Monday 30 May 2011

So...28 Weeks


Wow, we are on the final stretch. I suspect that most people that are reading this already know, but for those that don’t here comes the science bit...
Pregnancy is normally considered to be full term at 40 weeks. These weeks are then split into Trimesters. The last trimester is considered to be from 28 weeks to term. We have now hit the third and final trimester.
The strangest thing is, that every week, I think I have my head around that pretty soon, our lives will never be the same and then we move onto the next week and all those doubts and fears return. As I have said in a previous post is that I always worry about money. In our house Christine deals with all the money. Not only is she probably better at organising our finances that I would be but I think if I dealt with it, I would become obsessed, stay up at night worrying we going to have to eat cardboard for a week, just so we can buy a pack of nappies. Luckily, we won’t!

So as we hit the home stretch, we are going to perform a little experiment. We are going to try and live on the little money we will have once the baby arrives. Christine has worked out how much we will both get paid from my wage and SMP and that is what we shall live on.....I’m not nervous honest!
If you don’t hear from me for a week, we did start eating cardboard and it didn’t go well!
Back to the baby...28 WEEKS, only 11 weekends, 33 episodes of Eastenders (Not including the omnibus..lol)

According to the ‘How big is you baby’ ticker from www.thebump.com we are STILL the size of an aubergine/eggplant.
 
It also says that the baby's lungs are mature enough that, if born right now, she has a pretty good chance of surviving (with help from medical technology). Her skin is still pretty wrinkly (one byproduct of living in amniotic fluid) but will smoothen as fat continues to deposit.
The only real development recently is that little bump is getting very active. The wife is convinced it’s an Octopus (Not sure what that says about me!), the little thing is having a good ‘ol kick at every part of her insides. I can’t see anywhere that says you can have too much movement, so we are taking it as a positive.

Our friend is due to give birth any day now, so hopefully that will all run smoothly as I think it will help Christine feel a little better about the birthing process

I can hope!

Sunday 29 May 2011

Silent Sunday

_____________________________________________

Silent Sunday

Tuesday 24 May 2011

So...27 Weeks

We are now well into the 27th week of pregnancy and the last week of the second Trimester. Things still seem a little strange and I still find it hard to believe that there is a 27 week old baby in the wife’s belly.
Even while I am typing this she herself is sat muttering the words “It’s a REAL baby in there!”

According to the ‘How big is you baby’ ticker from www.thebump.com we are currently the size of an aubergine or for our foreign friends, an eggplant!
I think we are just about ready. We have all the essentials. Cot/moses basket, nappies, baby grows, food (boobs) and if we needed anything in particular, our local 24 hour supermarket is only 5 minutes drive away.

When looking at what the internet has to say about the development of our little bundle of poo it still makes my head hurt trying to comprehend that such magic can happen.

Christine has started complaining of pain in her bum cheeks and top of her legs. I can identify that as pressure on the sciatic nerve as 2 years ago; I had the same problem, BIG TIME. On boxing day, I turned round to place something down and all of a sudden I was in agony, went to lay down, which turned out to be worse thing I could do and I was stuck there for a day!
Christine saw me suffer so was relieved to hear that it’s a temporary thing and it’s just the baby getting comfy on a very painful nerve!

As you can see from either of my countdowns, we only have 89 days to a due date of 21st August. Sometimes, that seems like such a long way-a-way. And then other times it seems so close! Either way I wish it was tomorrow.

I am working through the next 3 months a bit at a time, to help the time pass.
June – Wife is working away for some of the month, so that will help June pass.
July – I will be going to my last festival at the beginning of July. I say my last as it isn’t cheap and has been something I do without Christine as it’s not her thing.
August – This will be the worst. I am not looking forward to August. Christine will be uncomfortable, every day will drag and with every twinge, we will wonder if that’s the sign the wheels are in motion.  Christine also has annual leave to take at the beginning of August, so that will make it drag even more.

Going to try and keep up with the weekly updates and countdown to the big day. Only 12 to go!

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Get(ting) Real!


Wow, it’s getting close!
I have always never really got excited about anything until the point it happens. 
If we booked a holiday and 8 weeks before, somebody said “Are you excited”, my response was always no. I didn’t really ever get excited until I was sat next to the beach/pool/bar. Unfortunately for various reasons, I am a pretty pessimistic person, so I always think something will go wrong, so I can only relax when I get to the end of my journey.

The difference with becoming a father, I haven’t really even started my journey yet, and that’s why it’s different!

When people have asked me if I am excited I can honestly say I can’t blooming wait!

I don’t know if it is because I have wanted to become a father for so long, or that I know that every day is going to be different, or that I am going to be able to care for something that I helped bring into this world or many of the other 1000’s of reasons that are running through my mind.

So, now we now we have established that I am excited, I am also very VERY nervous! For every reason I am excited, I am also nervous for the same reasons. Can I look after a baby? Can I teach it right from wrong? If I teach it my version of right and wrong is it the correct right or wrong?

The only answer I can come up with for any doubts I have is this.
I DONT KNOW.....BUT

What I do know is, I am a sensible, respectful, honest, good person and I will give everything in my heart and soul to make sure that my child is brought up the best way possible and I can’t wait to try!

It's getting very real but BRING IT ON!

Sunday 15 May 2011

Fear



I recently read the following piece of over at DaddyNatal.
“First for the bomb shell, research has shown up to 6 out of 10 expectant fathers at some point in the pregnancy will suffer doubts and fears regarding the paternity of the unborn baby. Definitely on each course I teach, at least a couple of blokes, have been, or are dealing with this. It is so common, yet of course, often not spoken about. This is an important fear to deal with because it can affect the expectant fathers’ behaviour during pregnancy, attitude at birth and relationship with the baby.”

