Ummmm I'm back!

Ah yes well, to say it's been a while would be a tad of an understatement!

My last blogpost was back on August 30, when I was under the weather. Where do I start from there?

How's about some news?  Something along the lines of WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!

Yes, my under the weatherness from August was also morning sickness, altho I wasn't 100% sure at the time!

We returned from our Honeymoon on August 9, and on August 26 at 2am we got 2 lines on our home pregnancy test!

I had been feeling sick for a few days, and had an odd full/heavy feeling in my tummy, I thought oh wow what if.  So went and bought some preg tests, the first 3 came back negative, but I was sure something was up, so I kept buying & taking them!  Then at 2am on Aug 26, I got up to go to the loo, and thought bugger it I'll test again, and up came the 2 lines, I ran in and woke up hubby waving the stick in his sleepy eyes.

Test 1 - on day 35 of my cycle

Test 2 & 3 - on day 36 of my cycle

Test 4 - day 37 of my cycle

Our GP confirmed our home test by blood test on August 31!

From August until 2 days before Christmas I had dreadful 24x7 nausea and vomiting, I was vomiting up to 20-25 times a day, and about 5 times overnight, I just about nightly awoke with vomit on it's way and had to run to the toilet!  Life wasn't much fun for those 5 months!

At Christmas we drove 15 hours each way to my hometown to have Xmas with my family (we told my family via Skype on Fathers Day, saying that hubby would have a very different Fathers Day in 2012, they got the hint!

Since Christmas I haven't had much nausea and only a few vomits, more related to heat/tired than morning sickness, I think.

We're now at 29 weeks, and have met with the great midwives at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, and have been to our first 2 ante-natal classes. I'm reading everything I can on natural childbirth, to try and overcome my birth fears, I want/hope/would like to go as natural as I can, but we shall see.

Everyone has been calling us old fashioned, with us conceiving a honeymoon baby, but we feel so lucky and blessed to have 'fallen' so quickly, old fashioned or not we'll take it :)

So in answer to one of my initial 'Can We Do It Questions'

Ah YEP WE SURE CAN!

Till next time, I promise it won't take so long!

The Step After The Next Step

So the next, impending, step for Mr Mel & I is our surprise wedding in 2 weeks!!  But the Step after the Next Step is us wanting to start a family.  Back in June I went to the Doc, and had a full checkup, and was glad to get the all clear.  His famous last words, hopefully in a good way, were "see you when you're pregnant".

Since that appointment Mr Mel and I have been taking Menevit & Elevit (respectively), Mr Mel has lost about 10kg, I have lost around 7kg, so health & fitness wise we're on the improve.

We have been talking about and planning our hopeful pregnancy, and given I've been trying to lose weight before our wedding, I wasn't keen on being pregnant on the day!

But now the big day is only a few weeks away, things will be getting serious on the TTC (trying to conceive) front.

I have bought a 'Maybe Baby' kit to help track my cycle, and today have just bought a couple of books (through Ebay) that have been recommended to us by friends and family:

"Up The Duff" - by Kaz Cooke
"Baby Love" - by Robin Barker

and because they came in a 4 book lot set, at great value, I also picked up:

"So You're Going To Be A Dad" - by Peter Downey
"The Mighty Toddler" - by Robin Barker

I hadn't heard of the last 2, but seeings I was buying the 2 I wanted (Up The Duff & Baby Love) for less than the price of buying 1 retail, and with the other 2 thrown in, I thought it was a bargain, plus might be some worthwhile info in the extra 2 also.

bargain books from Ebay

I am keenly aware that given my age (37), that the chances of us falling pregnant are on the slide, and we have both had alot of conversations re what happens if we can't have a baby, so we're not going into this assuming it will be a done deal.  I know that there are alot of women out there who are not able to fall pregnant, including some women in my immediate family, so we are not treating this lightly.  My heart goes out to them, as I know while we would cope, I would be heartbroken if we can't conceive.

