One small thing

[radegund]

I reckon it's time to let yiz all in on the other little story that's going to make life interesting this year: as some of you already know, niallm and I will be joined in late August, all going well, by ... [pregnant pause] ... a BABY.

Heee!!! We're so deliciously excited about this. It's wonderful. And terrifying. Our lives will change completely. Person who did not exist will exist. I can't wait to meet it.



This is a portrait of my inhabitant, taken at around 9.5 weeks (the blob at the bottom of the egg-shaped black bit). You can't make out much, but my obstetrician friend (who did us the scan as a nixer; this is Ireland) alleges that the bulbous bit on the right is a head and the sticky-out bit on the left is a leg.

What was really exciting was seeing the heart beating: about four pixels on the screen flashing black to white.* The whole thing was 27mm long at the time (20 January). It should be well over twice that now, although I'm still fitting into most of my clothes. I can feel there's something going on in there, all right, particularly when I do singing exercises or lie on my stomach. This is week 14, so there'll be speedy growth for the next few months.

So now you know why I've been whining so much about my health recently. Morning sickness sucks dead donkeys, and baby manufacture seems to take an enormous amount of energy. But oddly, despite the nausea and the extreme fatigue (twinned neatly with insomnia) and the forgetfulness and the achey hips - and the tendonitis, which is apparently likely to flare up at intervals for the duration - I'm in excellent spirits. Feel profoundly happy most of the time. Ah, hormones!

Besides! Big tits!

*I have two hearts! I'm a Time Lord! (Or a Centauri, I suppose. But Time Lords are cooler.)

Comments

[stephencass.livejournal.com]

Yay! (BTW I think it's a very encouraging indicator of your maternal suitability that the science fiction you chose as analogous to your situation was not one of the Alien movies :) ) Best wishes for you and Niall and little PWDNEWE!

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you! (And I must confess to having giggled about who, in the delivery room, has the job of running after the little creature after it bursts through my T-shirt and scuttles off screen.)

Speaking of Centauri, by the way, we're into Season 4 now (and how cool it is, to be sure!), which I believe qualifies me to hear the Anecdote About The End Of Season 3 that you mentioned months ago. Um. If you remember. Perhaps not on an open channel, mind you :-)

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

C*O*N*G*R*A*T*U*L*A*T*I*O*N*S!

What lovely news!

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm still focusing on the "lovely" aspect of things, rather than the "2am feeds / temper tantrums / near-fatal skateboard stunts / teenage delinquency" aspect of things ... but that's as it should be, I feel :-)

[ex-siren-so.livejournal.com]

WOOT! This is SO exciting!!!! Many, many congratulations :DDDD The morning sickness should ease up soon :-)

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

I know - I'm still walking round most days in a state of dazed joy! And I really hope I begin to feel better soon, so that I can get back to my novel draft. I have a sort of a built-in deadline now... :-)

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm not really out at work yet, although my officemates and the people who deal with sick leave know. I'll tell the management fairly soon, though, I think, because there's a little finessing to be done with relation to how I'm replaced... Happy days.

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! What utterly fabulous news.

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's fabulous and, as I said, rather terrifying. This is one of very few things I've done where, once I'm committed, I really really can't change my mind later. Also, what's with the nine months thing? TV has taught us that pregnancy lasts at most four or five episodes - what's the deal? :-)

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

Yay! congratulations.

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[stellanova.livejournal.com]

Aw, congratulations! I'm so happy for you and Niall.

I am not enormously surprised, though - you said something at lunch yesterday that hinted at something of this nature, but I didn't want to ask at the time!

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yes, I did sort of let slip at lunch - and then shied away from the revelation for some reason. I think it was mainly because I was interested in the conversation we were having: news of pregnancy does have a habit of trumping all other topics for miles around... :-)

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[ailbhe]

Heh. I've given up even *trying* to think about anything else *long since*. Oh, and congratulations again, of course :-)

I'm glad you posted this, though, because I've been trying to remember how many weeks along you are. I'm dead jealous that you fit into your clothes still.

Only 26 weeks to go! And only 15 weeks when you can fly without a doctor's cert.

Week 32 here, and nesting is proceeding apace. Now that Rob can see the baby moving from the outside, and feel it every time he presses against my abs, he knows it's real, so the various bits of work we need to do pre-birth are finally getting done.

So - names - come on, let everyone in on this! I see a great need for an lj-poll.

A.

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's funny. You wouldn't think it to look at me, but I'm actually quite shy sometimes about being the Centre of Attention. Sheer mimicry of my parents' reticence. It's not a "can't we talk about something else?" feeling, it's more "well, yes, this is completely absorbing to me, but don't feel you have to go along with that". Or something.

Names? Ha. And again, I say, ha. Drily. A post may follow.

[natural20.livejournal.com]

w00t! Many and much congratulations.

I think any child in this world would be hard pressed to get a better upbringing than the one that yourself and himself will give it. I expect a poetry-writing, novel-writing, singing, photo-taking, ubernerd by five!

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[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

What an absolutely lovely thing to say. You couldn't be more right!

[niallm.livejournal.com]

Thank you Glitz. Means a lot.

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

Awww, silly Niall. Of course I think that. Very much so.

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Awww, that's lovely! Thanks so much! It has occurred to me that this kid will have a really rather impressive range of intellectual and cultural opportunities from the word go - and not just from its parents, of course: our circle of friends will add greatly to that particular coolness. Mind you, if we have a sporty child it'll be pretty much on its own :-)

I do think, though, that the best we can hope for as parents is that the twistinesses we inevitably pass on to our children are manageable in later life, and that anything really toxic can get filtered out before the next generation has to endure it. That sounds very pessimistic, but actually I think it'd be worse in the long term to believe we were going to be perfect parents. There's no such thing, and we could do some serious damage trying to maintain the illusion.

