Meet the family

When we first announced Mrs T was pregnant, a friend asked whether our cats were being clingy. At the time we hadn't noticed any changes, but a couple of months on we most certainly have.

We have two cats, sisters from the same litter, who were eleven years old in the summer. As kittens they loved each other and spend a lot of time together, but when we moved to our present home they each took their own territory and don't tend to like each other's company very much (unless they're ganging up against another cat in the garden). The both love Mrs T and like to be with her, but usually if one's in the room the other will tend not to come in. For the last few weeks, however, they have both been desperate to be her favourite. They will fight for the privilege of sitting on her lap and are now often to be seen sitting either side of her, even vaguely tolerating the other being so close, although always on the look-out for the opportunity to get even closer. In other words, yes: they have become the most hopelessly clingy cats in the world.

One thing they've never liked is children; quite what they'll make of Flicker we have no idea.

---

In other news, Mrs T told me tonight that she felt Flicker moving for the first time yesterday, and again today. Go Flicker!

---

And yet more "other news": I finally got around to contacting our IVF clinic today to let them know we wouldn't be needing their services after all. (We were booked in for an cycle in January.)

Half way!

Well, folks, we've made it to the half-way mark. Yay!

Looking ahead

We're trying not to get too carried away with looking ahead, as there's still some way to go before Flicker is due to join us, but we are beginning to make some plans. Our guest bedroom will become Flicker's, but we have no plans to redecorate it as yet. I guess we'll need to pick up a cot at some point (eBay here I come!) but apart from that the room is fine as it is to start with. (Future guests will mean we'll we'll have to decamp into the sitting room for the night so they get a bed.)

People ask whether Mrs T is planning to go back to work. Well, yes. But we do have what we hope is going to be an excellent plan. She starts her maternity leave in January (early for a march 20th due date, but better for school and for her) then takes a whole year of work, re-starting school in January 2008 part-time with a job-share. And at the same time I'm going to go part-time so we share the childcare between us. My work is flexible enough that it shouldn't be a problem, and I'm really looking forward to it. We have lots else to look forward to before we get that far, though.

I can hardly believe that this pregnancy reaches the half-way mark tomorrow. Time surely flies.

First baby gift

Today we received our first baby gift: a special "BABY" bag containing two babygrows, some socks, and a "Baby on Board" badge for Mrs T to wear. All courtesy of one of my relations who had invited us and the rest of the family to Sunday lunch.

It was lovely to be together with family. Our hosts had invited us all specifically in celebration of our pregnancy; they said they wanted to do something for us ever since we told them the news. It does seem a bit early for baby stuff yet (we're not planning to do any baby shopping until after Christmas*) but it was very lovely of them to want to get us started! The babygrows look huge at the moment: according to Kaz Cooke's book, Flicker is only about 18cm long at the moment. (We will find out more detail about Flicker next Monday, when we have the "20 week" scan. And, no, I still don't want to find out the sex.)

We had another couple of "name" chats over the last couple of days, triggered by the fact that Mrs T read my recent post on the subject. I'm not sure she'd realised how much her suggestion had grown on me, but I was right to assume she'd pretty much put it out of her mind. Having spoken again, she's now been suggesting possible second names that could work with it, so it is certainly not out of question. It continues to appeal to me more and more, but we still have a few months before we need to make a decision so anything could happen.

(* although I do still keep looking at pushchairs online!)

Daunting Consultation

It was a bit daunting to enter the consulting room to be greeted by a crowd of doctors when you’re expecting just the one. The guy in charge introduced himself as a Consultant Endocrinologist, and went on to introduce two Consultant Obstetricians, Registrar, a senior Midwife and a Student Doctor. I hadn’t realised that Mrs T’s was categorised as a “High Risk” pregnancy, but because Mrs T has a wonky Thyroid she’s had extra blood tests during pregnancy, and we were called in for this appointment with the Endocrine team yesterday.

She’s lately been saying “surely this tiredness can’t all be pregnancy”. Over the last ten years she’s got used to upping her dose of Thyroxine whenever she feels extra tired, but didn’t want to do so whilst pregnant before seeing a doctor about it. So she was really pleased to be told almost straight away that the last blood test had shown very reduced levels of the hormone so she should indeed increase her dose. Lets hope that the extra Thyroxine building up in her system soon starts to have the desired affect. Mrs T seems sure it will.

