Just in case some of you are not aware,  me and my husband Adrian have nicknamed the baby Snoopy.

It’s all because I joked one day that I liked the name Snoop and so it has stuck.

Anyways on Wednesday this week  we had our second appointment at the London Ultrasound Centre.

If you have read the first installment you will have seen that Snoop doesn’t like having his/her picture taken and tries to hide.

We were hoping that this time we would have more luck.

I made the journey alone today as Adrian was working, no problem…after asking a kind policeman I finally found the right street.

Navigation not being my strong point!

After a short wait in the plush Harley Street waiting room I was called in.

Fingers crossed.

I lay on the bed with the jelly on my belly, looking at the screen waiting for the picture to become clear…….

Bloody baby sitting awkward again, Snoopy must have known what was going to happen as a little smile crept onto his/her face.

The details you can pick up on the 3d scans is extraordinary.

You could clearly see the lips moving and the nose wriggling. Little fingers curling into a fist and opening again!

I had a different sonographer today. She told me to stand up and jiggle my hips and gently move my tummy to see if that would help.

Nope Snoop still had a hand up to his/her face and this time was sucking the back of his/her hand.

It was amazing to see and although it wasn’t this pictures we were looking for we still saw some really cute movements and expressions from the baby.

We tried one more time to move the baby, maybe going to the toilet would help.

This time we did manage to get a quite nice profile picture of Snoop sucking a thumb.

I suddenly thought if baby’s can open their eyes in the womb could we maybe catch that on the scan.

Jenny the Sonographer said that although it does happen to catch it on a scan is quite rare!

And almost as if Snoop had heard me the eyes opened for a moment and then closed.

For the remainder of the scan Snoop opened his/her eyes a few more times just to show off.

I must have a special little baby in there!

After the scan is finished you have the choice of waiting for the package of pictures and dvd or having them sent to you.

Of-course I waited.

It was lovely to see my baby, it has made me that much more excited. I can’t wait to meet Snoopy.

Sally Dixey is a Crossfit London Coach

Braxton Hicks in a nutshell are contractions/cramps.

They can be felt anytime after 6 weeks of pregnancy.

They were named Braxton Hicks after the English doctor who first described them in 1872.

There is no need to be alarmed by them as another name for them is practise contractions of the uterus.

Some women will never experience them while some find they feel them often.

They are meant to be painless! They are like mild cramping, but for some they find them very uncomfortable.

My experience with Hicks was of discomfort!

I have had them on and off since about 6 months into the pregnancy. They have been very mild and after about 30 minutes go away.

That was until last week when I was woken at 6.30am with what I can only describe as a very strong period cramp in my tummy.

I tried changing positions but that didn’t seem to shift it so at about 9am when I could take it any longer I woke Adrian my husband and told him we needed to go to the shops!

Maybe a walk would help.

A slow walk to the shops seemed to ease the discomfort but they were still there in the background.

Back at home I started cooking to distract me. I had decided to cook up a pot of comfort food in the shape of a beef stew, dumplings and all.

Still not completely gone I had a hot shower and prepared to get on with the rest of the day. I had a Crossfit written exam to do. This was not going to be fun sitting an exam with contractions to distract me!

I managed to get through till 5pm trying to ignore them and then as quickly as they had come over me they were gone.

Why didn’t I panic about the Hicks well I knew they were too mild for real contractions and although they lasted all day long it seemed, they never got closer together or any stronger.

There are a few differences with Hicks and Real Contractions. Here are some of them.

                                                               Hicks Contractions                                           Real Contractions

Today was my second day with Lynne Robinson.

Another day walking in Kate Moss’s shoes as a model.

I knew the drill this time so when I arrived after a cup of tea I was into make up with Marie.

We talked about other work she has done for magazine shoots, all very glam in my view. There is too much sweat in a Crossfit gym to need make up!

I am not sure I would enjoy being a model full-time. It was fun for a couple of days but the reality of it is that you spend a lot of time hanging around waiting for the photographer to set up and then he has to focus the camera and check the lighting while you hold a particular pose (can get quite awkward at times).

