Stepping out in Style at 15 Weeks

Things are going well with BC (Baby Cronje’tjie) although I feel a bit like a parasite is feeding off of me and that my body is not really mine anymore. I have been suffering from intense tiredness and exhausting lately so weekends are just bliss when I can do as little as possible and able to spend more time in bed than out of it. I cannot believe I’m needing so much rest, but I suppose I need to take advantage of it now because soon I will be getting very little!

My dilemma these last 2 weeks was what to wear for a wedding and a black tie dinner at the Hilton Hotel. My tummy is not as flat as it used to be (as if I used to have one!!) but a little “fat” bump is showing which people could easily mistake as me needing more exercise and not so much eating. So the only thing to do was to try on every dress in my wardrobe and have Jaco act as the deciding fashionista on what I would be wearing to both occasions. So as you can see from the photo’s below, some are not so flattering, some really emphasise the fact that I cannot stand up straight and some highlight just how big the fat bump is looking! Since we’re coming up to our wedding anniversary on 8th December, I also had to take part in the traditional annual event of trying on my wedding dress. It has always been one of Jaco’s proviso’s that I fit into my wedding dress every year otherwise there is trouble! So I was interested to see if I still made the cut this year while carrying BC around. However I think we need to include a clause about the fact that pregnancy disqualifies any of the results! But I was very proud to have slipped in to the dress easily even thought the boobs were slipping very easily out of the dress. Well you cannot have it all I told him!! He should be happy in anycase!

So from the 10 dresses I tried on, 2 were chosen as suitable and one slinky red number was bordering on a bit too sexy for a preggie lady! But the judge’s decision was final and everyone was happy.

So I’m 15 weeks pregnant this week with signs of the evening sickness abating but the tiredness increasing. While BC’s eyebrows and hair on its head are starting to grow in the womb, mom has decided to chop her hair off in preparation for the much awaited summer, which I suspect I’ll be waiting a little longer for. BC’s tastebuds have also developed and may be able to taste all the food I’ve been eating which luckily has not been too much chocolate or sweeties but rather salads, fruit and smoothies. Although, I have had the strangest need for salt & vinegar chips and Dorito’s lately……Apparently my heart is pumping 20% more blood around my body to supply BC with oxygen and this will increase to up to 30 – 50% output. Wow, preggie ladies must be the blood bank’s dreams! Although I am not the best with needles and so I’ll be enjoying all the blood I have thanks.

I have been really spoilt with friends giving me lullaby CD’s, name books, preggie clothes, magazines and bottle sterilisers! We still have an empty baby/bike room at the moment so any (baby) furniture will be welcome! We in the market for a running pram and any other related items those past baby days would like to dispose of. We have not even thought about any decorating yet as I’m still trying to convince my hubby to hang the bikes in the garage….which is taking some slow sweet-talking, but I have another 176 days to convince him!

Jaco celebrating Movember in style!

Meet Big Foot!

What a great way to end 3 months of pregnancy with meeting my new gynae at Kingsbury Life Hospital as well as our properly formed baby! We went for our second scan on Friday and this time it was an external ultra sound, not an internal scan like the first one. At first the Cronje’tjie seemed to be sleeping, lying on its back with its legs curled up and arm up with its fingers in its mouth (yes you can really see fingers and toes now!). The little muscle at the top of its big belly was pulsating steadily, indicating that he / she was alive and well. Gynae however was not satisfied with this inactivity and decided we needed to meet our little one while it was awake and moving around. She proceeded to press my stomach quite firmly to ‘wake’ it up. Oh wow! It started moving around and responding to my voice as I was speaking. It has the longest legs I have ever seen with big feet to match just like its mom! We saw it waving its arms and arching its back before turning on its side and settling down again to sleep. I think it was saying, ”Leave me alone while I have my morning nap.” It was so amazing to see it being so active (just like its dad), even though I couldn’t feel anything. I was inquisitive to know if we could tell the sex so the gynae kept pressing my tummy to see if it would open its legs. Did we see a boy?? Is that something between its legs? Sigh, just a big toe in the way!

