Miss Kolka

Had such a great day.

The girls at work had planned a proper babyshower today at Amanda's place - that is Alexandra (which has previously been referred to as the best assistant ever here on this blog) made the invites, told people what to bring (cakes, crepes, cheeses and candy) and decorated with lovely golden laces, animal balloons and Amanda's typical american decorations from NYC. Babylicious was spoiled rotten with wonderful gifts - pyjamas, towels, stuffed animals, shoes, its first book, a lovely story with my childhood's "Ernest and Celestine",an "I love NY" body with a pin saying " my mama loves Obama" on it, a picture frame, beautiful clothes from Petit bateau exc exc. So lucky.

Apart from having a stuffy nose and not being able to taste all the sweets, I enjoyed these few hours in the girl's company, talking babies, gossip and laughing at Cecile's hilarous jokes. Shame she didn't bring over her new "baby" miss Coco, famously known for leaving unpleasant and gooyie things all over the appartment's floor, but she's only 2 months. Oh and she's also a dog.

So a big thank you to all the girls.. Even the baby daddy got some leftovers of cake so noone was forgotten.

It was good to see people again- get out of the house and mingle. Also, I liked the attention, better cherish that because in a few weeks its not going to be about me anymore.

Its going to be all about you, baby.

xxx

So not much left to buy now..

We got this pretty bed from my dad and Lise - merci

and these were babylicious' first present from Peter's very good friends Sara and Rasmus when they came to Paris in October :

The hand was necessary to see how tiny they are (ok.. and I have some water in my fingers probably)

Who says tiny hands, says tiny feet:

Looking up do you can see clearly the nose with the two holes, big cheeks and a half-open mouth. Its probably singing, happy to be in its mum's belly! Well, it's already decided that it gets its father's good character then. Brilliant 

We had our third and final compulsory scanning yesterday. At 32 weeks of pregnancy. This time we did it at the hospital where I will give birth which I have to say is much better equipped than the place we use to go to before. The Midwife that performed the scanning was lovely and really took the time to explain, in details what we were seeing. So we saw a healthy baby, weighting over 2 kilos moving around and even had a glimps at its face with its round cheeks and cute little nose (Well, not so little in fact so it might have inherited its mummy's nose after all!haha). As soon as Pan scans them in I'll publish some pictures here and here

It was mostly a positive visit - and it is just amazing to be able to see babylicious like that. However, the midwife also had to check the length of my cervix to see if all was remaining closed and safe. The Cervix has shortened since last time apparently (it was only 21 mm this time - down from 43 mm) which indicates that if Im not careful, I might go into labour a bit earlier than expected. But Since Dr. Cohen doesn't seem too worried and didnt prescribe any more bedrest than Im having now I think I should just take it easy and be happy that we have made it this far. Keep optimising (is that a word?) and the positive thinking. Not run around and apparently now Im also banned from cooking- after cleaning, washing up and shopping (that is from Pan and not by doctor's advice). 5 more weeks and the bun in the oven is ready so we will just have to be patient a little bit longer ("just a little bit longer"...missing those songs from Dirty Dancing).

Tiny little hickup, when looking over the file we got from the hospital yesterday, Pan noticed that a category had been filled out that should not have been.

Name: Courageux
bladibla but also
Sex: .

And there it was. Although we had been clear with the midwife that we did NOT want to know the sex and she told us to look away while she scanned in between the baby's legs (and I really really wanted to peek) I think she might have forgetten it when she wrote the chart.  A little letter - that in other circumstances would be so harmless and innocent, a letter that would not mean anything anywhere else - but a letter that stood there just behind "Sex:". I really hope it was just a mistake. Or that this letter means something completely different - in hospital terms this letter must mean " the parents do not want to know". It has to be. Or maybe not. And then, it means that we know the sex of the baby. But since we cannot know for sure, you'll have to wait until the birth to find out :)

*update* Pan is insisting the letter has nothing to do with the baby. Only time will tell...

As time goes by and we get closer to D-day (which is more of a do-day than the traditional decision-day and Im setting it 10 days after my cerclage will be taken out- so 3rd of January 2009) there are plenty of things to think about - like getting the right furniture ...

and the bag that goes with it - *Thank you Birgitte and Per *
as well as the first babyclothes - Check!

There are some things that you do have to think more carefully about though like bottles. Apperantly new studies have shown that plastic baby bottles made out of a certain substance called Bisphenol-A  (BPA) can be harmful to babies. There seems to be a link between the product and risk of cancer, diabetes, early puberty in girls and even autism. Even more so when the milk is heated in the bottles, which I hear is necessary to get your baby to drink it. So you should either opt for bottles in glass or those who are especially without BPA (a clue: if the plastic is hard and transparent, or it says 7 and a recycleable signe on the bottom it's not safe). What I find scariest is that the most common label here in France AVENT- found in EVERY baby store contains this substance in all its bottles... but apparently not every one agrees on how dangerous PBA is... only Canada and 3 states in the US have banned the substance in baby bottles but if the link has been proved in several studies, and some published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, well that's enough for me. I will definately not buy Avent.    

Then there are the diapers. Who knew that diapers were so expensive and how do you know which ones to choose since you don't see what products are used for drying and take away the bad smells on their covers? There is a reason why children have more excema these days than 50 years ago if chlorin is on their arses all the time. Also, you better have your budget ready for that one, thats all I can say.. I don't know how people manage with under a 1000 euros per month with children for example. Well they probably wash recycleable diapers.. emmmm no thank you.  

Yes, there are many things to worry about in this consumerism we live in. But for now, instead of worrying about which cartoons my child will be allowed to watch and at what age, I better get back on thinking about myself. I was perhaps a little bit too cocky after my last check at the doctor's a month ago, remember where I was so proud of my little weight gain? Well, since then 4 brand new kilos have joined the party , something Mr Cohen is not happy about. And when you see that video, I think you'll know why. Its all little miss Kolka thinks about...

Watch the video on flickr 

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