Hello gorgeous

Yesterday was a real baby-filled day. Firstly, in the morning I had to go to the hospital for another scan to check the baby's kidneys. When they saw they were enlarged at 20 weeks, they told me to come back around 30 weeks to see if they had gone down to their normal size. I was calm because deep down I just knew it was going to be fine. R was convinced of this as well, so I was full of good faith when the sonographer spread the gel on my belly. She measured the head, the belly, the heart and everything looked good. Then she started hunting around for the kidneys. One was nice and small, well within the norm and the other was so small she could barely measure it - very, very good. I was so proud of our little child!

When the sonographer started comparing the measurements to the growth charts, she said it is a very large baby. The head is over 2 weeks ahead of the normal growth patterns and the rest of the body is also about 2 weeks ahead. It doesn't mean I got my dates wrong, just that our child is a quick grower. I suppose with parents this tall, it was bound to be a big child anyway, but this does fill me with dread when I think about the birth...

In the evening we had a private scan booked with a sonographer who does 3D and 4D scans. We could see the baby so clearly!! She started off with a normal 2D scan (but with much better equipment than the hospital) and when we'd seen all the different body parts in detail and the baby was facing forward, she switched to 3D. Suddenly we were looking straight in the face of our child! And what a cute little face it was too! The sonographer looked at both our noses and then declared the baby has its mum's nose. The full lips are definitely R's though. She kept focusing back on the face and I was glad of that - it's absolutely fascinating to be able to admire that little face which hasn't even been born yet! Even the sonographer said it is a really good-looking baby and I couldn't agree more.

After a while the baby was clearly fed up and put its arms and legs in front of its face. This gave the sonographer the opportunity to measure the various limbs and she'd also measured the head and torso. She said it is a very big child and also said its growth and development is about 2 weeks ahead. Based on all the measurements, she predicts the birth will be 5 days earlier, on 11th June. We shall see.

All in all we got 45 minutes of baby-viewing. Sturdy little arms, long legs, my turned-up nose, R's lips and a full head of hair already! I feel like I 'know' the baby much better now. Also, I can't wait to see if these pictures are close to the real thing. 9 more weeks and we'll find out...

Baby goes Scotland

We decided we wanted to go away on a short holiday, a last one before the baby arrives. The thing that surprised me was the number of people who said things like "Last chance!" or "Enjoy going on holiday while you still can...". Excuse me, but last time I checked we were having a baby, not making a suicide pact. Still, it was a last holiday as just the two of us and we wanted to go while I could still fly and get around easily with enough energy. After hunting around the internet, we decided to go to Edinburgh, one of a long list of places we still want to visit.

Before we left, I bought a maternity support belt and that turned out to be the best purchase ever. I wore it when we left the house and had it on the entire time we were walking around Edinburgh. One evening I forgot it when we went back out for dinner and I really noticed the difference.

Anyway, we left on Thursday morning and by early afternoon we had checked into our hotel in Edinburgh and were climbing up Calton Hill. It was quite cold but dry & sunny - perfect weather for a city trip. Edinburgh is quite a hilly city and I got out of breath really easily, so I huffed & puffed my way around the place. What a fantastic place it is though! Loads of beautiful historical buildings and lovely warm & friendly people. The castle sits on a rocky hill towering above the city and is visible from almost every area around the centre.

We did so much and saw loads - far more than I was expecting. I felt great and was brimming over with energy, so we walked everywhere and nursed our sore feet in the evenings! The baby was very active too and it was really special to be on holiday with our child and yet able to do whatever we liked without having to take the little one into consideration. We had long, leisurely meals out and even went to a late-night film at the cinema. Of course I bought a baby outfit when we went shopping, but we drew the line at baby kilts...

The funny thing was the reactions to my bump. Complete strangers start talking to you if you're obviously pregnant - making jokes, asking about the due date, even predicting the sex. Some women just smile at the bump in that "aww" way. It made me feel really special and I guess I am. Even though this is something women have been doing since the beginning of time, it is a really special honour to be able to grow a person inside you.

It was also incredibly special to go away for the first time as a family, because that's what it really felt like - even though the baby hasn't been born yet, it is a part of our life together already. Every morning in bed when R puts his arm around me and his hand on my bump, the baby comes to 'greet' him. During our holiday we had many moments when the baby clearly reacted to a sound or an activity, so it really made its presence known. It was great to go away together and it was extra special to have this precious little life with us too.