Happy New Year: 31 weeks on December 31

Today is December 31, day number 218, and I am 31 weeks! I have 62 days or 9 weeks left, and are 77.9% of the way there. My doctor said that I should stay here until February 11th, so till then – I will continue to kick my mom’s belly from inside.

This week, I measure over 40 cm long. I weigh about 1,5 kg and I am heading into a growth spurt. I can turn my head from side to side, and my arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath my skin. I am moving a lot, too, so my mom has (again) trouble sleeping because I kick and somersaults keep her up. But all this moving is only a sign that I am active and healthy.

Yesterday we have visited my mom’s doctor. My dad took a video of me, and he caught me at the moment of my yawning.



Tonight I am going with my mom and dad to my also unborn friend’s house for New Year’s eve. I hope that my mom will not fall asleep before midnight. Otherwise I will again have to kick her and wake her up, and to make her try some more of this “руска салата”, “кифлички” and “мисирка” that my dad makes so tasty! And who knows, maybe I will also meet Santa as well?!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

NM NY Party

Last week, on Christmas Eve, my mom took me to a NY party with her co-workers from New Moment. I was dancing all night long and I had a great time! So was my mom.

Christmas time....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!















Click on the greeting card!

The football tournament

Cheerleading at the football tournament

Last week my mom and dad took me to my mom's co-workers football tournament, where one 'caircanes' almost hit my premises.

It is then that I promised that I will sh** out of him when I'll be born. Other wise I think I understand football better than ma.

Here are some photos and some videos.

I am 30. So is my dad.

Today is day number 212 and I am 30 weeks! I have 10 weeks left and I am 75,7% of the way there.

I am now about 40 cm long now, and I weigh about 1.35 kilos, the weight of the head of the cabbage – a culture that my father says is at its peak of popularity in these particular days. A pint and a half of -- no, not beer, but an amniotic fluid -- surrounds me, but that volume will decrease as I get bigger and take up more room and bathroom in my mom's U-Terrace.

My eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen – for which my father says that I am lucky not to be able to suffer the visual ugliness of this world embodied in dudes like B13, BC, Sneze Gavazova and alike. But even after I am born, I'll keep my eyes closed for a good part of the day. And when I do open them, I do really want to see some smiling faces, sun, and a god damn warm milk container, be it a titty, a bottle or a mug.

I'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means I can only make out objects a few inches from my face, and any how many peps will have the permission to step that near to me – Ivica Bocevski, Marko Spasovski, George Cloonie? Just for the record - a normal adult vision is 20/20, although my father do know many occasions that later this perfect relations. My dad – a savant, or…?

In the past week I:

- Went to my mother's co-workers football tournament where one 'caircanes' almost hit my premises. It is then that I promised that I will sh** out of him when I'll be born. Other wise I think I understand football better than ma.

- Also went to 'слава' (a name day) where my mom has over-eaten her self and that with beans so I had this bizarre experience of a night struggle with a sporadic gas exhaustions that kept pushing me away and to the center. Dude, farting at some one might be fun, but farting by some one!

- But then the next day I went to my granny Duci-Da-Man, I had a real nasty ass kicking “сарма”, not my dad's recipe that totally recommended to vegetarians who would not only convert by tasting real shit but will have to give hope of ever having a normal cholesterol level.

- Yesterday we went to doctor Vesna, my dad's favourite as he is doctoromisogenic. And my mom has some teeth fixed. Can you F*** imagine how that looks and feels from the inside? Some one buzzing, and anxiously, but not sturdy, trembling your castle. And then at the end, as if all those nightmarish hissing and buzzing sounds were not enough, a bloody 'халогенско плаво' light on the top of my house. I am seriously happy that I shall be using my lips only in the first time.

- And last but not least, my dad is not on 'службено путовање', but with his duties, daily habits and working rhythm that are different than mom's, I am looking forward to the holidays to have some quality time spent with my lovely bi-human world.

29 weeks: Dancing, dancing, dancing..

This is day number 203 and I am 29 weeks “old”! I have 77 days or 11 weeks left, and am 72.5% of the way there.

I now weigh about 1.2 kilos (like a butternut squash) and am a tad over 38 cm long from head to heel. My muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and my head is growing bigger to make room for my developing brain. To meet my increasing nutritional demands, my mom will now need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because my bones are soaking up lots of calcium, she must drink lots of milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

I am also very active now. I am kicking, stretching and dancing all the time. My kicks are so strong that they can be seen it from outside!

Сум се паел зељка (Or: I’ve made myself a cabbage)

This is day number 197 and I am 28 weeks! I have 83 days or 12 weeks left, and I am 70.4% of the way there.

By this week, I weigh slightly more than one kilogram, finally some real life measurement. And I am the size of a Chinese cabbage, not that ours are not good a comparable material, they are just not standard uniformed in size as those commie from the east.

I am approximately 38 centimeters from the top of my head to my heels. I can blink my eyes, a movement that my father advices me practicing, should I gain chemical interest, professional prospects, social prosperity and of course some money. Naahh, my dad knows that coming from them at least I shall not want to practice the old art of “шмизлинг”. My eyes also sport lashes. Now these how ever shall be additionally made to stand out by nice unobtrusive decoration some day. As my eyesight develops, I am able to see the light that filters in through my mom’s womb. Of course when there is light and my dad hadn’t decided to have us put to bad.

