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June 14, 2005

Inside a little world

I am now 20 weeks pregnant and last week we went to the hospital for our scan. This scan is to check for any abnormalities, but is also a great opportunity to see the baby.

You will be pleased to hear that all is well with the little one. Head size, waist size and leg length are normal. All the organs are there and in the right places. There was a little trouble seeing all of the heart as baby kept putting it's hand in the way and casting a shadow on the heart! But in the end, after pushing hard on my tummy, there was a clear view and all was well.

scan0001.jpg

These are two of the scan pictures.


You can clearly see a little arm in the one at the top. If you look closely you can even see fingers! Very cute!


The one at the bottom is a cross-section of the babies head. So it looks round and a little skull like!


It was such an amazing experience. So beautiful to see the baby moving around. Hurray!

We have more photos, but I will put them up slowly, spread out the joy!

Posted by sally at 08:27 PM | Comments (4)

June 06, 2005

Elderflower Cordial

Elderflower Cordial

Sally and I have just made some elderflower cordial with the first of the elderflowers to come out here. We made a batch last year, but it was gone in under a month so this time we've made a triple batch - for starters.

Fairtrade Sugar

Ingredients

  • 2kg Sugar (fairtrade, or course)
  • 2 pints Water
  • 20 Elderflower Heads
  • 80g Citric Acid
  • 2 Lemons

Sliced Lemons

Bring the water to the boil, and add the sugar to it. Stir until it is fully disolved.

Lemon Rind

Grate the lemon rind, and slice the lemons. Add the lemons, rind and citric acid to the sugar solution.

Elderflowers

Shake the elderflower heads, to get rid of insects, and place them in a large bowl or sterile bucket. Since we are expecting a baby, Sally and I went to mothercare and bought a nappy bucket to do this with. Next year, I think we won't be using the same bucket...

Just Made

Pour the sugar solution and lemons over the elderflowers. Cover and leave to steep. We left ours for a week, although you could leave it less time if you needed.

Straining the Cordial

Seive the cordial, to remove solids, then strain through muslin cloth or a coffee filter to clarify. Bottle in sterile bottles.

Dilute in ice cold water for an authentic english taste of the summer. A lot of this batch is going to be served at my Mum's wedding this summer.

Posted by john at 12:07 AM | Comments (1)

June 05, 2005

Stamp your feet

It's been a long time since I added any baby things. Not much had been happening, until...

Yesterday morning I was lying in bed and I felt a little something in my tummy. No not John's cooking, but our little baby saying hello! I know that in a few months I'll be bored of it, but at the moment it's great!
For those of you how haven't been pregnant it felt a bit like a pulse beat. You know, like when you've cut off your blood circulation to your leg and when it comes back you can feel the beats of your own pulse.

On friday we are off for our scan, so I think there will be more news then. But bye for now.

Posted by sally at 06:42 PM | Comments (0)