Summer Heat

It's been a couple of weeks and here in the UK we've been experiencing a rare heatwave. Whilst the weather is glorious, it does mean I'm suffering somewhat in the heat. I'll be 25 weeks pregnant tomorrow and not only is my bump getting rather large, but combined with the weather and lethargy, it is starting to get quite challenging to get up from the sofa or bed and move around. I've been feeling more breathless again and having to take things slowly. 

Peanut seems well though, he woke me up last night by bouncing rhythmically on my bladder, which meant I had to get up and use the bathroom. And he was still thumping away in there way into the early hours. We have bought a Pre-Natal Listening Device to hear his kicks and heartbeat, but to be honest, it's not massively effective. It just see to pick up the noise from my fingers holding the thing in place! 

We have our antenatal class booked for a whole day on Sat 24th August. I am looking forward to this, although not watching the video of women giving birth (eek!) I know what happens and there'll be plenty of people in the hospital who know what's going on, so I don't see why I need to watch a person coming out of another person! The midwife who is giving our class is meant to be very good though, so I hear from other mums-to-be at my local Aquabump class. I have been to this a couple of times now and love the chance to socialise with our expectant mummies and cool down in the water. 

Baby shopping is well underway now. We have our baby wish list up on Amazon, to which I'm constantly adding things to:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/baby/1QCX5EVPM8GA

This is because I hope to have a baby shower in September / October so will hopefully get a few bits as presents!

My nan bought us this beautiful Moses basket from Mothercare on Friday, which I love. I am also loving the Jools Oliver 'Little Bird' range of clothing and accessories in Mothercare too and have a few bits from the range. At first, shopping for the baby seemed so daunting but now I'm loving it!

In just a few weeks I'll be in my third trimester. I can't believe how quickly it's going - the time is just flying by and we still have so much to sort out! Poor J spent this weekend clearing more bits in the spare room and kitchen so we now have room to add some cant things, but I think I'll feel less panicky once the spare room is gutted and cleared and we can behind painting and assembling all the nursery furniture. It will all seem even more real.

Well, Kate Middleton has just gone into labour and an old friend from school gave birth last week to a little girl. My hormones are so shot to bits I cried both times! I am so excited about being a mummy myself though, that any news of other women giving birth just sets me off. And before long it will be my turn! I cannot wait for me and J to have a little family of our own.

Babymoon

Weeks 21 - 23 have been spent relaxing in Sharm el Sheikh for our babymoon!

We stayed in a 5* resort and tried to avoid ice, violent protests and anything remotely healthy that may have been washed in tap water. Even still, both of us had poorly tummies and got exhausted by the heat. The first week we were there it reached 48 degrees! J also suffered with a nasty cold he just couldn't shake the whole time, so it didn't quite live up to our expectations, however, the best thing was to just relax together with no chores to complete or places to be. We also got to go snorkelling too in the second week which was AMAZING! We saw sting rays, angel fish, lion fish, conch shells with weird alien type things living inside them. The coral reef was beautiful and out of this world. I am so thrilled that we got to discover a newfound hobby together and see so many crazy, beautiful things under the sea. It was magical and something I'll remember for the rest of my life. 

In other news, Peanut has grown enormously since I last wrote and J has finally been able to feel a kick or two! Peanut is an active wriggler now who kicks and somersaults everyday. He also enjoys bouncing on my bladder which means I'm also having to go to the bathroom every hour :-/ 

Something freaky happened a few days ago too - I'd just had a shower and was blow drying my hair (topless - as you do) in the bathroom of our hotel room when I noticed a shiny drip down my breast and belly. At first I thought it was water from my hair, though by this point I was completely dry and when I touched the shiny trail it was sticky... And then I realised that I've started lactating! After about 30 minutes of freaking out, I realised (whilst J desperately tried to reassure me) that this was completely normal and healthy and calmed down. Now most mornings I notice a dried up milky patch in my t shirt or on the bed from where a small amount of milk has started to leak. It's a strange feeling, but I'm pleased that it seems to be healthy at this stage. I really do want to breastfeed if I can but I just have to get over the sensitivity of my nipples! 

I will leave you for now with a photo of Peanut and I about to go out for dinner on our 23 week anniversary. 