I am also developing billions of neurons in my brain, yohooo, mathe-mother-mathics, here I come! And I am also adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world. Why fat I have no idea.

I also have this habit of more frequent kicking which drives my mother restless all the time, but my father over thrilled with smiles. Well, can’t have them both parties satisfied all time. BTW, my parent’s are simply great, they are suffering from a group back ache. What a lovely ‘rachitic’ family we are, and life hasn’t fully began.

Last week I went by my cousin Ina to help her with some IT skills, actually I was but a silent observer in the demo, but so was my father. At least, I know some more about Excel than him although he likes to think that life ain’t Excel, life is full of incalculable cells of all kinds, and smells. Well, that’s him at almost his best.

Taksirat 10

Last weekend my mom and dad took me to an event called “Taksirat”. As I understood, this is a music festival to which my parents are very loyal, for the past 10 years! They haven’t missed a single concert of this festival since 1999.

So they took me to this huge dark Skopje Fair hall, full of people drinking beer and strange looks on their faces…. I was feeling a little bit confused in my mom’s belly, especially when she started to jump and excitedly dance, making very strange moves with her legs!

I saw then my dad making even more funny moves and steps that my mom! Later on I figured out that it was the dance move typical for a music genre called “ska”, my mom’s and dad’s favorite music! And it was happening on the concert of Nevil Staple, ex member of “The Specials”, one of my parent’s favorite ska bands, and even more on the performance of “Superhiks”, the best Macedonian ska band, partly consisted of fathers of some of my friends waiting for me out there, in the outer world!

I was also learned about what is punk and what is hip-hop, who were “The Ramones”, who are “The Roots”, and so on. However, I enjoyed that crazy night dancing and jumping in my mom’s belly for almost 5 hours. But I know that this would not be possible without the help of my “bodyguards” – my dad and my blond aunt Maca. Thanks, guys!

Week ...H’c! 27

This is day number 190 and I am 27 weeks now! I have 91 days or 13 weeks left, and I am 67.5% of the way there.

This week, I should weigh around 900 grams (like a head of a cauliflower, not counting the few extra grams if you pickled it, though it’s tastier) and I am about 37 cm long with my legs extended. And as I have no concept of table what so ever, extended for me means not into my mouth.

I am sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing my eyes, and sometimes even sucking my fingers. With more brain tissue developing, my brain is very active now. While my lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if I was to be born now.

Some tiny rhythmic movements my mom may be feeling may be coming from my hiccups, and this may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few H’c moments, and they don't H’c, H’c, bother my mom, she should just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Maybe that is H’c why H’c my mom is so clumsy these H’c days….

Day 182

Please whisper gently for I can hear your breath-ins and breath-outs. The network of the nerves in my ears is better developed and more sensitive than before, so be nice and play no idiotic electro sounds to me.

I am now able and willing to hear both my dad’s and my mom’s voices as they speak both to me and to each other. At times it is difficult to make anything out save some ‘shljapkavi’ and high pitch-echoing sounds that are best described as an stubborn attempt to suck someone’s soul out by lips being tightly closed to each other.

I also inhale and exhale small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of my lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when I am born and take that first gulp of air. And I am continuing to put on baby fat. Far less and slower than mommy but at least I am well fed and offered unbelievable variety of food for now, as I heard that my dad is putting a veto (whatever that is, and where ever that should be out) on mom’s daily nutritious incomes.

I now weigh about a pound and two-thirds, which corresponds to 750 grams, the weight of the Rose Kratoshija contents without the bottle, and measure - from head to heel - 14 inches (35 cm) – the size of an English hothouse cucumber. If English do really grow cucumbers. Now I realize that Strumica cucumbers are a worthy measurement for giants.

If I had been a boy, my testicles would have begun to descend into my scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days. Since, I am not, I care not about it more than my father who told me that with the newest scientific and surgical prospects it is never too late to change any one’s mind, let not speak of sex.

This is day number 182 and I am 26 weeks now! I have 98 days or 14 weeks left, and I am 65.0% of the way there.

At the doctor's

At the doctor's today.

My 3D sonograms

Yesterday my mom and dad took me to Dr. Gordana P. Petrovska in the special gynecological hospital “Mala Bogorodica-Sistina”, who has scanned me on a 4D ultrasound device. It is an ultrasound technique used during pregnancy, providing three dimensional images of the fetus. Then these images are being captured rapidly and animated to produce a "4D ultrasound". 4D Ultrasounds take 3D ultrasound images, or 3D sonograms, and adds the element of time to the process. The result is - live action ultrasound images of me!

The doctor measured me and confirmed that I weigh about 700 grams and that I am about 34 cm long. She also examined me fully and confirmed that I am developing just fine! Although I am a very dynamic baby and I move and kick a lot, yesterday when we entered the hospital, I fell asleep right away. Dr. Petrovska couldn’t wake me up for half an hour, so I didn’t let her see my right hand clearly, because it was stuck under my head…

Here are some sonograms ("still-shot" pictures taken from me during the ultrasound) from yesterday’s 4D ultrasound scanning. You can clearly see my portrait, and even count the toes of my right foot! Isn’t it amazing?

I am 25 weeks now

This is day number 175 and I am 25 weeks now! I have 105 days or 15 weeks left, and I am 62.5% of the way there.

