And so...

the Jardim family expands to four!

Yes we under construction, we're expanding by another 2 feet!  

Date of completion is expected to be 12.12.12 

Nothing like the little miracle of two more feet to rock and shake your world so violently that it makes you re-think your future plans and ideas and well change your life!   

So far things are all going according to plan, baby is growing right on track and has a strong heart beat!  I have an excellent Gynae, which I see every 2 weeks.  He is quite easy on the eye ie good looking, so I really don't mind the frequent visits ;-) Plus his name is Dr Pope...that's gotta be a sign, right??? I feel quite confident that things are under control, I seem to think this time round I know what to expect.  Although having said that, nothing has been the same.  With Jaime a packet of Simba salt and vinegar chips did the trick, this time, nothing I eat/drink calms my nausea/vomiting.

Things are done very differently here. Normally during the course of your pregnancy you'd get 2-3 scans depending on your doctor. The balance of the time they monitor growth etc by the size of your bump. In my case, I have an ultra sound at least once a month, sometimes twice depending on how the Gynae feels. It's the one good thing about being a high-risk patient. Yesterday was my 4th one, at just 13 weeks pregnant!

7 weeks

8 weeks

10 weeks

13 weeks

 Ultra sounds like the one at 7 weeks and 13 weeks, level 2, is done at a separate centre and the results are reported back to the Gynae.  The big check, functioning of the organs etc, is done at 18 weeks vs 12 weeks and 24 weeks in SA. The plan for me is that from 24 weeks onwards the monitoring increases to once a week, this will include stress tests, heart rate monitoring and scans.   I've been introduced to some specialists in Providence, should I need it, and my haematologist also has his finger on the pulse.

Otherwise, I literally donate blood for testing once a month, my blood pressure and weight is monitored at each visit (no pressure on the weight gain!). I'm on lovanox (injections) twice a day - so been off warfarin since I found out. Lucky we have an excellent medical aid that covers this cost!

So, we feel very excited and very blessed! Obviously, there is some nervousness, no I lie, there is alot of nervousness....we freaked out, freaked out to the bone!  Needless to say we greatly appreciate any thoughts and prayers you can throw our way for a healthy pregnancy and a big, FAT, full-term baby (boy or girl) that we can hold and bring home right away!

Jaime is very excited, he keeps telling his teachers that the baby is growing.... this of course lead to them asking questions and eventually finding out.  He is convinced its a baby boy and has named "him" jellybean.  His latest defense to any situation is now "but mom I'm the big brother" cant help but laugh!  He has been very sympathetic towards me, combing my hair, smoothly patting my face, singing me songs, making me watch cartoons, sharing his food, all to make me feel better... too precious! He enjoys making rasberries on my tummy and pretends like the baby kicks him in the head with a very dramatic fall to the ground, its hysterical. 

We still undecided on whether we going to find out jelly bean's gender, Ili is a No and myself a Yes...I guess either way its a surprise!  and I'm be pretty happy if thats the only surprise we have.

So we'll keep you posted.... over and out from the all new Four unit Jardim familia!