So...Week 33

Another week, another blog.
We are now 7 weeks away from our due date! 7 WEEKS!
The rooms ready, the hospital bag is packed, my hair is already grey, so bring on the baby!
C'mon….
No…..
We gotta wait??
Damn!

 

I suppose we just have to play the waiting game, and a long boring game it is.
What's not boring (It keeps us entertained at least), is checking the little fruit ticker progress at the top of this page!

We are now DRUM ROLL PLEASE…..a Honey dew (That’s a melon for those that don’t know)

*Things are heating up inside as well: Baby may grow up to a full inch this week alone, and his brain is developing like crazy. Pretty soon, he'll be able to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. Also, his bones are hardening, and he's started to keep his eyes open when he's awake. 

*Information and image courtesy of TheBump.com 

This baby is one hell of a mover. He/she is regularly giving Christine a kick in the ribs and is constantly moving. We are taking that as a positive.

We also think we had our first contraction!! It may have been Braxton Hicks, but still, its exciting. If you think Braxton Hicks sounds like a blues player, your right, but that’s not what I mean. Braxton Hicks is common in pregnancy and is also known as false labour or practice contractions. These are fairly painless but I think it gives the mother a little glimpse of what is to come. More information in Braxton Hicks can be found here on the always reliable Wikipedia.  

In America at least they have a tradition of 'Baby Showers'. All I can gather about this seemingly age old tradition is that it is essentially a party where the mother to be invites all her friends round simply for them to buy her and/or baby a load of presents, sounds like a sweet deal to me. I recently saw an article (Which I now can't find) regarding a daddy style baby shower involving a BBQ with friends or a few drinks out on the town. So coincidentally I am leaving wife and bump this coming weekend as I am off to a music festival with some friends. Although I am sure I will enjoy every moment, I know I will be watching my phone closely. I know it is still a long way from due date and it is common for the first baby to be late, but magical things happen when I go to music festivals…Mostly bad!

Is that baby ready yet?
Did I mention we are playing a waiting game?

So...Week 32

We have reached the end of month 7.

It really feels close now and although it is very VERY unlikely, we know it could happen at any time.

As you know from previous updates we are using the fruit ticker at the top of this page to measure the size of our little one, but now we are looking at it a little closer. Most people know that if a baby is 7lb for example, all is good and baby is what most would consider a healthy weight. So when we know that our bundle is possibly only 3.8lb, you know that if it did happen now, it wouldn’t be good for anybody, so hopefully baby Ackroyd will stay where he/she is for a while longer!

For the 4^th and final week we are STILL the size of a squash!

*Ready or not, baby's getting ready to emerge. She's probably in the head-down position by now, with her bottom facing up. This is the comfiest way for her body to fit in your increasingly cramped womb and will make her eventual exit (only a few months away now!) much easier. (If she's still head-up, don't panic -- there's still time for a flip before birth.)

*Information and image courtesy of TheBump.com

Christine and her mum went to a nearly new baby sale. If you have never heard of these, they are essentially a jumble sale exclusively for baby products. It includes clothes, toys, and prams basically anything and everything you could want for a baby. The aim is to have less waste and recycle as much as possible. Find out more information here – http://www.recycle4children.co.uk/baby/

Things are still going incredibly well. Other than the vast amount of Gaviscon that has been consumed over the past week, everything is great.

Christine is really feeling the extra weight now. She is developing pains in her hips and is generally getting uncomfortable. I am beginning to understand why at the end of a pregnancy a woman can’t wait to have the extra burden moved from her hips to her arms.

Today, we did our first load of baby clothes washing. We wanted to give them a clean and an air to get them ready. The picture can be seen here as part of my Silent Sunday, but it was really cool to see all these baby clothes sat drying on the washing line.

As some may know, we both work in the travel industry, so when I mentioned to Christine that we were only 56 days to go, we laughed at the relation to booking conditions on a typical package holiday.  After 56 days before departure, any change is a major one. We know this won’t be a holiday but I’m sure it will be a little bit of paradise.

