I wasn’t sure if I’d get a chance to celebrate Hallowe’en with L this year; it was looking more and more likely that this baby was going to come before we made it to the end of October and L would have been deprived of trick or treating. But the baby is hanging on and we went out on our first UK trick or treat last night.… Read more
Today I am 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant, and doing my utmost to get this baby out naturally. Which is funny really when you think that I was happy to go to 42 weeks with this pregnancy and was in no particular rush for the baby to get here. However that all changed a couple of weeks ago when I started itching crazily one night, and then my blood test results showed that there was an issue with some of the levels linked to my liver.… Read more
I don’t know why but finding a name for a baby boy seems to be infinitely harder than finding names for a baby girl. Before those who know me get excited and start thinking we’ve given in and found out the sex of our bump, sorry to disappoint you but we are still in the dark.… Read more
Naming baby number 1 was a relatively easy business – a couple of years before L was born, friends of ours had a baby girl and we fell in love with the name they chose for her, and jokingly asked if we could steal it if we ever had a girl, they agreed and when L was born it was natural that she had that name.… Read more
I am delighted to be pregnant with child number 2, but this is actually my third pregnancy. I am one of the many, many women who has suffered from a miscarriage. According to the NHS one in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage and around three quarters of those miscarriages occur during the first trimester (first 12 weeks of pregnancy).… Read more
For this pregnancy my commute involves travelling on the tube (London underground) into central London every day. After years of commuting in bumper to bumper traffic jams or on completely unreliable trains (anyone ever heard of French strike action?!?) on the French Riviera, this is my best commute ever. I have a 7 minute walk to our local tube station, an 18 minute direct tube ride on the northern line, and then a 10 minute walk to my office the other end.… Read more
Apparently toxoplasmosis is a huge danger during pregnancy in France, but not in the UK.
What exactly is toxoplasmosis?
According to Wikipedia it is “a parasitic disease…the primary host is the felid (cat) family…those with a weakened immune system, such as…pregnant women, may become seriously ill, and it can occasionally be fatal.”
Interestingly most people I have discussed this with in the UK have never heard of it, and it’s certainly never discussed during antenatal appointments.… Read more
My positive pregnancy test result has taken me on a trip down memory lane, remembering my pregnancy with L in 2006 and her birth in the December. Just in case you didn’t know, French hubs, B, and I used to live in the south of France, we only moved to London when L was three and a half, so my pregnancy with her, her birth and her early years all took place on the French Riviera.… Read more
It hardly seems possible that just a month ago I was lamenting yet another negative result yet here I am with a big fat positive in my hands. Two in fact.
I did the first test yesterday morning, which was really the absolute earliest I could do it with a hope of getting a positive.… Read more
Anyone who’s been trying for a baby for a while can tell you how gut-wrenching it is when you realise that this month is not the month. And that is what happened to me today.
It doesn’t matter how you realise you’re not pregnant, the pain is the same. I have had months when it’s been because my temperature has dipped and stayed low, other months when the familiar monthly cramps start, warning me of what’s to come, and then there’s the clearest message, the negative pregnancy test.… Read more