hi all!!

sorry i've been a bit quiet - life is hectic at the moment!!

gigi - sorry to hear you're getting lots of aches and pains, and the gastro sounds terrible!! i had a bit of a scare the other day. i was at work and felt terrible pains and went running to the toilet. i was in there for half an hour!! i couldn't work out whether the pains were from my bowels or my uterus (haven't been through pregnancy before!).. it was very scary... after about half an hour the pain just went away... it was very odd, but i've been a bit constipated, so maybe it was just my bowels trying to move things along... anyway, hope you don't have any awful gastro repeats!!

relle - that's wonderful news that you have gotten through the course SO QUICKLY - talk about motivation!! you will be a fully-qualified doula in no time - how exciting!! relle, my next appointment isn't until the 30th April!! count yourself lucky!! he also whizzed through my appointment (didn't rush me, but was definitely moving faster than last time) because he had a backlog of people in the waiting room due to the birth he attended in the middle of the day. i must say, he's the only doctor that i don't mind being kept waiting by because i think, when i go into labour i want to be priority #1, and will expect other patients to wait patiently for my little bundle to make his/her debut!!

nox - happy belated birthday! i hope you were thoroughly spoiled!! i don't think there's any problem with you not seeing dennis in a while. i saw him at 8 weeks, then just yesterday at 12 weeks, and will not see him again until 19-20 weeks. yesterday's appointment was very short, and all he did (that he couldn't have done over the phone) was take my blood pressure and feel my tummy - none of which revealed anything suspicious... so i don't think you would have lost out on anything with your telephone appointment!

well, my 12-week scan went swimmingly yesterday! i can't believe how much the baby has developed since my emergency scan 3 weeks ago - incredible!! it even scratched its ear for us for entertainment value - aawwhhhh... my DH was quite impressed i think, even though he was playing cool. i, on the other hand was so excited that i started crying in the waiting room before i even got in there - ha ha ha!! our risk of Down Syndrome is apparently around 1:7,000, so that's reassuring (or at least it was until i found out that my SILs risk was 1:27,000!!!).. my DH met dennis for the first time. he thought he was a bit too laid back about everything, but my DH is a stresshead and a pessimist, so that's to be expected!! i love dennis's laid back approach, and i'm very happy with my choice of OB (which i have to thank you girls for!)...

ok, that's it for me. gigi, rest up and i hope the pelvic pain subsides a little...