While Frosty is rolling inside my womb so hard that also Franz can enjoy their flips from outside, we hustled a lot to find a way to donate our cord blood at the moment of the birth. Turns out it’s easier said than done.

Frosty’s developments

This week the major Frosty’s developments are happening in their hair pigmentation and lungs: while the hair is getting its natural colour we’ll eventually see at birth, the lungs are producing a substance that allow them not to stick with each other.

Franz like calling Frosty ‘aubergine’ now, as they should be pretty much the size of an aubergine indeed! They measure more than 30cm, and weighs 600g!
I still can’t believe I’m carry around a 600g human being.

Frosty’s kicks

The midwife told me to start counting Frosty’s kicks at around 28 weeks, so I am not doing it right now, although sometimes I feel like I should, just in case! Luckily our day/night patterns synced again, so Frosty wakes me up at nights only when my bladder is too full, as they probably appreciate having more room in there 🙂

I am learning Frosty’s favourite times to kick, and what they like/don’t like: they usually kick harder after meal time, and they don’t like when I sit down for more than 25/40 minutes. After that time, they start kicking and moving around, and won’t stop until I stand up. Lying positions are okay as long as I don’t stay still for too much: Frosty likes when I’m active!

Their kicks have been so strong and frequent lately that I could literally see my belly moving! Franz gets fascinated and amused every time he sees that.

My favourite time of the day is exactly after dinner now, at around 21:30, when Frosty starts kicking at their best. It’s wonderful how Franz and I can enjoy this moment and sort of bond with our little tornado. They react when putting our hands on the bump – it’s magical. I will treasure forever these peaceful and serene moments with Franz and the unborn Frosty.

The cord blood donation injustice

I am not going to lie: whether it may seem silly or not (blame hormones) the following event made me desperately cry for several days. Only my sister was able to calm my soul, albeit partially.

I found out that NHS won’t be able to collect my baby’s cord blood because they don’t have sufficient funding to collect blood elsewhere else than FIVE hospitals: https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/cord-blood-bank/donate/register-to-donate/

Since Reading hospital isn’t listed, many people will miss a hopeful chance to have their lives saved by a simple, risk-free donation.

This breaks my heart into a thousand pieces, and make me also angry.
I am growing Frosty thanks to science, and the idea of not being helpful to someone else to save or change their lives eats my head and my stomach bad time. I’m really inconsolable and trying to not think about it, because if I’m sad, Frosty gets upset too.

Oven updates

I thought I gained a lot of weight during WordCamp Europe, but I was very wrong. Turned out the spike I could see on the scale was caused by a ridiculous amount of water retention which I eliminated after about 48 hours back at home, with my usual routine and food.

Current weight is 47.6kg – 104.9lbs; last week was at 47.7kg – 105.1lbs! It’s only 100g less but it’s enough to raise concerns in me, despite now we can’t deny anymore the presence of a sweet little bump!

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Last week I went to the GP for my first fundal height check, and while I was supposed to score a bump measurement between 22 and 25 cm, I only measured 20cm. The GP wasn’t concerned all in all, but still want to keep a closer eye on it.

While I have to consider that I’m a very tiny person and I’ve always been a slim, muscular kind of body type, I’m still worried that this lower weight could harm Frosty. I don’t want to give birth to them prematurely, or giving them a hard start of life because of their low weight at birth. I swear to you all that I’m far from not eating.