Wednesday 5th May was Isaac's first birthday. I won't blog a load of stats about him, like he weighs the same as a baby kangaroo, or is a long as our cat, but I thought you might like to see his day in pictures...

Dear Friday night, Saturday and Sunday

On Wednesday, Noah turned two. Like, TWO years old. As in, he's been around TWO WHOLE YEARS.

Due Date: 04/21/2009
Week: 28+6 days
Month: 7
Trimester: 3
Fetus Age: 27 weeks
Heartbeat: Awesome
Time to Go: 77 days
Size: NORMAL!!! (-ish)

I'm still 30, and I'm LOVING. IT. I've actually had a great couple of days, it's been such a laugh. D has really treated me to lots of stuff (including a new camera) and Noah has perked up so much he's been hilarious. I love them both so much.

I'm soooo not stressed about being 30; maybe because I've achieved goals that I wanted to achieve. Not by a certain age or anything, but I know I've got stuff to show for the last 30 years. Cool by me!

And so today we had the 4d scan for T.O.O. We obviously didn't find out the gender (and Mme. Sonographer #5 wouldn't tell us as soon as we initially said we didn't want to know. I didn't cave. I may have suggested writing it down and putting it in an envelope...). But oooooooooooh my god do we have another cutie on our hands! This one is much more poutier than Noah was in his 4d scan, and has the longest fingers I have ever seen. And it kept waving it's hands in it's face and wrinkling it's nose with cute expressions. And (yes, I'm gushing) it kept doing the most GORGEOUS thing where it snuggles against the cord or uterus wall like I'm some king sized snuggly lovey taggie blanket ommmggzzzz the cutenesssss!!!1!!1!!!!!!!!!!1!!!



"MA!! I AM MEATY BABY!! I present to you,
BEEFCAKE BICEP!!!!! ...let the nomming commence."



Contender for ANTM (with an attitude pout to wipe
the smile off anyone's face.*)



"Mmmmmmm lovin this placenta cushion thingy."



Did I mention the fingers?



This is obviously going in T.O.O. portfolio, ready for years
of baby modelling and making us lots of money.

And of course, the size measurements! Yes hmm. It's looking, uh, ah, interesting? Everything is measuring "perfect" she said, and then told us that it's all roughly 70th to 85th centile. So uh, yeah, you know, normal (for me maybe?). Actually I was more concerned by the fact that the head was huge, and that I'm going to give birth to a lollipop baby. It's only common sense telling me at this stage that I know the rest of the body plays "catch up" (hah!! Won't that be great).

She also said it probably weighs around 3lbs 2oz at the mo. Most of the stuff I read and hear about say average at this stage is 2lbs 7oz -ish. But that's ok. I'm not panicking. In fact, I know there are a number of things that can still come in to play here.

1) Growth could/will/maybe/might/possibly/hopefully(?) slow down in the next few weeks and towards the end.

2) There's a huge margin for error in scans. You know, like maybe a 2 million % either way, you know?

3) I still have my GTT tomorrow, which could flag up diabetes, depending on whether I devour another 4 chocolate eclairs (thanks D), the rest of my birthday coffee cake (thanks MIL), yet more Cherry Coke (thanks Tesco) and the rest of my birthday chocolates (thanks K and R, you guys rock). There's a CHANCE that this test could be negative. Right?

4) The slight concern that I have hydro...hydramo...wait a sec -

- oh yeah, polyhydramnios (excess amniotic fluid), and then Mme Son. #5 mentioned something about an infection and diabetes, and something about testing but never seeing a test come back positive, so that's another reason not to worry, right?

And, perhaps I should pay more attention to these things. So I guess it's additional tests tomorrow morning. Huzzah! **


* I hasten to add we do not know the gender, but since ANTM lately seems to be taking on male as well as female models, we see there shouldn't be any problems forcing our little one down the catwalk. ASAP. ***

** I truly am not worried, as I know what will be, will be (I'm still obviously going to try to push the button though, if I can of course). I am however, very interested to hear your views on the subject? Many thanks...

*** I think it's a girl. What do you guys think?

Due Date: 04/21/2009
Week: 28+3 days
Month: 7
Trimester: 3
Fetus Age: 26 weeks
Heartbeat: 141
Time to Go: 80 days
Size: Empire State Building
Time til 4D Scan: 2 days
Days til I hit 30: That'd be today

Yup, today I am 30. And I'm not freaking out. Mainly because it's just a number, right? I'm married, I've had some career achievements, I have a child and another on the way, I'm reasonably well travelled, I have an education and I have a roof over my head and wheels to get me around.

So I'm happy. Or at least, I'm thankful for what I've got.

Hehe, maybe I'll blog later and see how much my opinion changes in 24 hours. Turning 30? Bring it on!!

Due Date: 04/21/2009
Week: 28+0 days
Month: 7
Trimester: 3
Fetus Age: 26 weeks
Heartbeat: 140 summat
Time to Go: 83 days
Size: Leaning Tower of Pisa
Time til 4D Scan: 6 days
Days til I hit 30: TWO. TWO days and I'm thirty. Uh, whoop.

