The 12 Week Scan!

At 9am on the 17th January we was sitting in the waiting area of the hospital for our 12 week scan.

The weeks leading up to this momentous event had been very busy (with Christmas, Hubby's birthday and January exams taking up a lot of my time) yet at the same time they had dragged. Waking up everyday feeling extremely sick had taken its toll. Although in a way I was grateful for the sickness as at least it was an indication I was pregnant! At 12 weeks there's hardly any bump to speak of, no movements and you'd be hard pushed to find a heartbeat with a doppler especially if you are not medically trained. But today was the day we would see the beginnings of an actual baby!

The scan we had been to at six weeks was special but there was little to be seen just a tiny flashing dot, but this scan astounded me! You could see every little part of Baby Tiddlywink! The sonographer took all the measurements and did the calculations to indicate whether our baby was at risk of being down syndrome, all came back fine and we was given the date of the 31st July as our due date.

We was sent away with six different pics of our precious little one to gaze at. Here's our favourite one, with a little leg kicking up!

A little tip though with scan pics. They don't age well. The paper they use is not acid free. Store them in an airtight box wrapped in acid free paper to preserve them. Make sure you get some copies of them. I'm wary of putting them through the photocopier, scanning is best or take a picture of the original using a digital camera.

We both decided to take the complete day off of work that day. We was keen to do the rounds and notify family and close friends in person. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE social media sites like Twitter and Facebook but didn't want people to find out that way. I wanted to tell them and see their reaction and happiness firsthand!

For the rest of that day I couldn't stop staring at the little black and white photo of our little one tucked up all snug inside me!!

The Truth About The First Trimester...

I had such an idealised view of pregnancy. I couldn't wait for people to tell me I was 'glowing' and how well I looked! Well I'm sorry to disappoint any currently pregnant women who are still early on in their pregnancy ... This is NOT the case, well not in my experience anyway!!

I'd just finished hosting a Stampin' Up! Demo for some friends and family on a Saturday afternoon (see www.craftythinker.blogspot.com for details) and literally every attendee commented on how pale and tired I looked. After they had all left I sat down and thought 'hey, I am pretty tired' and then it clicked 'I'm pregnant!'. I had a couple of cheap supermarket brand pregnancy tests upstairs (brought just in case) and did one: it came out positive! I did the other (just to check) Positive! And then just to be sure i jumped in my car and drove to Tesco brought a Clear Blue Digital (a posh one, with a week indicator on it) Yep most definitely pregnant 3+ weeks! I couldn't wait for hubby to get home from work. The poor man barely stepped through the door when I jumped into his arms and told him the news! His response: shock! 'I didn't know it would happen so fast' was his reply. I have to admit neither did I but we was happy!!

I confirmed the pregnancy with my GP, again (sorry early pregnant ladies/ prospective pregnant ladies) a disappointing experience. You go in all excited, you expect them to do tests and ask tonnes of questions but no... instead my GP asked if I'd done a pregnancy test, was it positive? And then when was my last period. Gave me a potential due date and sent me away with the number of the midwife team to make my booking appointment! Talk about taking the wind out of my sails!

I called the midwife the next day, she was unsure with the dates and especially after hearing that my hubby has a history of twins in the family insisted that I went for a dating scan. She was absolutely lovely and thorough. Finally someone who showed an interest! She told me to call her back when we had a due date to book in our booking appointment!

Two days later hubby and I set off for the hospital. We was going to see our baby. Oh my god! (I have to admit I did another pregnancy test that morning just to avoid embarrassment/ disappointment.) We got there early and sat nervously. We was called in and told to pull my waistband of my skirt down and get up on the bed. Jelly on tummy, right this is it! We're going to see Baby Tiddlywink... But after a couple of minutes of staring at the screen nothing?! 'Oh no!' I looked at my hubby for support and then we both looked at the sonographer dreading the worse. She just calmly said 'You must still be quite early on in your pregnancy. We'll have to do an internal scan.' I looked at my hubby, face clearly full of dread! He didn't know what to say except 'Do you want me to leave the room'. I knew he had to be with me, I told him to stay. The internal scan wasn't as traumatic as i thought at all in all honesty and was completely worth it when I saw the flashing dot that was our baby! A tip though ladies: if going for an early dating scan wear a skirt, less embarrassing all round! We left the hospital with beaming smiles! So excited about what the future held.

We decided not to tell anyone about the pregnancy straight away, although almost instantly one of my best friends guessed. We was out on a girly date when all of a sudden she said 'Your boobs look big, oh my god ... You're pregnant!' It was lovely to have a confidant to share my excitement with!!

The excitement was short lived when the morning sickness arrived! I'm not sure why they call I morning sickness, for me it was morning, noon and night sickness. Work was unbearable. I'm a teacher. I teach 16-19 year olds and I'm on my feet all day. My classroom was the furthest away from a toilet and the nearest loo was a student one! I resorted to a bucket in my office! Oh the glamour!

At 8 weeks, with Christmas fast approaching I eventually went to the doctors. I just couldn't stop being sick. She prescribed me some anti sickness tablets that worked a charm! Within 48 hours I felt human again! Which was just as well as we had already committed to a Christmas themed fancy-dress party the day before Christmas Eve. (Mind you finding a fancy dress costume to hide my tiny bump was a challenge, but i succeeded!)

We had planned to tell our parents at 12 weeks after our scan, but on Christmas Eve I spoke to my Mum on the phone. She was all excited about us coming over the next day. I'm a celiac and have to follow a gluten free diet and bless her she was listing all the lovely food she brought in to accommodate my diet, prawns, cheese, pâté ... Basically everything I couldn't eat. I came off the phone knowing I'd have to tell my parents otherwise they'd guess anyway that I wasn't eating my favourite foods!!

Christmas was fab! I told my parents in secret! Asking them not to share with my extended family until after the 12 week scan. My mum grinned like a Cheshire cat all day and I was treated like royalty!! My dad was equally excited. The hardest part was hiding the fact I wasn't drinking! Possible covers: designated driver, recovering from yesterdays hangover, stomach bug ... i used them all. I'm an honest person and even these white lies played on my conscience, but it's protocol to keep the secret for the first 12 weeks and that's what we did.

A couple of weeks later (on my hubby's birthday) we had our booking appointment. Be prepared ladies, it's a bloody long appointment and you feel like you're playing a game of Mr & Mrs! You need to know not only your medical history but also that of every Tom, Dick and Harry in your family!! Our midwife Amelia was lovely, we left excited and with the date of our 12 week scan!!

(Next post will be about our 12 week scan)

So, what was your first trimester like? Any amusing stories? Any tips for mummies experiencing the first trimester at the mo? I'd love you to share. Please leave a comment!