A bit of a back-dated blog post here as I thought it would be good for us to record the goings on of Baba Ganough's first trimester.
Even before we were able to do the pregnancy test I had an inkling that I might be pregnant. I started getting a metallic taste in my mouth from about 3 weeks. I recognised it as being metallic after spending so long three years ago on Flagyll tablets for tummy troubles out here! I started drinking hibiscus tea after work to try and give myself a different taste (and because I heard it was good for maintaining good blood pressure). Between about 3 and 6 weeks too I was sometimes feeling 'crampy' pains in my abdomen. The unsettling thing is that these would feel a bit like period pains, but I tried to reassure myself that they were fine as I had read that other people do get these. In trying to have a good balanced diet we went out and bought a range of nuts and dried fruit and some little containers so that we could have healthy snacks at work!
I had to have a day-off work soon after we discovered I was pregnant though as I came down with a cold that really wiped me out. I was suddenly just so stuffy-nosed and stuffy-headed and so tired. After having a day of rest though I was feeling better and able to get back in to work.
Once we had had two positive pregnancy tests at home, we knew we wanted to get to see a gynochologist to start pregnancy preparations properly. We had been recommended Dr Cherif by a number of friends who had had pregnancies out here but no one still had his number, so we went out to find the gynochologist 'behind the Grand Mall' (!). We assumed that he must be on the road that goes directly away from the Grand Mall back entrance so we started along there looking at the signs outside each building for a hint as to where we might find him. We asked the Bowab for a couple of buildings for 'Doctor Cherif?' and a few looked confused but finally one said 'Aywa, el beit tenni' which meant he was in the next building down.
Our first scan with Dr Cherif was at 7 weeks, and it was really reassuring and wonderful to have Dr Cherif confirm the pregnancy. Before the scan though we were first seen by his assistant in an office who went over our medical histories. When he asked us why we wanted to see the doctor today we said 'because we're pregnant' to which he replied 'mabrook!' - our first congratulations! After we had finished with the assistant the man himself, Dr Cherif, came in to see us. He was very nice and friendly and went over the information that the assistant had taken.
After this we were taken across the hall to another door (that looked a lot like the first) with a bed and the ultrasound in it. Up on the bed another assistant put the jelly on my belly and we sat and waited for Dr Cherif who then did the scan. The black-and-white image was projected on to the ceiling above the bed, so I could lie back and see what he was seeing. It didn't look like much, but then he pointed out a small dark circle which was the amniotic sac - proof that conception had occured!
Our next move was through a second door in this room and in to Dr Cherif's actual office. Here he gave us a copy of the scan image (with the mouse pointer helpfully showing the important bit!) and advised us that I should keep exercising, but should not exert myself, I should have a healthy balanced diet and that I should take pregnacare tablets (which are a multi-vitamin with folic acid in, rather than just the folic acid). Dr Cherif was also able to explain why I had been feeling unwell with a cold since finding out I was pregnant; apparently your immune system is slightly lowered during pregnancy to allow for the foreign body inside you (!)
Our first scan was on 14th February; Valentine's Day
The week after this scan, we were flying to the UK for half term. We had told Dr Cherif that we were flying and he pointed out that there was a slight increased risk of miscarriage from flying in the first trimester, but doing further research ourselves on the internet we could not find any link between flying and miscarriage, only that there was all-round an increased risk of miscarriage in the first three months. So it was week 8 when we flew to the UK and on our visit we knew that we would see all three sets of parents, so would tell them all in person. They were all very excited but with it being early days we were still feeling cautious.
Returning to Cairo in week 9, we started to get in to our healthy diet together and made a large soup at the weekend which we then put in to freezer bags with daily portions. The soup was full of loads of veggies and really yummy, but after a few days I started to feel like I was missing out on something at lunch time, so started to bring along some bread for lunch too. After a great start with the nuts I started to go off these and found that I wasn't eating them so often.
Luckily, I never felt what I would call 'morning sickness'. I did feel queasey and a bit dizzy at times in the second two months. It was mainly after a day at school (and bus journey home!) so was probably combined with some tiredness. I found that the hibiscus tea helped, as did having a bit of a sit down on getting in. I tried not to do 'too much' but work being work meant that wasn't always an option! There was just one time that I felt like I might actually be sick, but it never got to 'head over toilet bowl' fortunatly.
Our next scan took place at 11 weeks, just before our Easter holiday and what was so exciting about this visit was that we were able to see and hear the heat beat during the scan. Dr Cherif was pleased to see this too and he started to point things out to us on the scan as the baby was now growing in to a recognisable shape. All signs and stats were normal; my weight and blood pressure, what could be seen on the scan. Being able to see and hear the little Baba Ganough's heartbeat was well worth the wait (we were waiting nearly an hour-and-a-half!) and a great way to end the first trimester and start our journey of telling people now we were through to the second trimester.