Head to heels, I now measure about 35 cm. My weight — a pound and a half (680 grams) — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but I am beginning to exchange my long, lean look for some baby fat. As I do, my wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and I will start to look more and more like a newborn. I am also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

P.S.

Later today my mom and dad are taking me to scan me on a device called 4D ultrasound. I will write after that and hopefully share with you brand new photos of me!

My mom’s bleeding gums…

Swollen, tender gums that bleed when you floss or brush are a common complaint during pregnancy. They're caused by higher progesterone levels, which make your gums react more to the bacteria in plaque, and by an increased blood supply to your mouth. This so-called pregnancy gingivitis affects about half of pregnant women.

Surprisingly, but this is not a harmless thing, and can affect moms pregnancy with me. If she doesn’t take care of her teeth and gums, gingivitis can get worse and develop into periodontitis, a more serious form of gum disease in which the infection goes beyond your gums into the bone and other tissue that support your teeth. Some studies have even found that pregnant women with these conditions are significantly more likely to deliver prematurely.

My mom’s dentist - dr. Vesna, recommended Fluonatril (natrii fluoridum), more frequent practice of oral hygiene (brushing the gums and thoroughly but gently at least twice a day, using a soft-bristled brush and toothpaste with fluoride) and regular preventive dental care (cleaning of gums, removing plaque and tartar that brushing can't get to).

More on bleeding gums during pregnancy.

The biggest unborn ‘Foltin’ fan is… me

Yesterday my mom and dad took me to an event entitled “Fotomedia 2008”, an exhibition of photographs in Mala Stanica, where uncle Ljupa won the grand prix award for his photograph taken in Egypt some time ago. But the best part was that Foltin played there! I was dancing all night long in my mom’s belly!

As this is my third time to see a Foltin concert, I guess I am their biggest unborn fan of all times!

Mogly, the real girl from the jungle

Meet the real Mogly, the girl from the jungle that lives with tigers, elephants and ostriches!

This girl’s real name is Tippi Degré, born 1990 in Namibia. Her parents were photographers that have lived in Namibia for years, until 2000 when they decided to come back in France.

Mogly (or Tippi if you prefer) was fearless little girl who grew up with her best friends – the leopard J&B, Abu the elephant, Cheetah the tiger, the Namibian bushmen…

Now Tippi is 18, lives in Paris where she studies cinematography. But in her heart she will always be like Mogly, the girl from the jungle.

Photo gallery here.

Puk-Puk-anka

Be not afraid it is only me, not the Kondovo G.

I am growing steadily with all this nutritious diet (il chocolates, tortas und strudel), but I have only gained about 4 ounces since last week. Poor mom, all the rest goes into her. But she is a strong girl. Now I am bit over half a kilo.

Since I am almost a foot long (well depending whose foot, by no means it is Shaq’s), a size of a corn year, I cut a pretty lean figure at this point, but my body is filling out proportionally (my dad has mistaken proportion with Burda magazine measurements – 90-60-90) and I’ll soon start to plump up.

My brain is also growing quickly now, not that I can solve equations with three unknown values and five unknown strangers, but it is quite a thing. And my taste buds are continuing to develop so I think I can smell some leftovers, or outcomes of my parents cooking and digesting. My lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" (mind the metaphor and the irony – ‘I am developing as a regular as a bush or a larch).

Another development are the cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help my air sacs inflate once I hit the outside world (I hope my hit will not hurt the outside world). My skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon when first it will become normally white-pinkish and after maaany years it will have accepted layers of make-up (Ooops, gender-marking, d***).

By the way, today is day number 169 and I am 24 weeks. I have 111 days or 16 weeks left, and I am 60.4% of the way there.

Vote for my name

As promised, my mom and dad made a short list out of all your proposals for my name. The short list is made upon 110 different name proposals that you have been sending to my e-mail address little.mogly@gmail.com. Out of these 110 proposals, 67 (61%) were girls’ names and 43 (39%) were proposals for boys’ names.

Now you can vote the short list for the name you like most. That doesn’t necessarily mean that my parents will choose the name that will win this poll, but it will for sure influence their final decision.

Don’t forget that this is a competition for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize. The prize will go to friends who proposed the winning names. Winners and prizes will be announced after November 12, by my dad.

And now, I present you the short-list of names and their meaning. I hope this will help you decide easier on your choice for which of the names to give your vote.

Aya (Аја): Japanese origin, meaning Full of color; or Design. African name meaning Sparkling, twinkling. Hebrew biblical name, meaning vulture.

Anja (Ања): Anja – Scandinavian/Finish origin, meaning Grace. Anya – Russian/Slovene origin, form of Anna, meaning Gracious.

Bella (Бела): Latin origin, form of Belle, meaning Beauty. Also: Short form of Isabella and other names ending in bella.

Gala (Гала): Girls name of Greek and Russian origin, meaning Calm; also Russian and Slavic, short from Galina or Galena. Variant of Hebrew Gal, meaning mound, wave.

Lara (Лара): Latin name, well known, name of nymph. Also often Russian girls name. Icelandic form and German variant of Laura; Russian, English and Slovene usage as a short form of Larisa (ancient city). It was introduced to the English-speaking world by a character from Boris Pasternak's novel 'Doctor Zhivago' (1957) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1965).