But we will jump every hurdle as it approaches, we are going into it with eyes wide open, but with a hell of alot of hope in our hearts. Wish us luck, and send some baby dust our way!!

I am more than open to any suggestions/recommendations re books/websites, so please feel free to let me know!

Till next time,

Doc Update - All Clear Yay!

Back in January (yes I've been slack!) I went to our Doctor to have a chat about our kidlet plans, given my age (37), I wanted to get a full check done to make sure there wasn't anything major needing to be addressed before we started trying to start a family.

So it was around 4 months overdue but last week I went to get my blood drawn, after 2 goes in my right arm, she tried my left and was able to draw the 6 vials needed!  I ended up with a massive black bruise on my right arm, about 10cm diameter, but the left one was fine.

Last night met with the doc, and was very happy to get a near all clear, my cholesterol & blood sugar were normal, yay, I don't have any diseases woohoo, the only sub normal result was for Rubella.

I, along with most girls my age, were given a Rubella vaccine in primary school, given that's probably close to 30 years ago, no wonder my level was a bit low!

(photo source)

The Doc gave me a jab in the arm for Rubella, went through a few queries I had re pre-conception vitamins (will blog separately), and wished us luck!  He said there was no clinical reason to think we couldn't fall pregnant, here's hoping!

A good end to the day.  Now just need to get this getting married thing done, so we can get to business :)

Till next time,

Doc Update

Happy to report that I am indeed a woos!

The Doc was lovely and happy that I was well informed, and realistic about things, given my age, etc.

He was happy that I'd started on the weight loss slog and gave me a pathology request for a raft of tests.

So I shall be heading to the vampire next week, to get blood drawn, and find out what blood type I am!

Till next time,

Lost Some Of My Courage!

Further to an earlier post http://canwedoityepwecan.blogspot.com/2011/01/doctor-here-i-come.html

I'm feeling quite ill about my appointment this afternoon, I think I'm scared about getting bad news, up until the last 18 months or so I'd never really thought about my ability to fall pregnant. And since organising the appointment, I've done nothing but think about it.

I've had dreams of being pregnant, nightmares about not being able to get pregnant, and have felt sick all day today.  I know (well more hope than know) it's better to know than not, so here's hoping the Doc doesn't have bad news for me.

Yes I'm a chicken, I know! Shall report back tomorrow!!!!!

Good ol Dr Hibbert, always good for a lollipop for wooses! :)

Till next time,

Doctor here I come!

Ok so the story so far, I turned 37 a few months ago, Mr Mel and I have had all the talks that can be had, the end result, is we want to get married and start a family this year (gods willing).

SO, I just made an appointment to see my Doctor, to get the whole kit & caboodle so to speak checked.

I know the first item on the agenda will be weightloss, and I'm getting there, but I think the Doc will give me a good enough scare that I'll drop those kgs quicker than ever! I'm going to ask for the blood test that can tell you if you're cycling ok, other than that I'm open to anything that needs to happen!

Given my age, the stats are starting to scare the life out of me.

• Fertility - gradually decreases from 30 on, at 35 - 39 it's a 52% chance!
• Infertility - gradually increases from 30 on, at 35 - 39 it's a 15% chance!
• At 45 you're half as fertile as you were at 25, and at 40 you're half as fertile as you were at 35 - now that's a kick up the backside!
• Complications - Chance of complications goes from 10.43% at 20-29 to 19.29% at 35-39 years
• At 35 years + 1 in 440 pregnancies result in the baby dying in utero at the end of the pregnancy, compared to 1 in 1000 for under 35 years
• Down Syndrome - At 40 the risk is 1 in 60 for a baby with down syndrome, at 25 its 1 in 1,500!

That's enough stats to scare me, and probably you for now, but wish me luck, I've only been to this Doc once, and never seen a Doc anywhere re trying to get pregnant!

I'm not taking Mr Mel with me for this first appointment, too much info would blow his mind and distract him from the end goal, so I'll see how it goes, then fill him and he can come to the next appointment.  Don't you just love guys!!  :)

Till next time,

stats from www.babycenter.com.au