Cronje'tjie chilling on its back sucking its thumb

So I’m 13 weeks tomorrow and very impatient to start growing and maturing this little Cronje’tjie inside me. My tummy is starting to show a little, but I think it’s just because I’ve stopped holding it in. I told Jaco that for 32 years of my life, I’ve had to hold my stomach in (I blame it on the Schonfeldt genes!) and now for once it can all hang out, much to his disgust. But I think he’s still fascinated by this tummy thing and some mornings places his ear on my belly to test if he can hear anything……….only to hear the sounds of it groaning for food. I think I’m growing an eating monster! Which I have no problem with, since I love food. But my husband has a problem with the two of us eating him out of house and home! I haven’t had any strange cravings yet, although I don’t enjoy chocolates or ice-cream…….which is VERY strange! Anything too creamy makes me feel ill. And the evening sickness is persisting but less so. I really hope that I’m on the home straight in that regard. However, I seem to be having the most bizarre and creative dreams which are so vivid and real. We always have a good giggle in the morning, when after waking up I recite the weird and wonderful stories that have been going on in my head during the night.


Luckily for me, but unluckily for Jaco, we happened to walk past a preggie shop, CherryMelon, in Canal Walk on the weekend while Christmas Shopping. We discovered that everything in the store was half price, so he was subjected to an hour long fashion show of me trying on preggie clothes with elastic stomachs. I must say, he was very good and just plonked himself down on the floor and patiently waited for me to parade around in my very comfortable and flattering preggie jeans and pants. So in preparation for the big bump, I ended up buying 3 pairs of pants and may even start wearing them before the big bump makes its appearance. There is nothing like being organised ……to the point where hubby has already bought himself a 2011 year planner! So hopefully our little one takes all the good traits from both his parents to become a good looking, intelligent, athletic, organised and long legged big foot!


Cronje’tjie is about the size of a peach now and its hands and feet are fully developed. The head is still relatively large and the face looks more human, with the eyes moving closing together and the ears where they should be. The baby is beginning to be quite active as messages pass from the spinal cord to the muscles. Little baba is also sprouting fine hair over his while body. The baby’s bone marrow, liver and spleen can produce red blood cells now.


Our next scan is booked just before we leave for the States on our month long holiday. I really hope we can find out the sex then so we can do some shopping while we’re away. In the meantime, Jaco has nicknamed the little one “Petronella”. I’m not sure where he got that from but I think it’s because he knows I’d love a little girl……just not with that name!

My First Trimester Almost Complete

So here I am sitting in a coffee shop writing my blog drinking a red cuppachino while Jaco is across the road at the Brass Bell for a mate’s bachelor’s party! How the times have changed! We seemed to have skipped up a level to a generation which is dominated by going to bed early, worrying about how we are going to afford another addition to the family and learning to be responsible parents. In contrast, all our friends seem to be staying out late, not worrying about affording anything and thinking that being irresponsible is fun! Ok so maybe I’m showing my age a little bit here…..but it’s still interesting to note how life has changed within a couple of short weeks.

Speaking of which, I’m 12 weeks today, and nearly at the end of my first trimester. Amazing that I am already one third of the way there! My tummy is slightly growing and I currently fall into the looking fat category while at the same time experiencing lots of other sudden changes. For example: where does the dry skin behind my ears come from??!? Why can I not tolerate the smell of brewing coffee or grilled chops? I crave foods which keep me full for longer than 2 hours like Taystee Wheat Porridge and Spaghetti. A strange (but good) desire for all sorts of fruit, so much so, that I was really wanting a fruit smoothie so badly the other day that I made Jaco go out and buy a new smoothie maker because ours had broken. Mmmm banana milkshakes, honey and muesli are my staple breakfast diet at the moment. Also I live for the weekend when after waking up, 2 hours later I’m back in bed feeling totally exhausted and then sleeping for another 3 and a half hours! I am still feeling nauseous in the afternoons and evenings which is such a pain because after work we always seem to be seeing people or going out for dinner. So putting on a brave face is the order of the day when bed and sleep seem like the only things that make me feel better. But we really do need to slow down as having something on every night after work is not conducive to pregnant ladies!! (or a supportive husband who has to put up with a grumpy tired pregnant wife afterwards!).

