Waiting for the second scan.

The first NHS scan was done at 12 weeks into the pregnancy. Now the next one is not scheduled until 28 weeks, which means 16 weeks with nothing to do but letting you grow deep inside mummy's tummy!
Luckily summer arrives in England as well, which means lots of barbeques in the garden and at friends places.

And so it is time for another little lesson about your parents: your dad is a proper carnivore who just loves any dish that has lots of meat in it! Therefore, a barbeque (or a braai as it is properly named in Afrikaans) is one of his favourites! He is also happy to declare that the braai and garden passed the test and is ready for you when you are with us over your first summer!

 You'll also learn that your mom has a huge group of friends in Italy that are all very close to each other. It is then some of these friends that also come over to visit us here in London, starting with Alessandra's childhood friend Silvia.
Marzia and Federico stayed with us for a whole weekend and all are very excited about the prospect of a new addition to the family!



Ale & Silvia









Marzia & Fede







The other big happening of the summer is that your dad won his tennis club's annual tournament in both the singles and doubles format. This is quite significant as he is often reminded that once you arrive, there will be very little time for tennis!



Alessandra with Heino's cups!





English scan.

It is 18 June 2010 and time for the first scan in England. Obviously we've met you before when we had the first scan in Italy, but this is the first scheduled NHS scan and as the previous one was such an emotional experience, we are very excited about seeing and hearing you again!

It is also the first time we get to see the St. Thomas Hospital where we are booked in to give birth to you. As experienced sightseers, your parents are very impressed with this hospital's location right on the river opposite Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament! The hospital itself is newly refurbished and seems quite up to the task of welcoming to the world our little princess Iolanda!

The midwife is a nice lady of foreign origin (as are your parents and most people in London!) who does a good job of pointing out all the different parts of your little body that is already developed. We again hear the beating of your heart and again we are moved by the effect it has on us!
Overall everything seems to be fine, and it is confirmed that the expected date of arrival will be at the end of this year, or very early 2011.

First appointment with the midwife.

The first appointment with the midwife is the start of the antenatal care of the NHS. The National Health Service is a fantastic organisation that essentially means that all healthcare, including your birth, will be free of charge (apart from the monthly tax and National Insurance that your parents pay of course!) It will be interesting to see if the NHS in its existing form will still be around by the time you have to give birth to your children as it is, along with other public institutions, facing a massive onslaught of budget cuts!!

Anyway, so Alessandra goes to the health centre that is (literally!) just around the corner from our house on 15 June 2010. This first appointment is all about a long conversation about the medical history of both sides of the family. At the end of this it is assessed as a risk-free pregnancy, which means that for now Alessandra will not see a doctor, but only a midwife. This of course is massively different from both the Italian and Southern African systems where everything pregnancy related is doctor led!

It is also here that Alessandra receives her Maternity record, which is really a big yellow book which contains all the info regarding the pregnancy. The midwife is quite clear that this book has to be carried by Alessandra at all times in case she has to go to the hospital unexpectedly. Naturally it ends up in the bookshelve, only to come out for the next appointment!

This next appointment  is scheduled for 24 August, and for now there is nothing to do but wait for the little fagiolin to grow!

First visit to Italy.

With your existence now confirmed, it can now officially be classified as your first visit to Italy! We spend a few days on the island, Isola del Giglio, and as with most places in Italy, it is beautiful!

The flat that we rent is just few meters from the sea, and your dad is hopeful of a nice relaxing time on the beach. And so it is time for the next lesson about your parents: mom Alessandra doesn't stop! Apart from exploring the village, we rent a boat to explore the whole island and even trek up the mountain to the little village of Giglio! A small concession is made to Heino when she agrees that we can get the bus back to our flat!

Back in Rome it is time for the real purpose of our visit to Italy, the wedding of Alessandra's friends Daniele and Ilaria. The great news about you is given to all her Italian friends, and predictably they are all absolutely delighted! Alessandra's good friend Emanuele, is even the first one to buy you little presents!

Group Picture

 You are however, not the first new arrival amongst this group of friends as there were little Flavio (son of Anna and Paolo) and Viola (daughter of Pasquale and Alessia). Apart from these two there are also Luca and Michele, all little people who will one day be your little Italian friends!


