It's a BOY!

This past week has been fantastic. We've been looking forward to it for a few reasons. First, we were going to be starting the 2nd trimester. Also, we had an ultrasound scheduled which would possibly determine the sex of the baby. And, Ryan was going to have 5 days off of work for the Easter holiday.

I am now officially a week into my 2nd Trimester, and I feel great. Even though it may just look like like I've eaten too many cookies , I'm starting to get a bit of a baby bump. The only thing that I want to wear are stretchable, cotton skirts or sundresses. I have two pairs of early maternity stretch jeans that I wear on overcast days. Thankfully, so far my regular clothes are still working for me. But, I might just find a maternity store in the next week or two to see what my options are.

A few days ago, we had the Nuchal Translucency Scan. It's an ultrasound where the fluid in the back of the baby's neck is measured. That measurement plus my age and blood test information is calculated to give us a risk factor for Downs Syndrome. We went to the appointment not knowing that we'd also get a 4D glimpse at our baby as well as find out the sex. During the scan, the baby was being uncooperative. He needed to be in a certain position for the technician to make a correct measurement. I don't think he liked the pressure of the ultrasound wand and was moving all over the place. Anyways, because he was being uncooperative, we were scanned for an hour. During that hour, the tech switched between the regular 2D ultrasound and the 4D ultrasound, where she found, took pictures of and labeled all the exterior body parts as well as the four chambers of the heart, two kidneys, a bladder and both halves of the brain. Ultrasounds are pretty amazing!!

During the ultrasound, we let the tech know that if she could determine the sex we wanted to know. She told us that if it's a boy, the boy parts will be sitting more perpendicular to the baby's spine. If it was a girl, the girl parts would be laying more parallel to the spine. When we looked, we could see that his boy parts were at a definite 90* to the spine. He's a BOY!!



Ryan and I have both said we'll be happy with anything as long as he/she is healthy. But, I know that Ryan really wanted a boy. Feeling his happiness over the news that he is going to have a son was priceless, and we've been pretty smiley since that day!

Prams and Infant Carriers

So I was talking with Cristi yesterday and the subject of how expensive products are here in Australia. It is the cost of living in a country with a small population. She sent me some links to Target in the US, versus Target Australia and it was 30% to 50% more. No worries, buy online and ship to the office in San Diego, pick it up in a couple of months. Sorry local economy, almost double for everything we're looking for is too much.

Seeing how I'm on the road for work, my evenings are pretty boring in the hotel after dinner. So I spent some time researching "prams and carriers" online. The realization of these things are bloody expensive hit me after reading the safety comparisons. On top of that, you will most likely be replacing them within the first year due to size/weight limits. After my few hours of researching (okay, so maybe I was up until 3am) I think I have found 2 of each for SWMBO to try and find in person to see features and most importantly, colours, err colors.

My top choices:
Pram with this for a Newborn
Carrier
Options:
Pram 2
Carrier 2

Time to check baggage limits for my next trip back...

...& Baby Makes 3

With only days to go until we start the 2nd Trimester, we are now ready to announce that we're expecting a little bub at the end of October!!

Right away, we shared the happy news with our immediate family, but decided that we'd keep it a secret from everyone else until we were further along.

Most of you know that I'm not so good with secrets. This has been one difficult secret for me to keep. In fact, once I even spilled the beans accidentally on Face Book. Ironically, only one of my friends noticed and asked me if it was my "way of announcing without announcing". ♥ Thanks Valerie for keeping the secret for us even if I couldn't.

We've had three ultrasounds and the baby is steadily growing and has a strong heart beat. At this point, we haven't found out the sex. But, we're planning to find out in the next few weeks... stay tuned!

As you can imagine Ryan and I are extremely excited. We even started this new joint blog to keep all of the updates in one location. (If you want to look at any of the previously unpublished posts, you can click on the blog archive to the right).

Thank you to all of our family and friends for your ongoing love and support. Even though we are 7,000 miles away from all of you, we haven't noticed any distance.