Kaya (Каја): Greek name meaning Pure. American Indian origin, meaning my elder sister-little. Czech and Polish diminutive of Karolina, Scandinavian diminutive of Katarina. Kaja also means Echo in Estonian.

Kala (Кала): Hindi origin, meaning time, black. Slav origin – a flower. Also means art form, virtue in Sanskrit. Hawaiian form of Sarah, meaning lady, princess, the sun. In Sanskrit – the fine arts.

Tara (Тара): Celtic origin, meaning tower, crag. Gaelic – crag, hill.
Anglicized form of the Irish place name Teamhair, which possibly means elevated place in Gaelic. This was the name of the sacred hill near Dublin where the Irish high kings resided. It was popularized as a given name by the novel 'Gone with the Wind' (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939), in which it is the name of the O'Hara plantation.
Also means star or savior in Sanskrit. Tara is the name of a Hindu astral goddess, the wife of Brhaspati. She was abducted by Soma, a god of the moon, leading to a great war that was only ended when Brahma intervened and released her. This is also the name of a Buddhist deity (a female Buddha).

My mom’s leg cramps

My mom is having leg cramps more and more often these days. These painful spasms stand between me, her and a good night's sleep!

Leg cramps are defined as radiating, painful spasms through the calves, felt especially at night. Nobody's quite sure what causes them. Various theories blame fatigue from carrying pregnancy weight, compression of the blood vessels in the legs, and possibly diet — an excess of phosphorus and a shortage of calcium or magnesium. You might as well blame hormones, too, since they seem to cause so many pregnancy aches and pains!

Leg cramps are especially common in the second half of pregnancy, when pregnancy weight, increasing swelling, and overall fatigue are at their high points and interruptions in your sleeping are most frustrating.

So what to do about it? Here are some advices:

• Try standing on a cold surface, which can sometimes stop a spasm. Or straighten your leg and gently flex your ankle and toes back toward your shins several times. If either of these techniques works, you can add massage or local heat for added relief, but don't massage or add heat if neither flexing nor cold helps the situation (in the rare case that the pain is caused by a blood clot, massaging it could make it worse — or allow it to travel).
• Stretching exercises can help stop cramps before they strike. Before you head to bed, stand about two feet away from a wall and put your palms flat against it. Lean forward, keeping your heels on the floor. Hold the stretch for ten seconds, then relax for five. Try this three times.
• To ease the daily burden on your legs, put your feet up as often as you can, alternate periods of activity with periods of rest, and wear support hose during the day.
• Make sure you're drinking enough fluids — at least eight glasses a day.
• Eat a well-balanced diet that includes adequate calcium and magnesium.

More on pregnancy leg cramps: Leg cramps: symptoms and solutions; Leg cramps in week 19; Leg cramps during pregnancy; Leg cramps during pregnancy; Leg cramps during pregnancy.

Flying back home

This is day number 161 and I am 23 weeks! I have 119 days or 17 weeks left, and I am 57.5% of the way there.

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With my sense of movement well developed by now, I can feel my mom dance. And now that I am more than 28 cm long and weighs around half a kilo (about as much as a large mango), my mom and my dad are able to see me squirm underneath my mom’s clothes!

Blood vessels in my lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that I am increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing for my entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze me when I hear them outside the womb.

By the way, I am still in Sofia, and I am flying back home this afternoon.

Autmn in Sofia

The London talking elevator

Before I move to writing about Sofia memories, I would like to share another highlight from London first: the Courthouse Hotel in Soho.

The Courthouse Hotel is set in the heart of London’s bustling shopping and theatre district, on Great Marlborough Street. A stone’s throw away from the infamous Liberty’s department store and the shopping paradise of Bond Street, Regent Street and Carnaby Street, the Hotel is situated in an old Grade II Listed Magistrates Court, retaining much of its original historical features with a modern twist. Situated in the very heart of Soho in central London, from the internationally known Selfridges department store and Bond Street with its Couture boutiques to the London Palladium, famous for its great Musical and Theatrical performances, you are in the centre of everything.

It is a luxury hotel that offers all kinds of staff, including the Sanook Spa. The Sanook Spa in Courthouse Hotel includes all the facilities to help guests relax, revitalize and refresh after a busy shopping trip or high powered meeting. Their signature treatments include a selection of chocolate treatments including facials, pedicures and manicures – chocolate without the calories, what more can you ask for!

Situated in an old courthouse, the Grade II listed building retains much of the splendour of the original, with a number of quirky features. In 1835, Charles Dickens worked as a reporter there for the Morning Chronicle.

The Great Marlborough Street Magistrate’s Court set the scene for many famous cases over the years, which were either heard there or taken to full trial at Crown Courts such as the Old Bailey. This was the case with the first obscenity trial for a comic book in English history, against International Times in 1971. John Lennon’s sensational court case regarding the sale of sexually explicit lithograph drawings was thrown out on a technicality in 1970, and Mick Jagger spent time here defending his name when it was alleged he was caught in possession of cannabis (and Marianne Faithful!). Keith Richards received a £205 fine here in 1973 for possession of marijuana, heroin and mandrax, as well as a Smith and Wesson revolver and an antique shotgun, both held without a licence. Oscar Wilde also had the start of his ‘Queensbury’ case heard in the building.