 

with Pasquale,Alessia and Viola.



A toast to the bride and groom: Viva gli sposi!!

First scan and the "dum dum" of your little heart!

The last three weeks just dragged by so slowly, but finally it is Saturday 5 June and time to meet you!

It means an early rise on our holiday, but we are absolutely fine with it as we go with your Nonna Mariapia to Iperione in Rome. It is here that she has been working every Saturday, for as long as we can remember, as a doctor. In order to see you clearly on the scan, your mom needs to drink a lot of water, which very nearly lead to a little embarrassing accident in the waiting room!

And then we see you for the first time! This, together with hearing your little heart go dum dum, is an almost indescribably moving experience! You are only a few millimeters long, the size of a fagiolin (bean) and we don't know if you are a boy or a girl, but none of this matters even a little bit. We are already so in love with you!     
The initial due date is set as 31st December 2010. It feels like an absolute eternity, especially as we know it will be a time full of changes, anxiety and awe of the amazing experience ahead!

On the way back home we meet up with Alessandra's lifelong friend, Silvia. She is every bit as ecstatic as we are. If anything brings home the magnitude of what is happening, it is seeing other people's reactions!

The afternoon is beach time! Iolanda, you'll have to learn from the start that the Italians are absolutely addicted to the sea! But, it is also a bit of practice for us as we are meeting up with Sabrina and Raffaele together with their one year old son, Edoardo. We share the good news with them as well and the rest of the afternoon is spent playing around with little Edo in the sand.

Doctor's appointment.

It was very easy to say that we will make an appointment with a doctor, however, we are not registered with one! After 10 years in London for your dad, and 5 years for your mom, we've had the good fortune not to have needed one.
So, firstly it is a trip down to the doctor's practice to get registered. Clearly the nurse at the reception does not believe us when we tell her that we've not registered with any GP's previously!

Eventually when Alessandra gets an appointment she is met by a very nice South African lady doctor. After she enquires what she can do for your mom, she explains that we've done a pharmacy test that was positive, but would like confirmation. "Oohhhh!"... she exclaims... "congratulations! You are pregnant!" Not believing what she is hearing, Alessandra wants to know if there are any other tests required? Nope, it seems that the doctor's have more faith in Boots the Pharmacy than what we have!

Afterwards they discuss which hospital should they register us with for the birth, and it is decided that it will be St. Thomas's Hospital in Central London. With a cheery instruction to wait for the hospital letter which will tell us when the first scan will be, the visit is over and Alessandra is shown out of the door.

This is not what we expected! On the movies it is all about doctor's in white coats taking blood tests just to afterwards inform you, conclusively, that you are pregnant. Not a £2.50 stick with two pink lines on it!

So, Alessandra decides, even though it is very early days, to give the good news to your grandmom over the phone. Again, this is not the ideal way to do it as she would've preferred to do it personally. Practically it is for the best as she can then arrange for a proper scan to be done when we visit Italy in three week's time for the wedding of Alessandra's friends, Daniele and Ilaria.

For the mean time though, there is nothing to do but wait...

Two lines!

For the last few weeks we've had the suspicion that you might be with us already. So, today, Sunday 9 May 2010, is the day to find out! For lunch we meet up with an old friend of your dad, Gudrun and her new boyfriend. It is really agonising not being able to tell anyone about the possibility of being pregnant, but this would really be to tempt fate!

After lunch we quickly pop into the pharmacy Boots in Clahpham Junction to buy the normal off-the-shelve pregnancy tests. It is a very long bus journey home as we are so excited and simply cannot wait to have certainty at last!
After a quick trip to the toilet the big moment is here...and the test shows a clear, positive TWO LINES!

Overcome with emotion, we decide not to get too ahead of ourselves. Out comes a second test and again appear the two lines! It is clear, we are going to be parents! Again we remind ourselves that it is just a pharmacy test and agree that first thing on Monday we will make an appointment with the doctor to get it properly confirmed.

For the moment though, we are out of our skins with excitement! It calls for celebration, and as alcohol and champagne are out of the question now, we can think of only one suitable alternative: a nice cup of tea!