Boy

You're a boy!

We are so happy and excited to see that you are growing healthy and strong. We love you so much already and can't wait to hold you in our arms for the first time.

Please keep safe and well. We'll do our best to protect you and nurture you until the end of our days.

Love Mummy and Daddy xxx

Kicks and Flutters

Not much to report today other than it's J's birthday and Peanut's kicks are definitely growing stronger and more regular. It's such a weird and yet magical feeling. We went for lunch today with our friends and their little girl who is 3 years old. As soon as she sat next to me and started chatting away, Peanut started kicking to the point where it was making me jump. I notice the kicks and flutters so much more when there are small children around. I wonder if its the difference in pitch and my tone that makes Peanut so active? I know our baby can hear us deep within my womb, maybe the volume and pitch of different voices provide some kind of stimulus. Who knows?!

Dining Room Done

So this weekend we finally finished the dining room. All the painting and decorating was sorted in the early May bank holiday, but this week we got the last of our dining room furniture delivered. J also wired up our gorgeous new pendant lamp from BHS. I think the final result looks so stunning, I'm so happy it's finished! 

This bank holiday we also did A LOT of clearing stuff out. J spent yesterday raking the back lawn with weed and feed, and also cut back all the hedges and the tree in our front garden. We now have a wide open space that we can pave so that we have enough room to get a pram in and out of the house. 

I spent yesterday massacring my wardrobe and throwing out all my beautiful dresses I can sadly no longer fit into. Even H helped by clearing out lots of his old toys. 

J went to the dump and I finished off H's room, organising all his toys and throwing away mountains of empty toy boxes and packets. The end result is H's bedroom incredibly clear and tidy, our bedroom much lighter with 2 massive bags of clothes removed, and the wardrobe in the spare room practically empty. 

So now our house feels so much lighter! I wonder how long it will last?

I'm guessing 4 more months!

Fluttering

This week I have started to feel Peanut move about inside me. It's not very strong and I have to stop what I'm doing to really feel the movement, but it's there! It's a very light sensation at the moment, like a gentle fluttering. It normally starts up as soon as I lay down in bed at night.

Last night Peanut was squirming away and I took J's hand and placed it on my tummy and he could feel the baby move too! It was a magical moment. But then he got worried he would squash the baby with his hand so he stopped :-/ 

I am enjoying the little sensations I'm feeling at the moment. I have also started to talk to the baby sometimes when I'm by myself. Not in a crazy way! Just, when we're alone and I've been quiet for a while, I'll just tell Peanut something or sing a song. It's amazing to think there is a little person inside me hearing my voice! 

16 weeks!

Compare these two photos taken just a few weeks apart...

Heart Beat

I'm 15 weeks pregnant now and on Tuesday I had an antenatal appointment with my doctor. Stupidly, I forgot all my notes, which I don't think my doctor was very pleased about. I will have to put a reminder in my phone to bring them to every appointment in the future.

I thought she was going to ask for a blood test or urine sample, but all she did really was take my blood pressure (fine) and asked me to lay down on the bed so she could feel my tummy. 

She took out this small microphone type contraption from get desk and turned it on. It was a Doppler scanner and made a horrible static noise. But when she put it on my abdomen, I could hear lots of weird gurgling noises. As she moved it lower, we heard a rhythmic rushing noise.

'Thats the placenta' the doctor said. 'We might not be able to pick up the baby's heartbeat yet because the microphone head is so small, but that's a reassuring sound. The baby will be fine if we can hear the placenta push the blood through.'

Still, she moved the microphone again and suddenly, there the heartbeat was. A rapid, but distinct little heartbeat. The doctor looked at me and smiled. 

Hearing my baby's heartbeat for the first time was amazing. My eyes welled up. I thought I was going to cry. Gently, my doctor helped me up and patted my back lightly. 

Leaving the surgery, I eagerly called J to share the experience with him, but I was also disappointed that he wasn't there to hear it for himself. Hopefully he will get a chance later on in the pregnancy. 

I can't wait to see and hear our baby again! 