And finally, I present you my best friend from Courthouse Hotel – the talking elevator!

London memories

My new London friends

Hi guys!

Yes, I am still here, enjoying London and meeting new friends!

Kate and Paul Reid live and work in London in the past several years. Katie, Alex, Delphine, Paul, Emma, Melissa, Ally and the other Emma are also Londoners, and are part of BBH London team. I also met: Ramon from Spain, Nikolay from Bulgaria, Irene from Denmark and Tobias from Germany, who are all part of BBH Compass Writers network. Great guys, all of them!

In the last few days I was getting to know the city, Soho and West End better, including: the Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Cabinet War Rooms, Downing Street, The National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London Trocadero, Piccadilly Circus, Berwick Street Market, Oxford, Covent Garden, St. Paul’s Church, Royal Opera House, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Millennium Bridge, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Big Ben, and so on.

My mom and dad also took me to see some more of London highlights, such as: royal parks and gardens (Hyde Park, Regent’s Park and Kensington Garden), Sherlock Holmes residence, Camden markets, Portobello road, Shakespeare’s relative’s restaurant, China Town, and of course - famous London pubs and bars.

And I was enjoying every minute of it!

I am leaving London today and I am very sad about it. I liked London a lot! It was love at first sight!

My next station is Sofia, Bulgaria. I’ll write from there.

See ya!

London snow?!

Yes, it’s true. It was snowing in London.

Well, it was a short snow, which came up after a frozen rain. And it was incredibly cold!

The locals say that it was the first time London has seen a snow since 1934!

Amazing!

Discovering Soho...

Hi guys! Yesterday I entered my 6th month! It was day number 154. Today I am 22 weeks, I have 125 days or 18 weeks left, and I am 55.4% of the way there. Yesterday it was the first time my dad actually felt my kicking inside my mom’s belly!

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, I am starting to look like a miniature newborn. My lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and I am even developing tiny tooth buds beneath my gums. My eyes have formed, but my irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers my body and the deep wrinkles on my skin, which I will sport until I add a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside my belly, my pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

But this may be not really interesting for you at this point. What I really want to share is that I am in London! Yeeeah!

My mom and dad took me to a vacation! I am so exited! So far I am enjoying so much, that I forget to eat, sleep or kick my mom’s belly! In the evening we were all so tired of sightseeing Soho that we went in bed in 7 pm local time! We are staying at Court-House hotel in the heart of Soho.

Today we will continue with the exciting sightseeing and discovering Soho and London. I just hope that we won’t be disturbed with hail (frozen rain) again, like yesterday.

Name me!

So far we have received 103 different name proposals, out of which 60 (58%) were girls’ names and 43 (42%) were proposals for boys’ names. And thank you for that, it was more than helpful!

However, you can still send name proposals, until November 5. During this period, the call for proposals for girls’ names is open and you are free to send some more ideas. The address to send the proposals remains the same: little.mogly@gmail.com.

After this date, my parents will publish a shortlist of proposed names, for which you can vote. It will be a competition for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize that will go to the friends who proposed the winning names. Winners and prizes will be announced after November 12.

Good luck! ;)

I’m a girl!

Yes, it’s true! I, Mogly, am a girl and it is officially confirmed by my mom’s gynecologist, Dr. Partaloski!



The call for proposals for girls’ names is now open till November 5! After that, my parents will publish a shortlist to vote for the best name for me.

It will be a competition for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize. Prizes will be announced after November 12.

21 weeks

This is day number 149 and I am 21 weeks now! I have 131 days or 19 weeks left, and I am 53.2% of the way there.

I now weigh about 350 grams and I am approximately 27 cm long — the length of a carrot. My eyebrows and lids are present now, and my vagina has begun to form as well.

I make my mom feel like I am practicing martial arts as my initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. She also discovers the pattern to my activity as she gets to know me better. But in general, my mom is feeling good, relaxed and enjoys each moment of being pregnant with me.

My semantic cloud

Hi guys!

Yes, I know you are all anxtious to hear if I am a boy or a girl! But no, I am not writing to solve the mystery. Not yet.

I write this post cause, thanks to uncle Macko, I recently discovered the semantic cloud of my blog. And as you can see, the most often used words in my posts are “mom”, “dad” and “parents”.

Why is it? Is it because I depend on them too much? Or because I am not able to write my own posts by myself?

I think they are using the situation. And the fact that I depend on them.
Maybe I should find someone else to help me typewriting.... :)

My sex is still a mistery.... but not for long

My sex is still a mistery for my parents...

But not for long. Tomorrow my mom and dad should finally know my sex. In other words, they will know if I have "појео" or "појела" :)


So far, most of you voted that I am a boy - 57%, and 43% voted a girl.

Who was right and who was wrong?

We'll see tomorrow :)

Me wanna One banana to go, on the half way to home

Or: The road from banana to a man is paved with monkey business.

Hi duderos. I now weigh 300 geees. And from the head to the rump (arse so to politely say) I am 17-18 cm. I wonder would anyone take such head-to-ass measurements. Ahh! Life is just full of it. But my total length now is 25 cm, quarter a meter. For all you that would react like: “25cm, come on, my whatever is longer than that”, remember that I was just 84 mm two months ago. So, when was the last time any one of you has tripled in 60 days? Ha! The info-sources that my dad is unsupportive of compare me to a banana. God damn huge a banana that is. What did it grow on? Steroids? Plus, can you imagine an attempt to glorify me in a Shakespearean parlance?! How would it sound?

