Baby Blogging - Weeks 6 - 12!

Hi All,

You may remember last week we shared the exciting news that we are expecting!!!!! If you missed it here's the first post: Baby Blogging - Where It All Began.

With the 6 week scan at Care showing just one baby and one very strong heart beat we are both relieved, over joyed, excited and now this is all starting to feel a bit more real.

Next step was to register with the doctor, that's it for our time with Care Fertility. They did their job and now I join the rest of the pregnant women on the NHS.

The doctor appointment was quick. A few questions, a blood pressure check and some advice about what happens next including calling our local midwife and registering with Birmingham Women's. As we left the surgery we were given a pack that contain Emma's Diary in between congratulations. It was all so efficient it was a blink and you miss it experience.

A labour pack seems slightly early at this stage!

Weeks 7 and 8 passed in a blur. The need to pee was constant and appetite was intermittent. If anything, being pregnant has been a great diet. With all the healthy eating and eating more often but having smaller meals, I've lost 7lbs! Not that I'm trying to at all!

There's been no cravings either yet. At the start I really enjoyed meals with avocado but I wouldn't say it reached craving level.

Week 9 was the start of December and our annual Thanksmas celebration. With 12 people in attendance my wife had to deal with me randomly napping and then feeling queasy at the sight of uncooked meat. Although I was great at grating cheese and crumpling biscuits for the mac and cheese! We also had help in the form of Sam and Sara which meant the pressure was somewhat off. And all 12 guests of our guests were well fed.

It was also the week I told my boss about the news as our Christmas party was coming up and I wanted to make clear my not drinking was not party pooping. Unfortunately, in previous years I was an entertaining drunk so the expectations were set. It would also allow me an early exit without the persistent persuading to make me stay.

I was glad I had shared the news as it allowed a swift exit. Sadly it was only to land at Euston among train cancellations so my journey home involved train hopping and finding bathrooms at two different stations - not ideal!

Week 10 was thankfully a quiet week symptom wise though, but one of my close colleagues asked if I had already started my Christmas indulgence or if it was just the jumper as I was looking a little rounder. I of course blamed the jumper but Laura and I both had the thought that my belly had popped.

On the Friday we met our midwife - An experience we are both still reflecting on. The midwife was a little brusk - a Scottish word that means efficient but not in a friendly way. Her line of questioning occasionally led us to think we knew nothing. When we asked questions we were told it was 'too early to worry about that'. We got plenty of advice though and a pack with lots of info and took away the message that we should just continue as is.

The comment 'if you need me call or text me - but have an identifying detail as you are one of 200 ladies I am looking after' didn't fill us with comfort but I'm not sure what we were expecting.

Now to find the time to start the reading.

By week 11 the tiredness ramped up - I could literally dose for an hour at lunch and still be flagging by 8pm. The vivid dreams were eased by Laura insisting on a night time routine of spa music, a belly rub with bio oil to ease the impending stretch marks and a back rub as my hunching (part scoliosis and part comfort when slouching) has gotten quite bad. Something I am consciously working on.

We told my sister this week and she had the best reaction. It made us look forward to our parents reactions.

In the last few days my belly has firmed up and there is a clear circle, there has also been what feels like stretching on the inside and Tater Tot (as we refer to our future offspring as) is not a fan of me springing out of bed. To be honest - neither am I :) Laura, on the other hand, would like me out of bed long enough to participate in any Christmas activity. I had to let her go to a carol and mulled wine evening with her choir alone as I knew I'd need a quiet corner and a nap halfway through.

I did make it to a Christmas performance at the local theatre and to take Bisbee to see Santa Paws so had the chance to get into the Christmas spirit.

As we wanted to share the news with our families at Christmas, we booked in for a private scan at peek-a-boo baby on the Friday afternoon after work. Our plan was to be able to have pictures of Tater Tot to make the announcement extra special. We also wanted the comfort of knowing the baby was developing okay.

The scan was quick but seeing our baby for the first time - looking like a baby - was amazing. The sonographer showed us the head, legs, arms and the belly. Tater tot is a wriggler and kept bouncing around - so strange that I can't feel it at all. This is truly feeling real now.

With our pictures in hand we skipped out of the scan and headed home on cloud 9.

Our official NHS scan wasn't until the 27th. We'll share more on that and how we announced the new arrival to our families in a post soon.

If you didn't get a chance to check out our announcement video you can do so here.