So...Week 31

We are into single figures! We are now only 9 weeks away from our due date.

Baby spent week 30 in sunnier climates while the wife took our little bump to Gran Canaria. (If we consider Goa as his/her first holiday which is when we found out, then he/she has been on more holidays than me since then!).

I am much happier now they are home with me safe and sound. I had visions of Christine going into labour on a sunbed and me missing the whole thing, which after the amount of years I have waited for it, would have been devastating!

9 weeks! Every time I say it, it feels closer. A friend of mine is trying to sell her house and when asked how long it would take to process if they made an offer she said 12 weeks. It sounds weird but the due date has felt so far away for so long, to hear somebody have immediate plans further than the due date seems odd. (That make any sense? Didn't think so!)

At week 31 and I think for the last time on our journey, we are still the size of a squash!

*Baby's going through major brain and nerve development these days. His irises now react to light, and all five senses are in working order. (He won't pick up anything from his nose until after birth, though -- smell is transferred through air, not amniotic fluid.)

*Information and image courtesy of TheBump.com

Not long now and I know we are ready, well as ready as anybody could ever be!

When Christine, came back she told me about a Drag show/cabaret night that her and the girls went to. Part of the night involved standing to have you photo taken with a couple of the performers.  What do you think the first thing I noticed on this photo?

The butch (fe)males that bookend the group? No. The first thing I noticed was how most of the girls had there hand by their sides, but Christine had her hand firmly on her bump. When I asked her why, she simply said. I don’t know.

You gotta love maternal instinct!

PS. If you are into playing the stock market, now is the time to invest in Gaviscon. Christine's started getting heartburn/indigestion, so no doubt the shareholders of said company will be buying a new yacht next year!

PPS. If you could be so kind as to 'Like' my page on facebook, clicky link can be found on the right hand side of this page. Thankyou!

My dad.

I have a very bad memory. Christine can tell me what shifts she is working the coming week and I will have forgotten them the next day. Where my memory really fails me is my childhood, not really sure why, but I have difficulty recollecting most things unless I am given some sort of prompt and then the information sometimes starts flooding back. What I do remember is not being particularly close to my dad.

As I have mentioned before, my parents separated when I was 9 and my mom didn’t move far so I could stay close to my dad. Even, so I always kind of felt a distance between me and “the old man”.

The weirdest thing is, we became closer as we were further apart. Dad moved to Spain in 2003 and when he did, he started using windows messenger. Using this, we spoke nearly every night instead of every fortnight. We talked about football, the weather (Mostly him telling me how warm it was), work, you know the usual stuff you would talk to your mates about in the pub. That’s what our relationship was like, mates but I never lost sight that it was my dad and was grateful for our improved relationship.

He was always a man’s man, didn’t believe in showing emotion and would never really let you know how he felt, that was until he got older. By the time he hit 60, he was a different man for the better. He told his kids he loved them which I never remember him telling me as a child.

When he reached his 60^th, my sister Sharon was also living over in Spain and for his birthday organised a ‘This is your life’ type evening and myself and Christine also flew out to surprise him. As Sharon live abroad, I had to do all the research and running around here in the UK and I learned more about him speaking to his sisters and seeing where he grew up than I ever had done before. The evening was a massive success and we could all see how much the evening meant to him and although he tried to hide it, I defiantly saw a few tears creep down his cheek.

In a previous post called influence and inspiration. I spoke about my mum being the main influence in my life and she always will be but, seeing my dad change from the man who held his emotions at bay change to somebody not afraid to tell his own kids how much he loved them taught me to make sure I am not afraid to show my son or daughter from day 1 how much they mean to me.