Last weekend I mentioned to Jaco that the Baby Expo was on in Cape Town which to my surprise got his attention. So it was more a case of him dragging me along to the expo than the other way around but he wanted to know what he was in for with this whole baby thing! I think he got quite a shock when he saw all the heavily pregnant ladies, millions of prams and trillions of small kiddies around! We walked around with big wide eyes collecting all the brochures and listening to all the salesmen giving us their sales talks about toilet training seats, nappies that you don’t throw away but just replace the inside padding, breastfeeding pumps et al. Jaco’s favourite were the prams, car seats and sleeper cots that must have been designed by an engineer cos they are so aerodynamic, lightweight, safe, blah blah blah……By this stage I just needed food and to sit down!! We did end up buying a few bits and bobs but anyone could get carried away in there and buy totally unnecessary stuff that looks good and sounds good but you don’t really need!

By now baba has grown to 6cm and weighs about 18 grams. Its toes and fingers have grown completely, and hair follicles and tear ducts have now formed. The brain is fully formed and baby can feel pain. It is starting to open and close its mouth and can even suck its thumb! The baby is starting to swallow amniotic fluid and waste products are transferred to my blood stream through the placenta which explains my constant need for the toilet!

Thank you to Ange and Cobi for our first set of baby clothes!

We are having another scan next Friday with our new gynae at Kingsbury Hospital in Claremont because that is my hospital of choice for delivery. It is right opposite my sister’s flat which is where I’ll be camping out when I’m close to my due date (25th May 2011) so I can just waddle across to pop it out quickly! This will be my first woman gynae so hope it’s not weird ;-)

News on the cycling front is that I am not doing any! I have yet to hit the road in over 2 months! But I am trying to motivate myself to do at least 2 indoor training sessions in the week before work to keep my slim and trim figure (ha ha whatever). My husband on the other hand has been doing some great cycling, despite being plagued by a constant knee injury. His team won 2 of the league races and came 2nd in 3 of them (out of a total of 6 races). He has yet to start training as his knee ideally needs a few more months rest so the beginning of 2011 will see his penultimate stage of his cycling career before the next Tour de France winner arrives on the scene in May.

We're Back Online with a New Addition!

Ok so you may have noticed that it was a little over ONE YEAR AGO that I last blogged and being a self-confessed social networking junkie, this absolutely unforgivable. BUT, I can redeem myself a little bit by referring you to http://www.cancerfightingjourney.blogspot.com/ where we documented our fundraising cycle from Cape Town to JHB in December last year. So I haven't been all that lazy!

So some highlights over the last 12 months include camping and rafting down the Orange River over Easter, selling a new car and buying an older car (my husband has strange thoughts), many trips up to JHB and Seychelles for business, partying at Mzoli's in Gugulethu for Jaco's 27th Birthday, Christie resigning from PAG after 4 years and starting at Frost & Sullivan, a growth consulting company, sailing with Jaco's folks at Saldhana Bay up the West Coast, hiking up Table mountain, some crazy cycling trips including a 360kms return trip to Hermanus in 2 days and many many more fun and adventurous things!

So you are probably wondering why I would be so interested in getting back to my blogging NOW??? Well, I thought I’d tell you a little story about what happens when your husband stops cycling, starts drinking wine and staying up late – especially on his birthday! In a nutshell, conception happens which as you know leads to pregnancy! So the big news is that I am 10 weeks pregnant. Our lives changed that one fateful night on 26th August without us even knowing about it. And what an unexpected surprise that was!

I thought something was suspicious when, between me changing jobs, I had a week off and we went to my parents in law’s farm. It was 10am in the morning and suddenly I was so exhausted that I had to go back to bed. Jaco didn’t know what to do with himself so he ended up mowing the lawn, baking bread, sending a few emails and washing the dogs just to pass time. Then on the way home that afternoon, I suddenly felt very nauseous which I thought unusual. This continued until the next day, which happened to be the first day of my new job! Goodness, not a great time to suspect that you are pregnant! I decided to have a blood test at Vincent Palloti Hospital just to make sure that I wasn’t making it up. They said I could phone the next day to find out the results. I definitely couldn’t wait that long and managed to get the 24 hour number for the laboratory itself and said I’d phone them after 3 hours. So, later that evening, Jaco and I sat together on the couch with the phone in between our 2 heads and called them.

