can use on our legs during the contractions. It was wonderful! R has very large, strong hands and would have made an excellent professional masseur. I was quite disappointed when the yoga teacher said the men could lie down too - how the hell was he going to continue his massage lying down next to me? Alas, all good things come to an end and it was time for the final relaxation exercises. All in all it was really special to be able to share this with him and to have something we can actually do together. Sometimes I find pregnancy quite a solitary experience as there isn't much you can share, apart from your feelings, so doing this together was really lovely.

What's in a name?

Names. What a dilemma! We need a name for Baby J and that's proving to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. We've had a girl's name for many years, well before we were seriously considering having a baby. That's one name though and we'd need a middle name too, so it's not a fat lot of use.

We've bought ourselves a name book - a really thick name book with literally tens of thousands of names. You know, keeping our options open and giving ourselves plenty of choice. Too much choice as it turns out. Good grief, what a lot of names there are! Also, how many truly awful names there are. If there are any parents out there that actually choose a lot of these names, they should be arrested for child cruelty. There are many, many ways to screw up your kids and naming them Willibert, Oege or Balbina is certainly an option. Whilst flicking through our name book recently, R found the name Ludwig, which made us both laugh so we have now resorted to calling the baby Ludwig. If it's a girl, we could always call her Ludwina...

Ludwig is a very active baby in any case. I have frequent gymnastics sessions going on in my belly, sometimes at the most inconvenient moments. I find it very distracting and quietly amusing, so if the baby is doing cartwheels while I'm trying to discuss marketing strategies with my boss, it's very hard to remain focused. One morning this week, I was still asleep and R had his arm around me with his hand on my bump. The baby was also awake and they had their own little tête-à-tête (or hand-à-tête). My mum is really looking forward to the first time she can feel her grandchild moving around, but I think that moment won't be too far away if the baby keeps up its current level of activity!

Just checking

At the end of last week I had an extra opportunity to see the baby for a full hour! The medical college here need pregnant women for their sonography students to practice on and I volunteered my bump. The day I went, they were doing their practical exams and two students passed using our baby! It was lovely to have such a long time to see the little one wriggling around, stretching its legs, waving its arms. At one point the student had to check the feet to rule out club foot - she could see the foot from the top but needed to see the side, so our clever child turned its foot to the side, making us all laugh.

During the second exam, the student spotted enlarged kidneys and mentioned this to the examiner, which freaked me out somewhat. Afterwards, the examiner came back and said the kidneys were slightly enlarged and this is something to keep an eye on. She said I should go for another scan around 30/32 weeks to check the kidneys had become a normal size again. She also gave me a photo to give to the midwife, who I saw yesterday. She confirmed that I'll have to have another scan and she also told me it's very common and usually not a problem, but it could mean a problem with the urinary tract. If it doesn't get better, I'll have several more scans and will have to have the baby in the hospital. We had decided I was having the baby in the hospital anyway, so that's not an issue. I just hope the kidneys do become a normal size again!

The rest of the appointment with the midwife was fine. I'd gained an additional 3 kg, which is perfectly normal. She said I have a lovely bump! The heartbeat was loud & strong and the baby was kicking away at the doppler - get that thing away from me! I've been getting red cheeks lately, but the midwife said that's because you have better circulation during pregnancy and the capillaries in your face react more to heat and cold. I must say, I feel really lucky that this pregnancy is going so well. I'm just really enjoying being pregnant. I love my bump, I'm astonished by my boobs and there's no better feeling than that of the baby wriggling around. If all pregnancies are like this, I may consider having 10 children...

Tales from the sick bed

We've both come down with the most horrible flu - aching muscles, headaches, fever, sore throat as well as coughing for me and an entire night of throwing up for R. At first I was worried it would affect the baby, but have since found out that it is perfectly safe in my womb. I just have to make sure I get enough fluids down me. Luckily, my appetite hasn't gone, so I can eat enough - am very glad I didn't get R's constant vomiting as I don't think that would have been particularly good for the baby. It feels like (s)he is perfectly happy in there anyway, if the wriggling is anything to go by.

The other night, after the 20-week scan, we were lying in bed and the baby was going crazy in there. I think it was protesting after being poked and prodded with the scanner earlier on. R put his hand on my bump, which usually means the baby stops all movement. This time, however, the wriggling continued unabated and R felt our child move for the first time! He was thrilled and I think it makes it more real for him too. Of course he sees my bump (and boobs) growing, but this was the first time he's been able to feel something for himself. It really was the icing on the cake after the scan.

Halfway there...

At the moment I'm 20 weeks and 5 days pregnant, so I'm exactly halfway. Looking at my belly, it's hard to believe I've still got this much growth to go - I think I will quite possibly explode. It's kind of a milestone though and I'm actually very excited that I've come this far. Thinking back to the beginning, I really didn't believe I could be pregnant, not me. I'd always expected it would take a while and the last thing I'd ever thought would happen is this, getting pregnant straight away! And yet here I am, halfway through my pregnancy.

We had the 20-week scan tonight and I was really relaxed about it. A lot of mums I know worry themselves silly about this scan and I thought I might get a bit more fraught towards the time, but I was just looking forward to seeing the baby again. The sonographer put the scanner on my belly and there (s)he was, all scrunched up in the foetal position. The baby had grown so much!! The sonographer looked at the skull and the brains first of all, which were the right size. Then she looked at the belly - kidneys, bladder, stomach and heart all in the right place. She checked out the chambers of the heart, which was pumping away merrily and that all looked good too. The spine was very clearly visible, together with the ribs, and they all seemed to be the way they should.

During the entire scan, the baby kept wriggling around, especially at the points when the sonographer had to capture an image in order to measure something. The legs looked very long, but if you look at the parents, it would be rather strange if they weren't! She focused on the face a few times and the baby has a lovely round face and looks like a proper baby already. The placenta is at the front, which explains why I don't feel the movements very clearly yet. It was just so just to see our child again and to count the fingers & toes and see all the bits and pieces in place. 20 more weeks and we get to meet our little creation. I can't wait!!