Shall I compare thee to a banana or a bigger pickle?
Thou art more reddish than periwinkle. The chocolates your mum devours
Leave you both sleepless for hours.
And sometimes your dad to thee sings
That good that you wish you had fleeing wings.
And every week Ye are a new plant
Where as you are an animal semen-sent.
And the womb ye live in shall be a-rocking
Months from now till ye have in our hugs been a-docking
But only then shall joys have commenced
And all anticipation in your smile dispensed.

And we shall set a sail in a life of love
And be it so and more than enough.

Hmmm, did not turn out so bad, after all.

Oh! And a correction. I am a banana length ass to brains, not feet to hair as my dad thought. But finally they can measure me up from head to heels. And I am stating to swallow more this week, although I have no pride so far so to ‘clog’ me up. And I am producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. It is sort of like primeval faces, sh** or so. This gooey substance will accumulate in my bowels, and you'll see it in my first soiled diaper, my first poop what so ever. I am eagerly waiting to see the semi-logical expression of my parents overwhelmed joy upon seeing my first sh**. I’d never know people can go frantic about that.

Now, very important. Last Thursday I went to the alpha place, where it all started. Where my mum, dad and couple of dear people had celebrated my parents holy union, though not much is holy for my father. But more importantly, my mother stayed awake until ALMOST midnight, and had fun and slight pain, exhaustion and hangover the following day. Aahhh, blessed sins of youth. BUT most importantly, that is the place where the whole Mum ‘n’ Dad story began. Well, actually it began on the Lady Blue ‘shank’, but as we (including my future self) Skopjaners like to say: “Oh, it the old this or that”. It’s pitty most my shallow compatriots think of superficial, physical terms. What I am trying to say is that Mamas and papas share no same location in spatial terms, but more essentially IT IS the same place, time, mood, modality just some irrelevant meters from what was Lady. Hence, MP is the old Lady with some new papas. :)

Then I went on a mini-hike this weekend to Matka. My dad was rehearsing for our future walks by carrying and pushing two of my older friends – Kalin and Marko respectively. Some pretty tough dude my dad is, or stubborn, or unconventional, or just him. My mum did excellent as well. That good, that she repeated the challenge the very next day, with Ina and Ivo.

Talk to me, sing to me….

This is day number 135 and I am 19 weeks! I have 145 days or 21 weeks left, and I am 48.2% of the way there.
I weigh about 250 grams and measure about 15 cm, head to bottom, and I am about a size of a large heirloom tomato. My arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of my body now. My kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on my scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on my skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

My sensory development is exploding! My brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that I may be able to hear my parents voices now, so mom, dad, don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to me more often, or singing me a happy tune.
And regarding my mom…Think she is big now? She’ll start growing even faster in the weeks to come! Extra estrogen and temporary pigment increase is causing changing in her skin: hand palms becoming redder, patches of darkened skin appear, and so on. But the most important change in her life is the fact that she finally started to feel my kicks! I am stretching and kicking, and she finally feels that, especially when she decides to lay down, have a rest, or go to sleep!

18 weeks

This is day number 126 and I am 18 weeks now! I have 154 days or 22 weeks left, and I am 45.0% of the way there!

Head to rump, I am about 14 cm long (about the length of a bell pepper, but hopefully I am not as idiotic in taste and conduct as that DJ named after this other wise great dolma container) and I weigh almost 200 grams. I am busy flexing my arms and legs, doing daily exercises of revolving and taking 'looong' walks through my mums belly — movements that my mom started noticing this week and will notice more and more in the weeks ahead. So move MA! You Gotta Move I Move I!

My blood vessels are visible through my thin skin, but nowadays everything is visible with proper equipment. My ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from my head a bit and make me look 'klapush'. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around my nerves, a process that will continue for a year after I am born. If I am a girl, my uterus (the home of the future generations) and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If I am a boy, my genitals are noticeable now. But I skillfully concealed my sex, or gender or 'pojeo/pojela' membership from my parents and their doctor during the ultrasound we had yesterday. The doc is suspecting my gender, my mom and dad too. It ultimately amasing to have sooo many suspicious minds and but two genders to suspect in, isn't it?

My mom is often hungry these days. An increase in appetite is pretty common now. My father is thinking of finding a way to feed her in sleep so she would spend more time kissing her awake. In the respect of the former, bigger, more comfortable clothes are a must now as her appetite and waistline grow. My male parent, so to say, offerd her his old baggy clothes but she kindly refused to be turned into ragged 'mashkudanka'.

Her cardiovascular system is undergoing dramatic changes, and during this trimester her blood pressure is lower than usual. That is the reason why my mom feels a little dizzy when she springs up too fast from a lying or sitting position. Now take this 'too fast' relatively. It is not with the speed of light but it is neither as fast as a shit-scared, eloping, houseless tortoise. But luckily my dad is here to 'boost' her pressure up with his incidents.

I already told you about my uncle Henkjan. Maybe I forgot to mention my 'caught' aunt Maca ('caught' = try to find a better translation of 'fatena'), who accompanied us on our Matka trip. The same day we had my great-uncle and great-aunt coming over. They are one of the coolest both persons and couples on planet, the coolness of which is so great for it to be even half covered and accounted for on a whole site, let not speak of a single blog post.