14 Weeks

I haven't written anything for a while because we've been so busy sorting out the house in preparation for Peanut's arrival. Without listing all the boring intricacies of what needs to happen before November, we basically need to clear out the office before we can transform it into the nursery. This means that all the huge amount of stuff (mostly J's) including the huge desk and chair that's currently cramped in there all needs to come out and find somewhere else to live.

So last weekend, which was the early May Bank Holiday, we spent two days painting and decorating the dining room. The outdated and grimy terracotta walls have finally gone (hooray!) and been replaced with a soft creamy almond on the two smaller walls and a kind of pale brown / almost mauve colour called chocolate milkshake. We are really happy with the results! 

Today, poor J has spent the entire day building an Ikea Hemnes Bureau and add on unit which will house his Mac Pro and files. The reason it took so long was because the bureau had been mislabelled and was too big as it was old stock. So we had to drive back to Ikea and get it exchanged, which, believe me was a painfully long and stressful process. Now it's finally built it looks great, but I feel bad that J has had to do all the hard work without me...

And today we also bought the cot! It is a Lucia Cot / Cotbed from Mamas & Papas. It's a beautiful cot made even lovelier by the price we managed to get it for! Afterwards, we took my mum out for lunch in Pizza Express and she gave us a whole load of bits for the nursery from Mamas & Papas Rosie and Rex range. 

Second Trimester!

Yesterday I reached that all important 13 week turning point. I am now officially in my second trimester, which many books and websites say is the easiest, most relaxed part of pregnancy. For me, because this is my first child and I have no idea what to expect, I can't see the next few months being worry-free though!

A couple of nights ago I started feeling very mild cramping. I wasn't even sure if it was cramping, I just couldn't get comfortable and even laying down in our big comfy bed didn't seem to help. At first, I thought it was trapped wind (nice) but the twinges seemed to be located more in my womb than anywhere else. I was just very aware of any feeling happening in there. Naturally, my panic levels started to rise. But a quick search online stated that unless the cramps became severe or were accompanied by bleeding, they are perfectly normal. It's just my body starting to grow and stretch to accommodate Peanut as he/she grows big and strong.

But we have had an exciting turn of events this weekend. We told H our news! H is J's son from a previous relationship and the most adorable, grounded and bright 9 year old you could ever hope to meet. We are already so lucky to have him in our lives, having his acceptance of our news was very important to us.

He came round on Sunday. We sat him down and told him we have some important news. Then I said the words I have fantasised saying to him for the best part of a year, 'you're going to have another brother or sister'.

He was very shocked, 'I don't know what to say!' he said, wide-eyed on a rush of breath. He sat forwards and J rubbed his back, soothing him in case there were tears. We exchanged worried glances. But then he sat up and said 'I'm actually really excited, it will be really good'. J and I mentally sighed with relief.

We showed him all the photos from the scans. I explained how I'd been poorly so that's why there were so many pictures. H was fascinated, he asked to have a copy of the photo from the 12 week scan, which J happily sent him on his iPod touch. H even sent the photo to his mum, who text us with congratulations.

And then the news was out. The most important person we could ever share our joy with now knew, which meant we could share our wonderful news with everyone else. The obligatory post went up on Facebook. People spent the rest of the day congratulating us, wishing us well.

We went to the beach with my Dad and relaxed in the sunshine, though it was very windy. I read last week that November babies have the lowest risk of developing MS and the best immune systems, presumably because the mother gets a full dose of Vitamin D in her pregnancy, so I'm not going to fill guilty for sitting quietly in the sun, soaking up the rays! H played tennis and rounders with my Dad and J, giving him some much needed attention. It felt so good to have everything out in the open.

On the way back in the car, H turned to me and said, 'you know, the best thing about being pregnant is maternity leave' which made us burst out laughing! No prizes for guessing where he got that from!

Later, H and I went out into the garden at home to pollinate the flowers on the plum tree (or at least attempt to with paintbrushes). Although I can't remember word for word exactly what he said, he told me I'd make a good mum and that he saw me as his stepmum. I can't tell you how wonderful that was to hear from the little dude, I've always tried to do right by him and give him my love and attention. Knowing that he cares about me too is not only an amazing feeling, but a total surprise.

I told him that if Peanut turns out half as well as he has, I would be a very happy, lucky mummy indeed.