One of the Obstetricians then worked his magic with a heartbeat monitor, and we got to hear Flicker pumping away like a good’n. It’s the first time we’ve heard that and it was smashing. (Especially as Mrs T hasn’t to her knowledge felt any movement yet). And for him to conclude with “That’s fantastic” was excellent.

We’re booked in for another blood test in two weeks and a follow-up appointment with the team two weeks after that (to see how the Thyroxine levels are going). If things have settled down we’ll revert to being a low-risk pregnancy and our care will be back in the hands of the midwifery team.

Go on Flicker! Keep on pumpin’!

PS: As I've moved onto Blogger Beta, I gather that some users might have a problem posting comments. Sorry about that. (I understand that you can still sign in as "anonymous".)

Her suggestion, not mine!

Having mentioned names earlier, I popped to the library and picked up a couple of books of "babies' names" for us to peruse. I've been reading one for a few days, and even if I wasn't in the process of trying to come up with a name for our own child I think it would make really interesting reading. It goes into quite some detail about the history of names and the connections between them.

But the odd thing is no matter how many names I read about and consider, one keeps coming back to me. And the very odd thing is that Mrs T, who you'll remember favours traditional and popular names, suggested it. And you certainly won't find this one it in any book of names.

It is, in fact, an old family surname and has previously been used as middle name. We'd already thought we might well use it as a middle name ourselves if we have a boy but when Mrs T mooted the possibility of using it as a first name I was amazed. I wasn't sure at first, but the more I think about it the more it grows on me. The trouble is, of course, Mrs T has already started to go off the idea.

(Name edited out - see below.)

Pros:
- Unique.
- Distinctive.
- Personal.
- Family connection.
- Works well with our surname.

Cons:
- Unique.
- Shortened forms not ideal.

Note: I had originally revealed the name in this post, but have now removed it in case it helps us to be "found" later on if we do use it.

One thing at a time

Okay, so it appears to be true that pregnancy does funny things to a woman’s brain. We’d heard friends talk of having “pregnant moments” of forgetfulness, and Mrs T seems to be following suit. She’s forgotten where she’s put things, forgotten why she went upstairs, and more. But yesterday she was trying to tell me something, I changed the subject slightly and we started talking about that instead. Moments late she could not, for the life of her, remember what she’d wanted to say.

“That’s what happens to me at the moment,” she said, “I can only think about one thing at a time. I hate it; I don’t now how you blokes cope.”

I think I should take that as an insult, shouldn’t I?

Back to normal...

…As soon as we can work out what normality is in the first place. Mrs T’s “three days of no nausea” were just that: three days. Sunday evening she felt horrible again, and was extra miserable because she’d thought she was over this part. She still wasn’t too good last night.

We have started tossing names back and forth in an attempt to see if there’s any common ground. I can see it’s going to be quite a task. I grew up with a name that’s not exactly unusual, but isn’t common either. I was always the only in my class at school (probably the only one in my school, in fact), and have almost always been the only one anywhere else. I remember way back in primary school realising that when the teacher said “John” or “Matthew” or the like, two or three kids had to look up and see if she meant them. And even back then I thought, “poor kids, fancy having to share a name”.

I printed the lists of the top 100 babies’ names in the UK from the Office of National Statistics (boys and girls) and the two of us privately went through the 2005 list and crossed out those we wouldn’t fancy, then compared lists. There were a fair few we both left in, but the closer to the top of the list you get the more likely your are to be sharing a name with your peers, and I just wouldn’t want that. Mrs T’s favourites are much more clustered near the top.

The discussions will continue. For the next few months, no doubt.

Three clear days

No nausea for the past three days! Progress indeed.

Soooooo tired

Not a lot to report really: just wanted to check in to let you know that all is well as we reach the beginning of week 17. Mrs T's sickness is now coming in shorter 'waves' (rather than whole days as before) but her tiredness hasn't let up. She took one day off work last week, and has been pacing herself differently since. It's easier now that everyone knows she's pregnant.

I've had some lovely responses at work and at church. I wasn't at the church members' meeting last week, but have heard from several people that our minister (who occasionally comments here as "d") shared the news from the front. He was sharing "church family news", and listed the seven people who are pregnant at the moment. I'm told he left us till last and gave us a dramatic pause - and that the announcement was greeted by a cheer! Aw, shucks.

We're hoping that the tiredness pases to some degree soon. All we've read tells us that Mrs T should be beginning to 'bloom' and feel as healthy as ever during the second trimester. Is that really true? (I've also read that she should go through quite a randy phase as some point. Please let that be true...)