“What else? Well we men also worry about how we will support our family. Or worry about handling a baby and not knowing what to do. Again, both purely natural. I am convinced that if we all waited until we were in right financial position to have children, man would be in danger of extinction!”

Luckily, the first fear, I don’t have a problem with. I have never questioned this and I feel sorry for anybody that has to wonder about the fidelity of their partner. The second fear however, is a big one for me.

Before the age of 9 (When my parents separated), I can remember always going on holiday and never remember wanting things and not being able to have them. I do know that after 9 years old, that all changed. I know we never had any money but never felt like I went without. I personally feel that this has enabled me, as an adult, to appreciate every penny we have and to manage my money responsibly.
There are 2 things that help me sleep at night. The first is the fact that I know, as with my mum, there are many people out there with less money than we have and still manage to provide a great life for their child and secondly, both me and Christine both believe we can make it work and thats enough for me!

We recently started looking into what benefits are available to us and it shocked me how little we were entitled to. We don’t even qualify for free vegetables because we are not already on benefits!

It may be hard, it may be demanding but to beat a fear, you have to face it and in August, I will do just that.

What fears did you have and how did you over come them?

Saturday 7 May 2011

6 years ago today...


The 7th May holds a very special place in my heart, for that is the day I married my beautiful wife Christine.

We first met when I got a job working in the same department as a temp, way back in 1999. Immediately, we struck up a friendship and after a while it became clear, Christine couldn’t resist the Ackroyd charm. (I’m certain, this doesn’t actually exist, but I can’t otherwise think why she would be attracted to ME!) Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I was still in a serious relationship with a girl I went to high school with, so cupid had to take a rain check.
After nearly a year, Christine was to get a job working abroad as a holiday rep in Majorca. A few weeks before she left, my mum passed away and although my then girlfriend appeared distant, Christine was there for me when I needed someone to talk to.
 In true Hollywood fashion, the day after Christine flew out to Spain; I split with my then girlfriend and became a single and available man. Typical, but these things happen for a reason.

Over the next few months, we kept in touch using good old fashion letters and phone calls. Then, call it fate; call it coincidence, but myself and a friend, booked a holiday to Tenerife for an October getaway and unbeknown to me, Christine had also been asked to go cover the crossover of staff in Tenerife, so we were both there at the same time.
So it all began in Tenerife and here we are nearly 11 years later.
On 7th May 2005, we tied the knot in an art gallery not far from where we had set-up home and our reception at a modest family run hotel. Many people would say that their wedding day was perfect, but ours truly was. We had our loved ones around us, everything went without a hitch and I had managed to snag one hell of a woman.
I love my wife more than I could articulate in this blog, or show you in pictures or even show in actions (although I do try).
 She is my ying to my yang, my salt to my pepper, my Bert to My Ernie. She is the reason I get up on a morning and go to work so together we can build a life that we can enjoy. Soon, this life that we have built with each other will change for the better, she will become mum and I will become dad and I wouldn’t want to embark on this journey with anybody else.

6 years ago, we got married and have never looked back, instead we look forward, forward to becoming parents.

Christine, I love you and happy anniversary.

Friday 6 May 2011

Meet my son/daughter!


Well, not quite! I know it’s a little early (around 16 weeks too early), but for the first time, I would like you to meet my soon to be, son or daughter!


Over at www.thebump.com, they have a little feature called ‘Baby Morpher’, where using a picture of yourself and one of your partner, it spits out a morphed picture to show what the software feels would be a close resemblance to your offspring.

I am sure to all parents; their own child is the most beautiful boy or girl in the world.

If this 'morpher' is accurate, we will certainly have an interesting looking child....I don’t know why all pictures have a really square chin!?!

If you’re expecting, give it a go and let me know what your results are. If you are already parents and have some pictures of yourselves from around when your child was born, try it and see how accurate it is!

Wednesday 4 May 2011

What would your advice be?



I am a big believer in advice. No matter what the situation, if there is somebody with more knowledge or experience, then I am happy to sit back and listen to any advice given.

So, I am lucky to know more than a couple of people, that before me have experienced the joys and pains of fatherhood and I recently started asking for their advice. My question was simple, If you could go back in time and give yourself ONE piece of advice, what would it have been?

Answers have so far ranged from..
“Let the woman do EVERYTHING”
“Be Yourself”
“Enjoy your time together NOW”
“Don’t refuse peoples help”
“Live and love every second! It flies by too quickly”

4 out of the 5 came from the same person, so as you can see, every time I ask somebody that question, I get a different answer, which goes to show everybody’s experiences differ.

So.....If you could go back and give yourself ONE piece of advice, what would it be? Let me know in the comment section below.

Monday 2 May 2011

V-Day!



The term V-Day has many connotations.
When you type V-Day into the ever correct Wikipedia it supplies the following results:
V Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
V-Day is a term used during WWII prior to victory being achieved in Europe and Asia.
V-Day may also be used as shorthand for Valentine's Day in English-speaking countries
V-Day (movement) is also the name given to a non-profit event founded by playwright Eve Ensler
V-Day may also refer to the global movement to end violence against women and girls.

To many people, now including myself, this means a whole different thing that Wikipedia fails to mention.
 In the world of pregnancy, V-Day means that your bundle of joy, boy or girl is now ‘Viable’! That means that that our little one, is no longer considered a foetus, it is now considered a BABY!

This mean, that if the worst was to happen and any complications arose and our baby needed to be born as premature as 16 weeks early, the hospital, doctors and nurses are required to treat him/her as if it was a new born and they would do everything possible to try and give our baby as much support as possible to survive.

Today (Monday 2nd May), is our V-Day!
 Happy V-Day everybody!...But here’s to another 16 weeks!