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[natural20.livejournal.com]

I never said perfect. I would agree there's no such thing either. I love my parents dearly, I wouldn't change 'em for the world, but they weren't perfect and I've no illusions that should I ever have any kids that I won't be perfect either. However, with you guys all the signs definitely point to good.

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Awww! *warm fuzzy feeling*

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[stephencass.livejournal.com]

a really rather impressive range of intellectual and cultural opportunities...our circle of friends will add greatly to that particular coolness

See, now I've got this vision lodged in my head of an 80's-style movie montage (complete with power chords) where the kid goes to various locations world-wide to be trained up in everything from advanced electronics to unarmed combat, which, while cool, does leave the child unfit for anything other than a career as Batman or the woman from Alias.

[niallm.livejournal.com]

And this is bad how?

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[stephencass.livejournal.com]

I would just point that the parents in the Batman and Alias scenarios don't exactly end up rolling in hugs and puppies... :)

[niallm.livejournal.com]

Man, you're not thinking clearly. What about the merchanidising opportunities? The cross-selling with other franchises? (Matrix: "We'll need nappies. /Lots/ of nappies.") The ability to star in flashbacks?

It's all good, I tell you.

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[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

That good-parenting comment is now rescinded.

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[stephencass.livejournal.com]

"We'll need nappies. /Lots/ of nappies."

You made tea come out of my nose.

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

I was really starting to wonder when you'd make it public. :) Again, congratulations!

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The Received Wisdom is that one doesn't go public until the first trimester is over, because there's such a high risk of early miscarriage (although there again, I'm uncomfortable with the idea that miscarriage is so unspeakable that the risk of having to talk about it should be avoided at all costs - surely that can only exacerbate feelings of isolation when it does happen ... oh, to each her own, I suppose). However, we're incontinent people and couldn't keep it to ourselves, so we've been telling our closer friends for a while.

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[ailbhe]

One reason for not telling people while there's still a very high risk of miscarriage is because it's actually hard and upsetting to explain to people that you've had one. It's much easier, I'm told, to rapturously tell the universe that one is pregnant. Plus you might forget some of the people you burbled to and not inform them of the unfortunate change in circumstances, which could lead to nasty things like them showing up a eyar later asking "So, what did you name it? I didn't know it it's a boy or a girl, so I just brought a bear," which would, I imagine, be unbearable.

But yes, discussing miscarriage is still taboo, which is pretty awful. Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill had some pungent remarks on the topic.

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

OK :-)

Wow. Um. I'm ... stunned. Your eloquence just blows me away. I mean, none of what you said was new, but ... the way you put it! Your turn of phrase! The comprehensiveness of sentiment!

Ahem. Excuse me. Silly mood!

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

Oh, hurrah, hurrah! Congratulations! That is such wonderful news.

1. If I may be smugly self-congratulatory for a moment: I totally guessed this! Ever since you posted back in January about being tired and nauseous! OK, admittedly that was a pretty big clue - but I never guess this stuff!

2. Did you know that you are the THIRD person on my friends list to be pregnant? (The other two being kasku and byrneout.) And I know three other people who've just had babies, and another one with a baby on the way...clearly, while 2003 was the year of the wedding, 2004 is the year of the baby. Or maybe I've just become a grown-up.

It is wonderful to know that the good people are still having babies. I am sure that your Small Person will be a treasure.

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Ever since you posted back in January about being tired and nauseous

Yes, that was a bit of a giveaway. I've been dying to tell everybody since we found out (on the morning of New Year's Eve, no less), so I suppose there was a not very veiled urge to reveal. I'm so unused to keeping things secret - good things, at least.

As for the baby boom, I really think it's the grown-up factor. When I consider that this time next year I'll be married with a kid I get totally freaked out (the mortgage was bad enough!). But I'm happy with my choices: the fact that they happen to be gut-churningly conventional just has to be worked through...

It is wonderful to know that the good people are still having babies

Eee! Thank you :-)

[ainetl.livejournal.com]

awe sweet and congratulations! i wasn't ever sure i'd get married much less have a kid (my daughter is 6 now) and really it's one of the best parts of my life. imo you've lots to look forward to :)

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am looking forward to it - enormously. I think I always assumed there'd be kids somewhere along the line, and a long-term relationship, if not a marriage. But saying "married with a kid" has a resonance that I'm just not used to yet. It's like niallm trying out the phrase "my fiancée is pregnant" - it didn't sound as though it could possibly refer to me!

[oddcellist.livejournal.com]

Oh, congratulations!

Amusingly enough, this is the clearest ultrasound I've ever been shown - and with all the teachers of mine who have been pregnant recently, I've been shown something like thirty or forty. Ultrasound seems like such hocus-pocus to me... but hey, it works, so.

More noises about how you and niallm are probably going to be awesome parents, then, and the upcoming smoking ban is even more lovely than it already was, isn't it?

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[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

The ultrasound was described as "beautifully clear" by my obstetrician friend, who presumably should know. Seems we have an attention-seeker on our hands :-)

As for the smoking ban, I am - literally - counting the days (39 to go). I haven't been in a pub since well before Christmas, and although I don't miss the smoky hair and clothes, and I don't intend to drink at all while I'm pregnant, this does have a noticeable effect on my social life. I think I'll be happiest about being able to go to the pub after choir rehearsal: the place we always go is a tiny, ill-ventilated hole, so I'm not going near it until after the ban comes into effect.

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[dreamvirus.livejournal.com]

yeah I had actually been wondering what your particular obsession with the smoking ban was...alles clar

[dreamvirus.livejournal.com]

Whoa. Little people.

Congratulations and the best of luck with everything...!