Dream Baby

After moaning that I hadn't dreamt about our baby for months and months, yesterday I was finally rewarded with a dream about our little guy. The details, as always, are hazy, but I remember kneeling on the floor with my arms outstretched, excitedly urging our baby boy towards me as he hurriedly toddled into my waiting embrace. I then covered him with kisses and cuddles whilst he nuzzled into my neck. It was such a delicious dream and has made me smile all morning :)

I hope that dreams come true x

30 Weeks!

30 weeks pregnant today! Only another 10 weeks (roughly) left until we can hold our little one. The countdown begins...

Third Trimester!

And here we are, in the third trimester already! Wow, that has gone by so quickly!

The last few weeks we have been busy clearing out the spare room ready for it's transformation into a beautiful woodland themed nursery. We have also bought pretty much all the big, expensive stuff and this weekend, J and my Dad finished the path outside our house so our wonky drive can now accommodate a pushchair. The last few weeks have just flown by as we've been frantically trying to get things done on the weekends and in the evenings. The nursery-to-be is still looking like a small elephant has charged around inside, but we have some of my work friend's family coming to collect the big bookcase and two DVD shelves soon that are currently taking up lots of space. Once they've gone, and a few small bits packed and tidied away, we will be able to start decorating the room. You can see my inspiration board for the baby's room here.

As to the big stuff, we now proudly own this:

Quinny Buzz 3 

and this:

Quinny Foldable Carrycot

and this:

Maxi-Cosi Pebble Car Seat

and this:

Maxi Cosi FamilyFix Base

and this:

Mamas and Papas Aruba Natural Changing Unit

and this:

Motorola MPB36 Video Baby Monitor

And we bought all of this stuff in one day, after a manic weekend of price matching and bargain hunting, for the grand total of £780! We actually managed to save over £450 because of the royal baby promotions going on that weekend. Great tip - Mamas & Papas price match products that are in stock online from other websites, and in stock in-store from stores within a 50 mile radius. So, we were ecstatic with our huge saving! 

The path outside the front of our house took a while to do. J has been cutting back the bushes around the slope of our driveway on and off for a few weeks now, getting ready to clear and prepare the space. As you can see from the photos, there was a lot of work involved and a great deal of earth to shift. 

Before:

After:

At night:

I love the solar powered lights, I think it makes our home look very welcoming. And I love, love LOVE having room to actually get out of the car now without being attacked by a bush, the fear of treading on cat poo and the room to manoeuvre out of the car with the door fully open, reducing the risk of me getting whacked by the car door. 

Anyway, enough about material things for now. As you can see, this had been a huge update since I last wrote. The biggest news about our little man is that J has finally been able to feel him kick inside me. This was such a massive, special thing for us to experience together. For weeks now I have been disappointed that J hasn't felt him move, despite his strong kicks. I'm not sure why it bothered me so much, but maybe it's because I wanted us to feel and share in the intimacy of the moment together, and J would normally feel grumpy and despondent when he couldn't feel him kick. It didn't help that our contrary little man stopped kicking as soon as his Dad put his hand on my tummy! But the other night, Peanut started kicking and moving quite hard, just as we settled down to sleep. I moved J's hand onto my tummy just as Peanut gave an almighty kick and wriggle. J was very sleepy but happily confirmed he'd felt him. He kept his hand on me for a while, feeling our little one jiggle around. The next day he sent me a text saying 'Forgot to say as I was sleepy, but I felt our little man kick last night and it was amazing!! Love you both very much xx' I have been riding high on that text, and the special shared moment ever since. 

My bump is stretching out even bigger now and I am enjoying going to Aquabump classes where I can at least keep cool and have fun in the water. It's been so muggy that I am eternally grateful for the air con in our bedroom. It has been a life saver as when I get home from work on hot days, the first thing I do is just strip off, lie on the bed and let the cool air soothe me. 

In just a few weeks the air will turn cooler and the leaves on the trees will start to change colour. I have always loved autumn, not least because my birthday is in October, but this year will be so special, to know that I will get to hold our baby soon. It's 3 months until my due date today, and I just cannot wait to meet our precious little boy. 

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.