‘Yes’, they said, ‘your blood count is 35,600.’

Huh?? What does that mean?’

It means you’re 4 weeks pregnant. Congratulations!’

SILENCE.

Nervous laugh from Jaco.

‘Are you serious?’

Nervous laugh from Christie, gasp and hand over mouth.

Oh wow! What have we done!!

So it has taken a little while to get used to the idea and it is slowly sinking in. Jaco was in denial at first and said he’d only believe it when he could see the baby and hear its heartbeat. Last Friday, the scan showed us a perfectly healthy baby and only 1 of them which disappointed Jaco a little since he was hoping for twins! They measured the fetus from head to tail (literally) and the measurement indicated that I was 9 weeks and 4 days pregnant. The healthy heart rate of 166 beats per minute was a good sign and rumour has it that higher heart rates indicate it’s a girl – but who knows!

We were very fortunate to have the whole Schonfeldt family down in Franschoek last weekend and were able to finally break the news! Do you know how hard it is to keep such a secret from everyone for 9 weeks? It nearly killed me! At dinner that evening, Jaco asked to make a toast, in which he mentioned that he was very pleased to have all THREE generations of family round one table! Of course, my family was a bit slow to realize that only 2 generations were actually sitting round the table and after a while they corrected Jaco. But he dug his heels in and firmly said there were 3 generations which left everyone a little puzzled. I just couldn’t hold it in any longer and blurted it out!! With screams and tears, they all jumped up and squealed and oohed and aaahed – it was so lovely to receive such a delightful response!




So this pregnant fairy already has a small boep, bigger boobs and the biggest appetite ever, with me having to eat every 2 hours! I’ve also been experiencing ‘evening’ sickness rather than morning sickness, have no motivation to do any exercise and just love my bed too much these days!

Amazing to think that little baba is now the size of a Labello and has the ability to kick, swallow and move (although I cannot feel anything). The structure of the brain is complete, although the cells continue to multiply. The palate of the mouth is forming and tooth sockets have formed in the gums. The stomach and intestines are developed and the muscles of the digestive tract are functional and starting to contract. We won’t know the sex of the baby yet as the genitals are not fully formed yet but male and female characteristics are starting to show. The little one is floating in about 50ml of amniotic fluid as she continues grow, but this will start to increase as the baby excretes urine. I am amazed at all the activity happening inside of me while I go about my daily life. Thank you Lord that you are in control and I can be assured of a perfect little baby ……….(sex to be inserted here soon!).

Birthday Time!

Wow, how time flies the older you get! This year my birthday completely crept up on me unexpectedly. I think I'm just so focused on getting through this year that I didn't really think about turning another year older (by the way, I'm still 29 and will be for the next 4 years until Jaco turns 30!). So I woke up yesterday just like any other day and we decided to go for a tandem ride round Cape Point. The weather was misty and cloudy in the city but out by the Point, it was sunny and glorious. It was so fantastic to be outside and doing our favourite thing: cycling! After 120kms we thought it was enough for one day and had to take a nap before getting all dressed up for High Tea at the 12 Apostles Hotel!



It was really great sipping tea and coffee and politely stuffing our faces with lots of yummy goodies with 16 of my friends. We tried to make the effort to all dress up (well at least I got in the mood - don't you love the hat!)and we spent a wonderful 5 hours chatting and eating and eating and chatting. I was really spoilt with the most wonderful gifts including a mosaic course (I'm going to learn how to mosaic in 2 weeks time!), gift vouchers, stacks of beautiful flowers, clothes, a beach bag and cutesy pyjamas. Thanks to everyone also for all my SMS's and facebook messages. You really made my day!

