Kicking around in Riga!

Your mom started to physically feel your presence inside her around July already, although it is difficult to say exactly when as it feels like something splashing around in water and therefore making it difficult to say if it is really you or not! She could clearly start to feel your little kicks from outside in August, but for somebody else to feel it, takes a lot of time and patience.

Feeling a baby's kick for the first time is a really emotionally moving experience, so we remember exactly the first time Heino could feel it. It was during a city break to Riga, the capital of Latvia over the August Bank Holiday. We try to visit a different city every year and previous ones include Marrakesh, Oslo and Budapest.

Riga will however, always be a special place for us as it is here that we, for the first time, made your acquaintance in a more physical way!

Second scan, 23 August 2010.

This scan is a very important one as they will now check that all your organs are developing properly and therefore your mom is understandably a bit anxious! After the usual wait we are showed to the little room and everything is prepared for us to see you again.

The midwife doing the scan starts to check out all your organs, which are all declared in place and growing properly. To our big relief we could clearly see the four little chambers of your heart, and that they are functioning well. A quick check from the midwife to make sure that we want to know your sex (to which the answer is yes!) and we are told that you are a... GIRL!

It is all over a bit too quickly for our liking! Some of our questions were answered a bit vaguely by the midwife as well, and overall the verdict is that we are not too pleased with the scan. So it is decided that we will try to arrange for another scan to be done when your mom goes to Italy again. Also, we want to make sure that you are really a girl, as it has happened before that the midwives got the sex of the baby wrong, or that the boy bits just develop a little bit later!

Our next trip to Italy is in two weeks time for Alessandra's grand mom's 90th birthday, but this is too quick to try and arrange a scan with Alessandra's uncle Augusto, who is a doctor as well. For the time being we can only trust and hope that everything is indeed fine and growing as it should be!

Your great grand mother Delia's 90th birthday party, 4 September 2010.

Your name.

Choosing a name for a baby is a very difficult task at the best of times. However, when you have to choose a name that can be pronounced easily in Italian, English and Afrikaans, as well as being spelled correctly, it becomes a nightmare!

So, it was a bit of good luck then that your mom, as a young girl herself, used to love the Italian book "Jolanda, daughter of the Black Corsair" by Emilio Salgari. Even then she liked the name a lot and that made it a relatively easy choice for us. Even better luck is that your dad liked it as well, primarily because it is a nice sounding name in most languages, and more importantly because it is not a very common name, especially with the Italian spelling of I-O instead of J or Y! During the year of your birth, the most commonly used girl names were Olivia, Ruby and Chloe, but somehow we just couldn't picture you as any of these!

We really hope that you will like your name as well, especially as it felt so right for us!

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!!