As most of you now know, I am pregnant. Somewhere between 19 and 21 weeks. I feel a bit silly not having a proper due date. Actually, I feel very, very silly. It makes me sound quite irresponsible really. So let me explain to you how I got there (well, not how I got pregnant, I think we all know how that works!) and the lessons I have learned from it.
You see, being the great technology whizz that I am, I thought it a great idea to keep my dates on my phone. I mean what better way to do it. If you're anything like me, you always have your phone at hand (unless, of course, it's buried under the pile of dirty tissues, nappies, wipes, empty raisin packets and other items we all carry in our handbags, or inadvertently been thrown under any random piece of furniture by a very active toddler while on silent). Way back when I was working, I used to have a lovely Filofax type agenda and would keep a record there. But since I became a Stay at Home mum, I resorted to keeping those important dates on my phone. It is after all way lighter than a big agenda diary thing (and there was not enough room in my bag for a phone and a Filofax). And of course, the stupid thing crashed and any data on it became irretrievable. In itself, not really a big problem (although annoying as hell) until your little friends come around again next month and you can start keeping record again (although by then, you have learned a lesson and keep record somewhere else too, like your laptop or something).
Lesson 1: Don't rely on technology.
Lesson 2: I need a Filofax (any lovely Filofax people feel like making a pregnant lady happy?)
So here I am, patiently waiting for my friends to come around and play. But then, it starts snowing. A lot. And a day feels like a week, a week feels like a month and the whole month the snow was around made me completely lose track of time. You see had it not been snowing, I would have been doing normal things like shopping etc and I would have remembered things, my weeks would have had some kind of structure. But instead I was stuck indoors, school was closed and who can remember what day that upteenth rerun of 'Come dine with me' was on? Or what day we watched that very interesting episode of 'Waybuloo'? (Wait, aren't all episodes of Waybuloo the same?) Well, not me. At the beginning of December, I did ask Mr Foodie when was the last time my friends had been around. You'd think a man would remember that, you know with being deprived of you know what for about a week. Not Mr Foodie, who assured me that it wasn't that long ago (emm, taking advantage of the situation, maybe?). I wasn't feeling any different. I have never suffered from morning sickness with either of the girls, and in typical fashion, didn't have any this time either (don't all hate me, please). The only thing was a very uncomfortable day with terrible stomach cramps that saw me stay in bed all day in the middle of December. Oh and sciatica, worse than I ever had before. I just thought it was to do with the sofa being so uncomfortable, so we went off to Ikea to buy me a lovely new chair to sit on and the problem seemed to decrease. So December came and went, we went off to celebrate Christmas in France (just about, because, you know, of all the snow).
Lesson 3: Don't rely on men to remember the date of your last period.
By the time we came back, we were almost sure that yes, you know, there was a little peanut in my belly. But then, the heating wasn't working and the snow had melted so life took over. Eventually, we bought a couple of pregnancy tests. Being as late as it was (and how fancy we are), we went for the super mega 'tells you how long you're gone' digital one, a double pack, just to be sure. So off I went to pee on the wonderfully magical wand that was going to tell me how pregnant I was. After I managed to sit on the toilet (don't laugh, it's not easy with sciatica!) and pee on the bloody thing, the result came back: 'Faulty'. Great! Apparently I either peed on the thing too much or I didn't put it down properly afterwards. A few glasses of water later, I repeated the operation (which included more cringeing from the pain of sitting down) and, result, it worked! It told me I was 3 weeks + pregnant. Emm, great but I knew that already!
Lesson 4: refer to lesson 1.
So, off we went to the doctor's. Of course, she asked me when my last period was. Cue, embarassed laugh. I don't know. So we settled for November 8th (yeah, I know quite far, isn't it?). We listened to the heartbeat and all. Everything went well. She told me to book my first hospital apointment in the next couple of weeks. Which we did, of course. I am technologically challenged, but not completely irresponsible. The nice lady who booked me in nearly choked on her coffee (or lunch) at the other end of the phone when I told her I wanted to book my first appointment at 16 weeks. The problem was that they were booked out until the end of April but she found me a cancellation that very same week.
Going into the hospital felt strange, like it wasn't that long ago that I was in there (wait, it wasn't really that long ago!). The midwife poked and proded my belly and declared that I was more than likely 18 weeks and not 16. So that was another 2 weeks shaved off in an instant which would bring my due date forward to the end of July. And my last period back to sometime around Hallowe'en (oooops). She also referred me to the Physio clinic for my sciatica and urged me to book the earliest scan I could so that we could date me more accurately.
So the scan is booked for April 6th. Hopefully, I will have a better idea then. All I know now is that my belly is getting bigger and I do look just about pregnant now (I am quite petite to start with). My neighbour joked that I just looked a bit fat around the middle and that some of her clients (she's a personal trainer) had bigger bellies than I did. And they're not even pregnant! I have been feeling kicks for the past 4 or 5 weeks now although they are yet to be felt from the outside.
So now, let me formally introduce you to Peanut in my Belly or Foodie Baby number 3 (or 4, Mr Foodie sometimes counts as a child, a big one, but still a child), due date: end of July, beginning of August.
