The Slow Explosion

After the 20 week scan, it was really a waiting game...
I was feeling great... and growing huge!!!

Here is a photo journey of the bump:

At 10 week pregnant.. the bump is barely noticeable

At 21 weeks pregnant... the bump is definitely there!

At 33 weeks pregnant... Chad and I did a photo shoot... to capture the magic of our journey....

Below are all the pics from this shoot.

Announcing.... Princess Jellybean!

At 20 weeks, Chad and I were half way along the journey to becoming parents....
We went for our a scheduled 20week scan, to check the physical development of Jellybean...

It was at this scan... we found out we're having a GIRL!!
This was very exciting news!!
I had so badly wanted a girl... that the suspense had been killing me...
Up until this point, Chad had said that he wouldn't have minded either....
but its funny how knowing something forces your mind ...
he now says he would like a boy... so maybe in a year or two... we will be praying that Jellybean's sibling is a boy...

But anyway!
This time at the scan, we got a dvd (movie) of the scan... so I have extracted 1 or 2 pics from the movie to share....
As you can see, she is growing much bigger now :)

Her Profile pic

Her cute feet

Getting to know you....

Getting to know the small person growing in your body is a magical experience.
After finding out we were pregnant.... it was another 5 weeks before we could go see our obstetrician. At just over 10 weeks pregnant, Chad and I trotted off to meet our chosen obstetrician, Dr Chris Saadie.

Dr Saadie may not be the most talkative doc Ive ever met, but he is calm, re-assuring and lovely.
In the first consultation he checked all the test results i had already (blood and ultrasound)...Then did a bit of info gathering... such as noting down my current weight and blood pressure.

He also managed to surprise us (and it wouldn't be the last surprise either), by asking when I last had my breasts checked. When I replied about 2 years ago, he had me whip off my bra and lie down so he could do a check of them (for breast cancer / lumps)...It was weird for me to have a man (and yes I know he is a doctor) feeling my boobs, while Chad was sitting in the chair at his desk watching!!

Anyway, the best part of the visit, was right at the end, when he took out a small device, held it to my belly... and after some wriggling, we could here our Jellybeans heartbeat.

In every subsequent visit, this remains the best part... hearing a strong (and fast - between 140 and 150 beats per minute) heartbeat... and knowing it was hers!

Dr Saadie sent us off for a nuchal translucency screening, this was a voluntary ultrasound to check for Down-Syndrome and it should take place between 12-14 weeks. This proved tricky, as we were in RSA for most of this time... but at 13 weeks 6 days I went off to the scan!

I am very happy to report, that we got the ALL clear ....
Unfortunately Chad was not able to join me at the scan as it was his first day back at work after a long holiday, but I did get some lovely photo's from the scan which i was able to share with him!

A lovely Profile pic of Jellybean

This was a 3D scan of her at 13 weeks... unfortunately she looks a little an alien

If you look closely an the right hand side (bottom) you will see she measures 8.11cm.

Wow... We're pregnant!!

I was due to start my period  on the 21st June 2011... by the 23rd I was so suspicious that our 3 months of trying was successful... but I had pee'd on 3 sticks already and NOTHING!!

That night, i drank a whole bottle of wine, consoled myself that i must just be late and there would be next month!

I woke up the next morning... and decided what the hell... I would try one last time (as i was now 3 days late!!)...
Sneaking out of bed early in the morning (cause Chad was tired of me peeing on sticks every couple of hours)... I sneak pee'd on a stick!

I was so happy to see this:

After seeing the double lines... I rushed into the room, crawled into bed next to Chad... and broke the news to him!!

I was so excited... and he was so shocked!!
HAHAHA

Over the next couple of days, we went to see our GP, who did the prerequisite blood tests... and sent us off for a preliminary ultra-sound to confirm I was pregnant!

On that first ultrasound...when they guessed I was 6 weeks pregnant.... it was just magic!
She was so small... just a tiny dot in the vastness of my body!
But she was there... and we were happy!!

Now we had to keep a secret for another 4 weeks!!