We are inconclusive. Noah has been to the docs, had everything checked (including the mysterious rash that had appeared on his neck in the space of 3 hours), inside his ears are slightly red but not inflamed, chest and throat clear, still has a slight temperature and we have to keep an eye on the rash (which was almost gone by the time he went to bed, 2 hours later).

The most we can get? Viral infection. That classic answer when no one AT ALL knows what the hell is wrong. But you know, that's ok. People have offered up a million different answers to what is wrong, which is fair enough. But at the end of the day, I couldn't give a monkeys to what's wrong, I just want my little guy better.

It's been such a shitty run of illnesses for him, and I know everyone (worldwide) is doing every sick bug under the sun at the mo. But I just want him to catch a break; long enough for him to not deal with F.O.F. or non-stop coughing or mysterious rashes which come and go in the blink of an eye.

So now, we just keep the Calpol to hand, and always be ready with a large stash of cuddles and burpess and dummies).

In other news, my SPD is now so chronic, Physiotherapist #3 is BOOKING ME IN for weekly appointments now. I think it may have something to do with the fact that on Monday my hips were misaligned by about two inches. Also, one side of my pelvis at the front had shifted out of place by about an inch, maybe an inch and a half. And people think I'm shitting them when I say it hurts to do anything.

I'd gotten to the point where my crutches (yes, from my pregnancy with Noah, which I may have neglected to return) were pretty useless, and every movement left me with tears in my eyes. Not my scene.

So she did her magic manipulation (after marvelling about it with a student, which made me laugh, maybe cos I was proud to be such a fine example?) and mother of god yes it hurt while she did it, but I can walk faster than a snail now, which is helpful. I'm sad that Noah wants to be picked up, like any little boy would, and I can barely do it; this breaks my heart, but I'd rather I cry with pain than have him cry because his mom won't cuddle him, ya know? How's the kid to understand?

So fingers crossed, SPD won't necessarily get better, but hopefully we can keep it under better control. I'm thinking of having Phys. #3 move into our house.

I have to say, I'm REALLLLLLLLY looking forward to the 4d scan on Monday; I feel like T.O.O. has barely had any attention already, and that's why it spends more time than Noah did making sure it kicks the living crap out of my system. Have you ever been lying on your side, and been kicked so hard from the inside you actually roll over? It's very surreal. We won't be finding out the gender, but needless to say I will probably spend hours scanning the dvd afterwards for any clues that only an amateur would pick up on.

I'm NOT looking forward to the GTT on Tuesday, as the last thing I could do with is another "told you so" from the medical world (especially after how much I adore them already). But hey, they wanna do their tests which is fair enough. I will not say "told you so" if everything comes back normal. Also I will not be pissed off if everything goes pear shaped.*

Another thing I AM looking forward to is a trip down to the south coast at the start of Feb; I'm going to see a friend who I've never met in person. We've spoken many times, and I first got in touch with him by texting him pics of Noah to compare to his own newborn and offering some breastfeeding advice this time last year.

He has no newborn, and I'm hoping to sweet lord in heaven that he does not breastfeed his 2 twenty-something sons.**

I'm going down on my own, without Noah or D, and staying in a hotel on the coast; and I'm excited because it's going to be 2 days of just me. It sounds so selfish, and I know I'll feel a little bit guilty while I'm down there, but this will be the first real break from everything in what feels like an eternity. And it's a break I need, hopefully just to put my head back on the right way round for a little while. Maybe escape some of this endless flying poop.


*Both of these statements are of course blatant lies.
**I hasten to add I thought I was texting someone else, until he politely told me I'd got the wrong number. (EPIC FAIL).

Due Date: 04/21/2009
Week: 25+1 day
Month: 6
Trimester: 2
Fetus Age: 23 weeks
Heartbeat: 151
Time to Go: 103 days
Size: A larger cat (Tiger?)
Time til 4D Scan: 25 days

The last few days have been strangely great. I'm fighting evil pregnancy hormones like nothing I've ever seen (sometimes I think manic depression doesn't even compare), I'm now on no sleep (thanks to The Other One who has limbs like lead weights and Noah still coughing up the remains of his poor lungs) and my crotch is reliving the fantasy tale of SPD, at full force.

But above all of that, I've enjoyed Noah so much, he's been brilliant. He's such a laugh and is enjoying his new toys so much. Yesterday at Tickety Boo they sang Happy Birthday to him which was really sweet (even though he had no clue what was going on of course) and D was there too which was nice.

At his photoshoot he was his usual "Screw you if you think I'm going to sit still for more than 3 seconds" self, which made it even more fun; but having seen some of the pics already, I'm so pleased with what Anthony has taken, and the work Your Big Day have done on them. I NEVER get emotional over stuff like that, and I actually got goose bumps looking at them. Goose bumps people. I didn't even know my body could produce them (cold, heartless woman that I am).

A sneak preview:

We had sooo much fun and Noah was just hilarious, trying to keep him still long enough to get ONE picture. And amazingly he was sooooo well behaved, no tantrums (despite the fact that he was pretty worn out by this point).

At home he ripped open a million more presents:

And devoured a considerable amount of food:

An awesome string of days, for an awesome kid. I can't wait to do it again.