Settling Back into Life as a Married Couple

Well it is so great feeling like we're married again ! I mean, its REALLY great to have my hubby back and playing housey housey back in CPT. Jaco has dived right back into work and is very busy with Greenpoint Stadium and work for me has been busy as usual. On the cycling front, Jaco took 2 weeks off the bike to rest his knee and get a bit of beauty sleep in the mornings instead of waking up at the crack of dawn but Sunday 20 September saw the first race of the Spring season with the Tour de Worcester. We both rode and had great races although J started cramping at the end so he missed on out in the sprint but his team mate came 3rd, so that was great! I enjoyed the race in the unseeded category and finished with a good time, and it was a great indication that more training is needed for our epic CPT to JHB cycle in December. We have also started practising on our tandem and did a 120km ride to Cape Point and back on Heritage Day - our bums also told us that more training is needed indeed.

This last weekend we decided to visit J's parents farm in Piketberg cos all the beautiful flowers are out at this time of year and they were having their farmer's market on Saturday morning. Everything from milk tart, to pancakes, to fresh bunches of Protea Flowers to Springbok pies! Despite the freezing weather it was great to go around to all the stalls and taste the yummy food they had to offer. Of course spending time on the farm is always a treat since his parents always spoil us with delicious homecooked meals and there is plenty of time to read and chill. Although my time these days is taken up with studying but exams start end of Oct so I am just wishing the time away!

Final thoughts

Wow. I probably sound like a kid in a sweet shop, but wow. I am so so thankful that I have been privileged to experience what I have over the last 4 weeks in Belgium. To everyone that has played a part in making this possible: moral support, financial contributions, advice, blog comments, Thank you.

What I learnt and then some arb facts:

Would I return; Can I perform better; Can I race at a higher level; Can I do this for an entire season (6 months); Can I do this for a living… All questions I guess I asked myself before coming here. I am embarrassed over how ridiculous my thoughts were only a mere 4 weeks ago.

We live in complete oblivion to the real world here in Belgium, cycling all day. So to answer the questions I posed I need to delve into the experiences one is challenged with here. Is there more to life than riding your bike? You come to realise first hand what the sacrifices are you make to be a full time cyclist. What you sacrifice and the relationships you start to neglect. Cycling is a very selfish sport – not because of who we are, but we become a product of the full time cycling environment.

I further discovered just how small and almost insignificant we are in our racing in SA. Jhb compares, Cpt – no comment. I raced 1.12B races for riders without contracts and got beaten fair and square. Next is 1.12A without contract, 1.2 with contract or closed invites, then you also have inter-clubs before you get to pro-crits and 1.1’s. I guess you just see the bigger picture and realise just because your fish bowl you living in is small doesn’t make you a whale in the ocean – you still a tiny fish.

The challenges are hard for guys trying to make it. People say “Belgium cracked him” but I’d rather say “Belgium opened his eyes”.

Pursue your dream. My dream has been achieved, it is now time for us (Chris & I) to set our dreams and pursue them… Don’t be left behind, live your life on the tightrope!

Some facts:
1. I have managed to rack up just short of 3000kms in the 29 days I have been in Belgium. To those that asked “You won’t be riding your bike everyday, will you?” I have to admit – I did take 5 days off: 2 because I didn’t have a bike, 1 because my knee was sore and 2 to rest. That is an average of 125kms a day, everyday… I only managed 11 races in the 4 weeks with steady placings between 26th and 40th at every race.
2. My Continental Gator Skin 25C tyres did an excellent job over the cobbles, at times terrible bike paths and the glass riddled shoulders of many E and N roads without bikepaths. The tires probably had around 3000km on them and were over 3years old at the start of the trip – I am well impressed!
3. 1 bottle of Mark II chamois cream helped keep mall them baddies away ha ha ha
4. The new MTN Cape Storm shorts were not up to the challenge: They caused blisters from the rubber on the shorts, the chamois is not the most comfy and they are rapidly deteriorating after a mere month of use… Don’t buy Cape Storm pants. My old Vermark MTN shorts, over a year old, performed steadily and was a pleasure to ride in – go Belgian shorts!
5. I slept an average of 11hours per night – that would explain why I could ride as much. I love not having the stresses of real life ;)