My tiredness started to clear up at around this time too. I only noted this actually because I was organising a day-long event at work on a weekend and had been thinking 'I'm going to be knackered after this - and might need a day off during the week to recover' but actually I was fine to run the event and do everything at work the following week. This was a good sign!
After a long and cold (for Cairo) winter, things started to hot up and it was finally time to turn the AC on. I started to get a blocked nose around this time and thought it was probably the AC being turned on and all the sudden changes in temperature. I did the netti pot for about a week to try and clear my sinuses out, as I was really concerned about how they might be on the flight to the UK for Easter, and although it helped, it didn't fully clear it up.
We had a lovely pre-Easter holiday holiday when MummyB, G and Lis and the kids came out to visit. When they were over, we told Lis and she was dead excited for us, as were Emi and Alex about the baby in my tummy! We had a weekend all together at the Marriot and so we took advantage of the pool and good weather to have a bit of a swim.
The flights to and from the UK at 12 weeks were fine, but my nose was still feeling very blocked. In the UK I tried to get some Olbas oil as well as use the netti pot and things would clear up for a day, but not much longer. While we were in the UK we had the chance to tell the Dudleys who were all excited by our news. Nic was able to recommend a good 'pregnancy' book, something that I felt I was lacking up until now, and we were able to order this online and have it delivered before our return flight. On reading the book I was able to find out what was going on with my nose, as it was still blocked by didn't feel like a cold. It turns out that at this point in your pregnancy you have a lot of blood running around and heading to your membranes which then start producing more mucus - great! The book then added that this sympton may stay with you for the rest of the pregnancy - really great!
On getting back from the UK we had our fetal anomoly scan at 13 weeks. The scan showed that everything was normal and all the measurements showed our little Baba Ganough was growing at a healthy rate. It's things like this that make us feel lucky to be out here with private healthcare. In the UK this would be our first scan, but we've been able to have two scans before this one. All of our scans have been a lot shorter than the scans you get in the UK, because each time they haven't need to check for as many things (because they were maybe checked at the last scan). By seeing Dr Cherif once a month it means too that he can have a fuller picture of the way our Baba is growing, rather than just snapshots at 12 and then 20 weeks.
Even before we were able to do the pregnancy test I had an inkling that I might be pregnant. I started getting a metallic taste in my mouth from about 3 weeks. I recognised it as being metallic after spending so long three years ago on Flagyll tablets for tummy troubles out here! I started drinking hibiscus tea after work to try and give myself a different taste (and because I heard it was good for maintaining good blood pressure). Between about 3 and 6 weeks too I was sometimes feeling 'crampy' pains in my abdomen. The unsettling thing is that these would feel a bit like period pains, but I tried to reassure myself that they were fine as I had read that other people do get these. In trying to have a good balanced diet we went out and bought a range of nuts and dried fruit and some little containers so that we could have healthy snacks at work!
I had to have a day-off work soon after we discovered I was pregnant though as I came down with a cold that really wiped me out. I was suddenly just so stuffy-nosed and stuffy-headed and so tired. After having a day of rest though I was feeling better and able to get back in to work.
Once we had had two positive pregnancy tests at home, we knew we wanted to get to see a gynochologist to start pregnancy preparations properly. We had been recommended Dr Cherif by a number of friends who had had pregnancies out here but no one still had his number, so we went out to find the gynochologist 'behind the Grand Mall' (!). We assumed that he must be on the road that goes directly away from the Grand Mall back entrance so we started along there looking at the signs outside each building for a hint as to where we might find him. We asked the Bowab for a couple of buildings for 'Doctor Cherif?' and a few looked confused but finally one said 'Aywa, el beit tenni' which meant he was in the next building down.
Our first scan with Dr Cherif was at 7 weeks, and it was really reassuring and wonderful to have Dr Cherif confirm the pregnancy. Before the scan though we were first seen by his assistant in an office who went over our medical histories. When he asked us why we wanted to see the doctor today we said 'because we're pregnant' to which he replied 'mabrook!' - our first congratulations! After we had finished with the assistant the man himself, Dr Cherif, came in to see us. He was very nice and friendly and went over the information that the assistant had taken.
After this we were taken across the hall to another door (that looked a lot like the first) with a bed and the ultrasound in it. Up on the bed another assistant put the jelly on my belly and we sat and waited for Dr Cherif who then did the scan. The black-and-white image was projected on to the ceiling above the bed, so I could lie back and see what he was seeing. It didn't look like much, but then he pointed out a small dark circle which was the amniotic sac - proof that conception had occured!