Sunday 19^th June 2011 is father’s day and Wednesday 22^nd June 2011 is the 2^nd year anniversary of his passing. It’s still painful to think of his loss and as I have a tear in my eye as I type this, especially as I am watching Sharon’s wedding as I transfer it to DVD and I can see both my parents , both extremely happy on such a beautiful occasion.

Dad, I love you and miss you dearly. Happy fathers day.

Sympathy?

For as long as I can remember, I have always been fat.

I don’t say that for sympathy, I don’t expect people to go “You’re not fat”, just so it makes me feel better. I say I’m fat because well.....I’m fat. (I always felt compelled to stick my hand in the air, everytime I hear the chant "Who ate all the pies"!)

The problem is I am getting fatter! At some points I wouldn’t believe it possible but it’s happening and it scares me a little.

I have always been very receptive to sympathy. If somebody tells me they are suffering from a headache, I have been known to get a headache myself. Somebody is having an achy knee, my knee starts to hurt. Don’t really know the reason, I just know that it happens, more so when I was younger.  The problem with this as you know, my wife is pregnant.

She has naturally (as all expectant mother do), gained weight. Unfortunately, I seem to be keeping up with her.

While Christine has the age old excuse that she is eating for 2, I on the other hand am just greedy. Christine hasn’t really suffered any cravings, other than the stronger desire to eat more chocolate, which much like giving birth,seems to naturally occur in pregnancy. While she is enjoying her food, clear in the knowledge, that some of the weight she has gained is baby and that will eventually go once the baby is born and the rest can disappear slowly, I am left thinking that my baby belly won’t be going away.

I have never been too concerned by my weight, and until recently have been very self conscious about the way I looked. I never took my top off on holiday EVER, no matter how hot it was. I always worried what people would think about my grotesque body, but now I am older my attitude has changed. If people feel the need to look at my flabby mess, then let them...it’s there psychology bills!

I also have the concern of health. My dad had a bad heart and although the drinking and smoking had a lot to do with that, his weight didn’t help and as you can imagine I dont want to have a unhealthy child!

I have tried the most common diets and although I find it easy to stick with them at first, I soon faulter.

I dont have a gym membership and as you can imagine, I want to avoid the expense. I tried walking/jogging and find it incredibly boring. I would try swimming but then the self concious me screams NO!!

So, my question is...

To the mummy’s out there, how did you lose the baby weight?

To the daddy’s out there, did you suffer from sympathy weight? How did you lose it?

Now, where did I leave those pies?

So...Week 29

11 weeks =

77 days =

110880 minutes =

6652800 seconds (At the time of writing!) =

One very close birth!

We are now in the 29^th week of pregnancy and things are still going smoothly. I realise looking at various pregnancy related message boards, that so far (Finds wood to touch), we have been very lucky with how well the pregnancy has gone.

Christine has had little to no morning sickness, her hormones haven’t been too bad and the baby is VERY active and I can’t see anywhere that says that’s a bad thing! (Other than Christine’s face)

The only thing of note that Christine has suffered with is a few sleepless nights, a raging appetite (She blames the baby) and the latest pleasure that pregnancy has brought, is the need to purchase breast pads....nice!

For the past 3 weeks, even though the Mrs feels like she is constantly growing we have remained roughly the size of an eggplant/Aubergine.

Well we have finally graduated! Our little bundle of veg/fruit is now the size of a squash!

 *Baby's energy is surging, thanks to white fat depositing beneath his skin. And since he's growing so fast (weight will triple by birth), things are getting kind of cramped in the womb. What all this means?...more kicks and jabs to the ribs.

Pregnancy is now becoming like a very long game of patience. It was fun and games at the beginning when the excitement first kicked in, but now we just want our baby to get here and I just know these 11 weeks are going to feel a lot longer.

 Still it seems so strange that in 11 weeks, I could be a dad and instead of sitting her e checking twitter and facebook, I will be changing nappies and filling bottles.

I can’t blooming wait

*Information and image courtesy of The Bump.com.

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!