Pregnancy Diary: Is it a boy or a girl?!

We’re having a boy! My husband Brodie was beaming from ear to ear when the ultrasound operator told us. It turns out the baby is quite a kicker. My sister-in-law, who’s due with her fourth baby soon, keeps telling me I’ll get sick of it. At the moment I just think it’s kind of special. It’s not really hard enough for other people to feel it yet, but I know when he’s kicking. It’s our own secret little thing - just between baby and me.

I had a bit of a food poisoning scare last week. We were in Queenstown for a family wedding and I ate a cooked sausage (from a reasonably nice restaurant), and got very sick. Brodie and I had treated ourselves to a night in a nice hotel, but I ended up spending the night in the loo throwing up! I was so worried about the baby after everything I’d been told about how dangerous food poisoning is for them.

I rang my midwife and she gave me a bit of a surprise by just saying “Oh dear. Well make sure you keep your fluids up.” She pretty much just left it at that! After a day of feeling pretty average, I got a lot better and baby was kicking like normal. So if you’re pregnant and you get food poisoning, don’t freak out! Despite all the dire warnings, it is possible that your baby will be absolutely fine.

I finally went clothes shopping, and I have to say the market is a bit lacking if you’re a bit poor. Basically there’s the high end shops with beautiful clothes, like Egg for example, where a pair of jeans will set you back at least $100, or else there’s K-Mart. So if your total amount to spend is under $200, you’re going to be a bit stuck or else you’ll be wearing XXL mens’ sports wear from the Warehouse.

K-Mart has usually got about 10-15 choices for pregnant women, and they are mostly under $40. I got some jeans from there and they are great. Some of the kids’ clothing shops, like Pumpkin Patch, also have maternity clothes, but the range of styles is often quite limited. The other option that’s working good for me is Trade Me, there are heaps of maternity clothes listed! So far off Trade Me I’ve bought two skirts, two tops, and a dress to wear to a wedding.

Antenatal classes start soon... I’m sort of looking forward to them. But the prospect of watching birth videos isn’t that appealing right now, when it’s something I actually have to do! I’ll write about how they go in the next column...