I was talked into and eased into various Pilates positions, which for me are very alien! Years of Olympic lifting hasn’t made that an easy task!!

Lynne was very patient with me. She is a lovely lady with a very warm personality. It seems that she is more of a big deal then I first thought as a couple of the models used today were Pilate teachers and seemed a bit star struck around Lynne. I guess a Crossfit equivalent would be Greg Glassman or Coach Burgener!

My day finished at 6pm. I was a very tired bunny after a full days shooting, sleep was needed!

Before I left Lynne thanked me and gave me a copy of one of her books she had spotted me reading. She handed it to me after signing it giving me a big hug.

This is just one of her books. She has done 18 books in total!

Thanks again Lynne, was great working with you.

Sally Dixey is a Crossfit London Coach

Today was an exciting day for me and Adrian we had booked a 4d baby scan at the London Ultrasound Centre on Wimpole Street W1.

We booked the scan because we were impressed with scans we had seen of other peoples baby’s and were curious to see what Snoopy was doing in my tummy.

I also had my own reason, which is completely irrational but I am sure I am not the only one who has thought this.

I think as the birth date gets closer I keep having thoughts of an alien life inside me wriggling around. It has been a while since the last scan at 24 weeks and somehow I needed this to set my mind at ease.

Crazy you don’t need to tell me!

The scan wasn’t booked till 12.50 in the afternoon but Adrian and I wanted to have a special day together as very soon days like this would be harder.

The day stared with brunch at a place not far from our flat called the Albion.

It’s a bit posh for a cafe as they bake their own bread and all that,  it was meant to be our day so what the heck!

After our tummies were full we set off to Liverpool Street station to catch the tube to find that there were lots of line closures and even worse the central line platform was backed up with a sea of people!

Hanging around for the crowd to clear we were pushed from all directions, which put Adrian into protective mode.

It was so sweet as he put his hand over my tummy and guided me through the mass of people to a quieter spot.

What a good Dad he is already.

Finally the crowd thinned and we were able to catch a train.

I have to thank the kind people that throughout the day gave up their seats for me on the tubes we took. It just shows that chivalry is alive.

The centre wasn’t too hard to find as it was only a short walk from Bakers Street. It was in one of these beautiful large houses that if you were to buy would set you back millions!!!

After filling in a few forms it was time for the scan. We were really excited by this point.

The scan starts pretty much like the other scans we had. She showed us that the baby was growing well and took measurements, which I might add were fine. All present and correct.

Next the Sonographer frames the baby’s face and at the click of a button the image become a lot more life like.

We could see our baby’s face!

We could see chubby little cheeks and at one point a little yawn.

The only problem was that Snoop had a hand over his/her face.

This meant that the picture wasn’t the best it could be so after trying to move Snoop by changing position and gently tapping my tummy we were told to take a walk and see if that would move him/her.

After a coffee and a walk we were back to try again.

Still Snoop was in a funny position!

Awkward baby!

In cases like this the clinic re-book your appointment for another day at no further cost in the hope that next time the baby plays ball!

So I will be returning to Wimpole Street on Wednesday next week to see if we can get a better view.

In the mean time we did get to see part of Snoop’s face and have this picture to look at till then.

Can you make out Snoops eye, nose and mouth?

To be continued…………………

Sally Dixey is a Crossfit London Coach

Phew this day is going so fast and I still have so much to do.

I need more hours in the day please….a few more at night would help also!!!

Testing out tonight’s plan for the Crossfit London crew.

When I devised this workout I was thinking Volume!!!

AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) 15 Minutes.

4 Back Squats

4 Pull ups

4 Ring Dips

4 Overhead Squats

Weights to be used for this will vary from 20Kg – 30Kg for girls and 35Kg-50Kg for the boys.

Wrist ached by the end of this workout but I am expecting that these days from overhead work. Just gotta keep it light.

In 15 minutes I got 8 rounds out at 30Kg.

Salyy Dixey is a Crossfit London Coach