Thumbs up: 12th Week

We are on our last week of the first trimester and everything is going pretty fine with us three + 1!

Prenatal

Now officially in the fetal stage, our bouncy little Eskimo gave not only me but also daddy that reassuring feeling of, "look at me I'm doing just fine! So don't worry about me anymore!" While it wiggles and bounced up and down when our gyne was doing the nuchal test.  The test went well too, measuring at 1.6 mm, looks like we don't have to worry much anymore.  The hemorrhage has dissolved itself as well which is another good news. Crown to romp it measures about 6.9 cm with long slender legs, our little Eskimo is growing beautifully!

Baby listing

We started making our baby list already.  It is somewhat a tradition in here for people to make a list of what they want for gifts when a baby is born. Quite practical and better in my own opinion than receiving items in double or say, "I won't need this at all!"  

Belgian health care services

Every citizen in here has a health care provider and each has their own kind of benefits when it comes to child birth. 

Ours gives 150 euro/parent for the first child and 100 euro for every sibling that follows to be sent on our bank account 

+

100 euro/parent that you can spend on their store to get baby stuff that you might need, from bath capes to strollers and car seats.

+ 

400 euro with of items that you can spend on until your child is 6 years old.

Not only that, we will get around 900+ 3 months before expected delivery date.

And we have a hospitalization insurance from work that pays 80% of our delivery expenses.

Plus!!!

All that and my future in-laws will give us the Stokke Crusi! I feel blessed! ;)

Closing in to our 12th week

I did not see our GP to ask for an ultrasound prescription last week. I am very proud of myself! Anyhow, tomorrow we will be 12 weeks along, almost over the danger zone. This is something we should celebrate!

I can't wait to meet our tiny Eskimo again this Friday.  It is also during this week that our gyne will do the nuchal test.  An ultrasound test to identify if the fetus has any chromosomal disorder including down syndrome. If positive (we hope not though!), we have the option to have a blood test done. The downside to this blood test is that it is pricy (400 - 500 euro) and it is not covered by our   insurance policy, none in Belgium does at the moment. But if that tested positive as well, a chorionic villus sampling is highly advised.  Unless we decide to take all risks and just leave it as it is. The third test is the last option because although it gives the most accurate result, a higher rate of miscarriage is present.  Knowing us, we both do not want to take any risk of having a mentally handicapped child, so it isn't really a dilemma for us.  But still as of the moment, we are staying positive.

Already spoiled
It is not there yet and daddy is spoilling it already.  Today we got it its very first gift, a pair of Timberland's.  Yay! Daddy is ecstatic!  Both the little man and I will get our own pair once or tiny Eskimo is there (daddy already has his own pair of Timberland's).

Unisex Timberland

Very Pregnant

I somehow can't hide my growing abdomen anymore and I thought the tiredness is better but I was wrong.  Nausea is better though but not the cramping.  Sometimes my abdomen feels like exploding (literally) but it is just filled with gas--smelly ones for that matter.  I ease it by lying down and of course by letting out some smelly air. 

I have bought a lot of maternity outfit already because I want to be well-dressed and fashionable but they didn't all cost that much which is a relief.

I am experiencing pregnancy in a whole new different way and I am loving every moment of it now.

Fragile jumpsuit

10 Weeks & Betting On A Girl

Our last appointment with the gyne last Thursday went well, although the hematoma is still percent at a very much the same size as the previous week, she said it might be something that will stay throughout my pregnancy.  I still have to be cautious at all times but since bleeding did not occur anymore and the baby is growing and developing as it should, she said that it was not necessary to come back next week but to wait for our next appointment with our own gyne which is in two weeks.

So we drove back home and I realized that two weeks is actually a long wait for me not to see our baby. Panicked, I told my fiance that I will call for an appointment again. Doctors know better, he said. I am not really convinced but at this point, somehow I think he's right.  So here I am trying to count down days again.

Girl or boy?
Both my boys and I prefer to have a baby girl and I have this strong feeling everyday that I am having one! Is it maybe because I really want it badly? Hmm, perhaps. But here's something about me, I never really consider myself beautiful nor womanly-like. My fiance told me countless times that I am and that of course gives me a good feeling but not too the extent of me actually believing that I am pretty our beautiful, until now.  I am loving my long hair and the fact that it is black (I used to color it brown) doesn't bother me anymore and nor does my tiny Asian flat nose (lol).

Betting on a girl?

Our Grape-size Eskimo

Counting from the day of our five day embryo transplant, our due date would have been on the 30th of January. However, after our first ultrasound it showed that our new due date is on the 4th of February. So we are back to 9 weeks instead of 10 and now about the size of a grape, she or he is starting to look more like a human than an alien and the embryonic tail is completely gone by this time.  Its heart is starting to divide in chambers and its teeth are starting to grow from under its gums as well. Lots of changes are going on and in the coming months its tiny organs will develop and function better as it grows.

Gender
My soon to be farther-in-law said that he knows what our baby will be like. He said he apparently dreamt about it but he won't tell us until the baby is there.  Both my fiance and I want a girl and even our little man wants a girl as well.

"I want to have a baby sister so she won't bother me when I'm doing something."

So, will we have a girl or not? I feel like we are going to have a baby girl though, but despite the gender, as long as we will carry out a full term pregnancy and that the baby is healthy, that is for us what matters the most.

Scepticism

Although we are sceptical about how things will go with us, we or I most especially still tries hard to think and believe for things to go right.  I cheer me up by looking necessary baby stuff that we will need when the baby is finally there.

Messy home

Our home is getting messier by the day while the clothes to be ironed are piling up.  I registered to two home cleaning services already and so far we did not receive any reply from both of them yet.  

Home cleaning services in here costs about 9 euro per hour with government subsidies because it originally costs more and we will get 30% income tax return at the end of the year. How great is that? I get to spend more of my precious free time with my family.

Vacation
We booked our sunny summer destination already last March. But because of the hematoma, the doctor has still yet to decide if it is safe for me to fly or not.  We all look forward to it so the little man will be very disappointed if we won't be able to fly.

Thursday
Three more days after today and we get to see our tiny Eskimo again. I hope everything is okay with it still.

Monthly To Weekly

We are glad to know that all is well at the moment with our tiny Eskimo!  Though it is still considered at a pre-miscarriage stage, the fetus' evolution is remarkably good on the other hand.  I get to see it bounce sideways and we get to hear its heart beating again for the second time.  It has grown from 2cm to 2,15 cm since our last scan and its limbs are more visible this time as well.  However the hematoma that the doctor saw last Saturday is not noticeably diminishing at all, from 20 x 11mm now to 20 x 10 mm.  We can say that at least it's not spreading, perhaps, but how to fully get rid of it?

If the hematoma will spread out all the way to the top, the placenta will come loose and a miscarriage will follow.  It is a horrifying thought and I know I should not think about it that way.  But the doctor was honest with us and no one can predict how things will go with our pregnancy.  We can only hope that everything will turn out just fine and that in about 7 months, we will give birth to a beautifully healthy baby.  I can only try to stay calm and not do anything at home although my hands itch to start sweeping, mopping and dusting our little home.

Luckily there are people understanding enough to know how much we want this baby in our lives and advised me to be on leave for as long as necessary.

As of the moment a weekly check-up is more than necessary to follow-up the evolution of the hematoma.  This way we will both be reassured and we get to see our growing Eskimo on a weekly basis.  Otherwise, I will be marching down to my GP's practice once a week for an ultrasound prescription at a local clinic.