Thursday Checkup

We're almost giddy with joy at this last checkup. Finally it was good news.

Before I get carried away, the reality is that Baby still has a swollen belly, but the positive part is that it's not grown any bigger. Also, one part of his heart is still under performing, but that's due to the fluid in his lungs. Again the positive result is that this has not gotten any worse and so is stable.

Before the surgery baby's growth had fallen off, and he was measuring under his actual age, this week we saw that baby is now measuring 3 days over his age. So not only has he caught up, he's thriving. The blood measurements (how his heart delivers the blood to his vital organs) were within normal baby parameters - so not just stable but good! :)

While the echo was being performed we saw him take a drink. His little hand was visible, and he had put his little finger up in the air while he was drinking - a proper British gentleman! Thijs is hoping he won't pick up any bad habits from his mum - like preferring milk in his tea! ;)

Baby is very active and quite strong in his preference of exactly where he likes my internal organs to be positioned. I feel like I am getting beaten up from the inside! I'm loving every moment of it, it shows he's such a strong little fighter.
As you know, I'm on house arrest - sorry home rest! I have to say that it is very dull and quite frustrating as I'm not allowed to do the list of things that my pregnant mind tells me is vital to complete before baby is here! Poor Thijs now has two full time jobs!

We've had some friends drop by with Pizza, which was great fun and a chance to talk about other things outside this house without the hassle of cooking. Very luxurious! Our friend Berbera came and took some wonderful photos, which cheered me up no end. Also Thijs' parents, Chris and Lex, dropped by last Saturday, which was great as Lex helped Thijs with some jobs around the house and Chris shared her knitting knowledge with me. So I hope that I will at least have a useful skill after all this sitting around. First I have to practice but then I hope to actually be able to produce something in time for baby coming home. Chris also indulged me while I pulled out all the baby clothes we have and laughed and imagined how cute he will look in them. I have to admit, the volume of clothes is over the top! In our defense, I have to point out that a lot of this was given to us so we didn't go over the top buying things. I've now have an obsession of holding the rompers up to my stomach and I can't believe that such tiny clothes will actually fit (or even be too big) for the little angel I have inside my enormous belly!! Have you seen the photo on the blog? That really is my bump!!

We are now at the stage where we want to know when baby will be born and what happens next. It feels a bit nervous to be looking to the future, but also quite exciting to have reached this far. Our doctor wasn't available at this appointment but Leiden took note of our questions and we hope that we will be able to know more about the plans for the future next week. As soon as we have more news, we will of course post and let you know. Which will probably be after next weeks visit.

So thanks to you all for the comments on the blog, phone calls, mails and visits they really do help us to keep positive and connected to the outside world. Once we get the scanner connected to the laptop we'll post the really cute photo's we got from this weeks echo. I swear our little boy has Thijs' nose. See what you think! :)

Take care,

Louise