Then we visited the doctor who was jovially whistling all the time he was cheking me out, so my parents say since I was sleeping throughout the visit. Then my mom tried to counterfeit her weigh and I got up to see what the laughter was all about.

Oh! Nearly forgot, I met a super cool uncle – Face who would be probably better described by my mom. And I was also interviewed by the Slovenian Embassy official as I will be traveling to Slovenia next month. Yeayh! And I will also be going to London next month. I know that I shall not know or remember a shhhhh, but I am more than certain that all that will be properly documented by our camera and later on narativised by my father's wit.

Uncle Henkjan

Last week I met uncle Henkjan for the first time. My mom and dad have talked about him a lot, and they were very excited about his coming to Skopje again, and I thought – this guy must be a very special person for them!

I was right. Henkjan van Vliet from Amsterdam is a very special person and a very dear friend of my parents, with whom I had a nice time during his one-week-stay in Macedonia. He brought me nice presents, we went together to several restaurants and we ate A LOT! I must say I really enjoyed the time spent together in our hangings out.

But what I enjoyed most is this: my brave (and crazy as always) dad tried to learn some Dutch! And as this was not enough – he started with the two most difficult-to-pronounce phrases, even for the Dutch people! I still feel my moms laughing because of which her belly was trembling and shaking so hard that it woke me up! And her laughter is waking me up even now, and every time she remembers my dad “speaking Dutch”.

However, I feel fine. Even in a shaking belly. As long as my mom and dad are happy and enjoying their friends, I am as well.

What’s new in the 17th week?

Week 17 and I am still not a teen, but soon (years from now) I shall be. My weight now is well over 100 grams, to be more precise 140. My father still says that the most precious and valuable items are measured in grams, like gold, diamonds, caviar and on. But I know that no sooner he has seen me in person he will immediately start loving all of my growing weight.

I am 12.5 cm long, longer than roller ruler, ‘shubler’ or ‘shestar’. Now as far as the living world comparison is concerned I really do have to protest as I did last time, but this one not directed at such intolerably capitalistic comparisons, but to my parents relying on such ‘imperialistic’ sources. Hence I shall try to compare myself with a little ‘voice-over’ help by my parents. Moreover, I shall encourage you all to find a counterpart of something that is long 12.5 cm, weighs around 150 grams, can move its joints. That is slightly more than a normal CD diameter, a size of a “skopski jabucar”, of a bigger ‘lampion’, of a smaller melon, of an ‘izdishan’ post-new year balloon, of the 95 A bra basket, of…

BUT, all this is formal, superficial, unimportant. It does not tell anything about the contents. Therefore, from now on, I will be only and only compared to qualities. So, this week, I am as firm as a bone, and yet as fragile as it. As moving and movable as any marine animal, and yet anchored and dependant on my mother by my more and more strengthening umbilical cord.

As big as any baby of my age and yet smaller than imaginable for you. As sweaty as morning dew, yet as smelling as the petal from which it fells. As light as two hands full of peanuts, and yet as heavy and strong as the fart they induce. Now that is what I feel like being this week, had you the need to find what is actually written, go and read those quantifying, deeply westernized sites. And do forgive my father for this.

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to watch some football games. It started great if not for my mother’s early retreat to bed, D*** mama, I may be a boy! However I got the chance to both meet my father’s friend Dejan who supports one of the most feminine dancing clubs in the world – AC Milan, and the chance to listen to commentaries in two languages Macedonian and Albanian. For me, being totally deprived of any linguistic training or knowledge, all languages (save the doc’s mumbling) are all but same to me. (Sorry for being politically incorrect, but I am politically uneducated, non-seduced and unburdened. HAHAHAHA!!!).

Then, the next day as you already know, I went Wickeeeed. The concert was great, I head banged, my mother bounced a bit and my father was one of the very, very, very few people that actually sang along. Not that he knows Bulgarian that much, he knows the lyrics. And there was a beer fair, whatever that is. Then I spent a nice weekend with my aunt Nana a while, and mostly with mu parents who had great guests on Saturday. Papak and Elena. They have a very lovely and cute daughter Angela, who being more than three years superior to me will probably by my role model, rather than friends. They really understand children. My father says Papak is a true father-figure guru that only lacks a bong and a circle of smoke into which “Nah follow Yah word, ask not, wonder, not, just go with it maan!” is written. Auntie Elena is very tender, nice, and soft looking, I know Angela would have her wits and mostly looks after her. A real Russian princess. And as we start having a nice chat I was taken away by my mother. That’s the ‘curse’ of being attached.

Then yesterday I went out with my uncle Henkjan who is not from Macedonia, as if it makes a lot of difference to me, but who is nice chatting companion, caring, and this time full of exciting traveling stories. Ahh! There goes another week. And I am looking forward to the next.

Uikeda: Revolution!

Last night my mom and dad took me to greatest ska-concert!

Though for my parents "Uikeda" ("Wikeda") is number-one Bulgarian ska band for years, for me this is the first time I had a chance to see and understand a live ska concert! It was a revolution!

And I must say I liked it a lot! Although I still don't completely understand what was all those jumps in my mom's belly...

16 weeks: Avocado or a Quince?