Our next move was through a second door in this room and in to Dr Cherif's actual office. Here he gave us a copy of the scan image (with the mouse pointer helpfully showing the important bit!) and advised us that I should keep exercising, but should not exert myself, I should have a healthy balanced diet and that I should take pregnacare tablets (which are a multi-vitamin with folic acid in, rather than just the folic acid). Dr Cherif was also able to explain why I had been feeling unwell with a cold since finding out I was pregnant; apparently your immune system is slightly lowered during pregnancy to allow for the foreign body inside you (!)
Our first scan was on 14th February; Valentine's Day
The week after this scan, we were flying to the UK for half term. We had told Dr Cherif that we were flying and he pointed out that there was a slight increased risk of miscarriage from flying in the first trimester, but doing further research ourselves on the internet we could not find any link between flying and miscarriage, only that there was all-round an increased risk of miscarriage in the first three months. So it was week 8 when we flew to the UK and on our visit we knew that we would see all three sets of parents, so would tell them all in person. They were all very excited but with it being early days we were still feeling cautious.
Returning to Cairo in week 9, we started to get in to our healthy diet together and made a large soup at the weekend which we then put in to freezer bags with daily portions. The soup was full of loads of veggies and really yummy, but after a few days I started to feel like I was missing out on something at lunch time, so started to bring along some bread for lunch too. After a great start with the nuts I started to go off these and found that I wasn't eating them so often.
Luckily, I never felt what I would call 'morning sickness'. I did feel queasey and a bit dizzy at times in the second two months. It was mainly after a day at school (and bus journey home!) so was probably combined with some tiredness. I found that the hibiscus tea helped, as did having a bit of a sit down on getting in. I tried not to do 'too much' but work being work meant that wasn't always an option! There was just one time that I felt like I might actually be sick, but it never got to 'head over toilet bowl' fortunatly.
Our next scan took place at 11 weeks, just before our Easter holiday and what was so exciting about this visit was that we were able to see and hear the heat beat during the scan. Dr Cherif was pleased to see this too and he started to point things out to us on the scan as the baby was now growing in to a recognisable shape. All signs and stats were normal; my weight and blood pressure, what could be seen on the scan. Being able to see and hear the little Baba Ganough's heartbeat was well worth the wait (we were waiting nearly an hour-and-a-half!) and a great way to end the first trimester and start our journey of telling people now we were through to the second trimester.
My tiredness started to clear up at around this time too. I only noted this actually because I was organising a day-long event at work on a weekend and had been thinking 'I'm going to be knackered after this - and might need a day off during the week to recover' but actually I was fine to run the event and do everything at work the following week. This was a good sign!
After a long and cold (for Cairo) winter, things started to hot up and it was finally time to turn the AC on. I started to get a blocked nose around this time and thought it was probably the AC being turned on and all the sudden changes in temperature. I did the netti pot for about a week to try and clear my sinuses out, as I was really concerned about how they might be on the flight to the UK for Easter, and although it helped, it didn't fully clear it up.
We had a lovely pre-Easter holiday holiday when MummyB, G and Lis and the kids came out to visit. When they were over, we told Lis and she was dead excited for us, as were Emi and Alex about the baby in my tummy! We had a weekend all together at the Marriot and so we took advantage of the pool and good weather to have a bit of a swim.
The flights to and from the UK at 12 weeks were fine, but my nose was still feeling very blocked. In the UK I tried to get some Olbas oil as well as use the netti pot and things would clear up for a day, but not much longer. While we were in the UK we had the chance to tell the Dudleys who were all excited by our news. Nic was able to recommend a good 'pregnancy' book, something that I felt I was lacking up until now, and we were able to order this online and have it delivered before our return flight. On reading the book I was able to find out what was going on with my nose, as it was still blocked by didn't feel like a cold. It turns out that at this point in your pregnancy you have a lot of blood running around and heading to your membranes which then start producing more mucus - great! The book then added that this sympton may stay with you for the rest of the pregnancy - really great!
On getting back from the UK we had our fetal anomoly scan at 13 weeks. The scan showed that everything was normal and all the measurements showed our little Baba Ganough was growing at a healthy rate. It's things like this that make us feel lucky to be out here with private healthcare. In the UK this would be our first scan, but we've been able to have two scans before this one. All of our scans have been a lot shorter than the scans you get in the UK, because each time they haven't need to check for as many things (because they were maybe checked at the last scan). By seeing Dr Cherif once a month it means too that he can have a fuller picture of the way our Baba is growing, rather than just snapshots at 12 and then 20 weeks.
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