We're over the halfway mark now. It's hard to imagine the chaos that will descend on our household in just 19 weeks or so!
Here is what's been going on since last time I posted:
Cassie's 2 - and Nearly Weaned!
Cassie turned 2 on 29th May. We celebrated over lunch with my parents ("Gol" and "Pop"). Cassie didn't eat much of her main course, but she really enjoyed Gol's flourless chocolate cake. The photo (taken by Pop) shows just how much she liked it...
She also loved her birthday presents. Highlights include a swing set and a tricycle. Her legs are a bit too short to reach the tricycle pedals, but it has a handle so we can push it. The handle is at a very ergonomic height. It's a shame that the handle bars aren't - Cassie can't steer yet and bending down to make constant corrections is a little tiring.
The other exciting news about Cassie (well, exciting for me!) is that she's nearly weaned. There were several days this week when she only had one breastfeed in 24 hours. If you consider that she was having 8 to 10 feeds per day back in January, this is a big change. Of course, most of those 8 to 10 feeds were very small - I think they were more about entertainment and cuddles than nutrition.
I would like to say that she weaned herself, but this isn't true. The only way that I could find to wean her was simply by saying "No" or "Not now" about a million times. I tried "Don't offer, don't refuse", but it just didn't work for us.
Of course, I feel bad about reducing this source of pleasure for my daughter, but it will be impractical to have a toddler still feeding so frequently when we'll also have a newborn soon. I don't mind if she keeps up her one or two feeds per day though. Apparently a toddler is a much nicer and more effective means of dealing with engorgement than getting out the breastpump. No need to bother with sterilising... and no heart-breaking chuckaway of expressed breast milk if the baby doens't want it from the bottle.
Some people also seem to think that tandem feeding might help with sibling rivalry. I'm not so sure; it's probably different in every case. And it really will be hard for Cassie having to put up with a new baby.
Oh, and for the record, weaning does not seem to mean that she sleeps through the night reliably!
Ultrasound number 3
We had ultrasound number 3 on Monday, at 20 weeks and 1 day. The good news is, everything looks good! I even remembered my glasses so I could actually see the on-screen images for myself. It is hard to say that a ghostly-looking ultrasound image is cute, but the feet and hands actually were! I'm not so sure about the face. The skull outline that you see in the ultrasound just isn't cute.
We still don't know if it's a boy or girl. There was no sign of a penis, but according the sonographer, the baby was in an arkward position, so it would have been hard to see anyway. Also, apparently the penis is only a couple of mm long at this stage, so that probably makes it hard to spot too!
I think it will be nice to have the surprise of finding out the baby's sex when it's born. Although, I probably will be beyond caring at the time...if it feels like last time.
Anyway, we will have to keep trying to think of both boys and girls names. The current favourites are Imogen if it's a girl or Timothy if it's a boy (Immy or Timmy!). So far we've changed our minds dozens of times, so I'm not sure if these are the final choices.
The Importance of Iodine
Ladies, if you are thinking of getting pregnant, you should also think about taking an iodine supplement. You need to keep on taking the iodine until your bubba is weaned.
Iodine deficiency can lead to thyroid problems for Mums, and problems with brain development for the baby.
Apparently, we used to get heaps of iodine from table salt, but since nobody uses much of that now, 50% of Australians have an iodine deficiency. (How ironic - we are mostly having far too much salt overall - but I suppose the salt in processed food isn't iodised).
We can also get iodine from seafood, but seeing as pregnant and breastfeeding women are told to limit their seafood intake due to the mercury content it is probably hard to get enough iodine that way.
After hearing a segment about this on the radio on Wednesday, I bought some iodine supplement today. Actually, I couldn't get straight iodine supplement, I needed to buy a pregnancy multi-vitamin. It was the chemists' own brand. The more expensive and more heavily-marketed Elevit didn't actually seem to have any iodine in it!
For more details see:
Thyroid Association of Austalia