This is day number 113 and I am 16 weeks! I have 167 days or 24 weeks left, and I am 40.4% of the way there.

In the next few weeks, I will double my weight thanks to my father's juiciest ribs and meat 'vratolomiii' , although our doc forbids us from too many of those, and my mum's super duper delicious pie, although not much in comparison to my great aunt's world famous 'tegneta' pie. And I shall add inches to my length. Just as a comparison, inches in my world are but meters in yours.

Right now, I am about the size of an avocado: 12 cm long (head to rump) and 100 grams. As the avocado comparison is concerned my father, mumbling and grumpy as always, thinks it is culturally inappropriate and even offensive to follow western, in this case merchant, societies and blindly take their comparative measurement unites.

Although I know him at times being over-naggy I could not but agree that a more local comparison can and should be made. What he suggests is a quince for the reason of it being singable and seasonable (mind not my dad, he likes to make up words), my dad chanting something like "Svirajte mi jesen stize dunjo moja", and the autumn is knocking on our city gates and mostly parks. In addition, my dad claims that quince marmalade is better than anything that can come out of that bitter-sweet-sourish nothing called avocado. I really believe that he is frustrated to have learned of avocados at the age of twenty or so.

My legs are much more developed, which fills my dad's heart with joy and excitement due to the prospect of us using our legs to embrace the mountains, not just to go to the toilette. My head is more erect than it has been, which far more erected than my father's embrio-like sleeping position. My eyes have moved closer to the front of my head, so I look less alien.

My ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of my scalp has begun, though my locks aren't recognizable yet, but locks they shall be, I my parents swear that when time comes I shall have the cooooolest dread locks ever. My dad has a little legacy stashed for me. I have even started growing toenails, maybe I will polish them when I grow up, with the little help of my friend - the fabulous, young-in-heart, lovable by all laws - JinJu.

And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, my heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as I continue to develop.

The past week has been a great chain of social events. First, I went to Kalin's birthday. Kalin is so cute and so well mastering the skill of social relations' management, let not say as my dad's shirt says "making people do what ever he likes and (them) feel great about it".

The following day I had my aunt and grandma. They are such a lovely couple together, the grumpiness of the one is easily remolded into the course openness of the other. Then, I went to Marko's birthday, who was less social at first but then he has a great ski-lump like uptake. The same day I had my dear friend Jana come for a visit. Her dad instructed my dad on stroller (pram, 'количка') selection. Knowing him a little, I am afraid he still wants to get me and old, 'половна' пеглица (Fiat P126) as means of transport…

My friend Anastasija

This is my friend Anastasija. She is almost a year now and she is really adorable.

Here Anastasija is trying to put her leg into a shoe.

I can hardly wait to see how she ties her shoe laces :)

My sex is still a mystery

My sex is still a mystery, but I am sexy any way.

This is day number 107 and I am 15 weeks now! I have 173 days or 25 weeks left, and I am 37.5% of the way there.

I now measure about 10 cm long, crown to rump, and weigh in at about 70 grams. Thus I am about a size of an apple: Ich been ein struddle mastraaf now!

I am busy moving amniotic fluid through my nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in my lungs begin to develop. My dad says I should be careful what I move around through my nostrils as to avoid sniffing my life away as the eerie-looking, palm-falling, skin-shrunk old rock star from the photo he is trying to show. By now you’ve by far realized that my old man is not an ordinary, normal man. I hope I have my mum’s genes. My legs are growing longer than my arms now, and I can move all of my joints and limbs, so I can dance, dance and dance. Though my male parent is suspicious about the prospect of a male ballet dancer.

Although my eyelids are still fused shut, I can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at my mom’s tummy, for instance, I am likely to move away from the beam, so do not pull those reflectors at me or turn the luminosity down.

There's not much for me to taste at this point, but I am forming taste buds which present the utmost pleasure for my dad who is convinced that he will be the sensei-guidance on my path to full nutritious formation and culmination. He is eager for us to have started although he well knows that milk and ‘kashicki’ will be on my menu for months.

Finally, if my mom would have an ultrasound this week, they may be able to find out whether I am a boy or a girl! But she is not. So I guess my sex will remain a mystery, at least for the next 3 weeks, until my next ultrasound! Oh God! (Though I still have no concept of it.) I can imagine my father with a magnifying glass, playing gender Holmes, looking at my mum’s stomach for the answer of the mystery. Ah! He can be silly at times.

Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery even longer, though. Nailing down my sex, (my dad again protests against the use of such heavily connotationally burdened expression as “nail down”), depends on the clarity of the picture and on my position in my mom’s tummy. I may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.", and GOOD they shall be.

This week I went to the doctor who said that everything is fine with my mum, hence with me. Then I also participated in a climbing expedition to Golem Korab, and for all you heretics, I have a proof. HA! Then I visited one of my grand mums and aunts, and goofied around with my older cousin, which is soooo nice and well, properly mannered. My little cousin seemed bit nervous, but it will grow out of him. This week I will be attending two birthday parties, those of my eager-to-meet friends Kalin and Marko. And I hope I will not again serve as an excuse for my mum to have an extra large piece of cake. Though my dad after the last doctor’s visit is so shitty overwhelmed that he is willing to ‘popushtiti’ and let my mum have all sweets she likes.

Oh! And my dad is sorry for the delayed post.