♥ Love Cristi and Ryan

Pros and Cons of the Australian Health Care System

I am extremely grateful that Ryan and I are 100% insured. We can go to our GP, Dentist or Optometrist and all expenses are completely covered by our Private Insurance. Because we are here on a 457 Work Visa, we need to have Private Health Insurance in order for our Visas to remain valid. In Australia, ALL citizens are provided with government assisted Medi-Care. However, if you are a certain age and/or make over a certain amount each year, you must also invest in Private Health Insurance or else you will be taxed more. So, even though all citizens get assistance, it's not a completely socialized medical system. Some Aussies opt for Private Health Care, as well.

There are, of course, pros and cons to our Private Health Insurance. A couple of the pros are that we are 100% covered, and we have our choice between both Private and Public Hospitals. In addition to that we are reimbursed rather quickly. I fill out a claim form the day we get back from the doctor, and usually the reimbursement check is in our hands a week later. However, there are a couple of cons, as well. One really annoying thing is that in Australia if you are going to go to any doctor besides your GP you need a referral from your GP first. We haven't gone to our GP since last September. But, in order for us to claim our $300 Obstetrician Bill from earlier this week, we had to get a referral from our GP. I think that's ridiculous. Why should I have to waste my time and energy driving 20 minutes to the GP for him to say, "Yup, you're pregnant! You need to go to the Obstetrician"? What's really funny is that our Insurance requires it. But, in the end, they are the ones who are paying for the pointless $100 GP appointment because we get 100% reimbursed for that claim too. They really aren't too bright are they?

Despite the few cons, we are very fortunate to have such quality Medical Insurance. I hear the horror stories from America and am grateful that we are immune from that right now. I don't know what will happen once we return to The States. But, for now, we'll be happy that we are 100% covered and that we are able to have our baby at The Mater Hospital, the best Private Mother's Hospital in Brisbane.

Visiting the Baby Doctor...

Yesterday, Ryan and I went to our first official Doctor's appointment. I say it was our first "official" appointment because we have actually had two different appointments and had scans at each. But, until yesterday, we hadn't met our Obstetrician.

When I was 4 weeks pregnant, Ryan and I went to a fertility specialist. It had been 6 months since I miscarried, and we were going to have a few tests done to figure out why we weren't getting pregnant again. Ironically, as it turns out I was already 4 weeks pregnant when we went to the specialist. After that, he asked us to return at 6 weeks and 7 weeks to measure the baby and listen to the heart beat. So, our first two appointments were with the specialist who we thought was going to run tests to determine our fertility. Ironic, huh?

So, yesterday we had our first visit with Arrivals Obstetrics. Arrivals is a team of four Obstetricians who all practice together. Throughout my pregnancy, we'll make appointments with each of the four doctors. That way, on the final day we will be comfortable with who ever is on call while I am in labor. The team also consists of four midwifes who are there to assist the mums-to-be in between appointments.

We were hoping to have another scan since it's been 4 weeks since the last one. We know there's been significant development with the bub since then, and we were looking forward to being able to see him/her again. We were pleasantly surprised when Dr. Higgins led us into the ultra sound room. It's too early for me to feel it, but the baby was moving all over. It was amazing!

(10 weeks, 5 Days)

Another Trip to the Loo??

I don't understand how it's possible for a human to possibly pee this much. I feel like there's a well worn path in the carpet from the couch to the bathroom. Before pregnancy, I already called myself a "frequent urinater". Ryan makes jokes because I go through so much TP. But, when you go often, you use more. I never would have thought I could possibly go more than I already went. It's slightly frustrating because I never really feel comfortably empty. If you know what I mean. By the time I leave the bathroom, I already feel like I have to go again. You may be thinking... 'maybe you have a bladder infection'. I don't. I've had one before and it's not an infection. It's just pregnancy. I was watching a show a few months ago and they mentioned how in England pregnant women are allowed to use the hats of the police men to pee in when the urgency strikes. I sort of laughed and thought WHAT?? But, now I understand. When you're pregnant, there is NO holding it!! I tried to hold it last night and that lasted about 15 seconds. It seems the more you try to hold it, the more you have to go. I still don't think I'd be able to pee in some one's hat. Here you go officer, thanks for that! No, I'd need to go the old fashioned way... in a toilet! But, it does go to show you that England is a society that realizes that pregnant women just can't hold it. I know that my frequent trips to the toilet won't last forever. In fact, 9 months is the longest it will last. So, I will just stock up on TP and stay close to a toilet... But, if I must leave the house, maybe I should make sure to stick close to someone wearing a hat : )