Here comes the fear...

I don't know if it's just because I'm so tired this afternoon after hydrotherapy (first in over week and particularly gruelling!) but I'm well and truly getting the fear this afternoon. I have less than a week left in the lovely safe haven of the second trimester (I'm 26+2 today). To me, second trimester means growing a bump, less horrible symptoms and getting out of the miserable secrecy and worry of the first trimester. I've really enjoyed it, especially as it didn't involve being in a road accident! Second trimester has been about watching Dylan grow and getting into the full swing of pregnancy.

The third trimester however is just plain scary. It's the one that ends with painful childbirth and a small pink screaming thing that depends on you for everything. It's made scarier by the fact that one of my bestest friends is about to produce one of those pink screaming things any moment now! The lovely Ailsy is due in less than a week and we are all eagerly awaiting the news that Hector is finally 'making a break for the border'. It's so exciting, but it also means I'm next, as everyone else I know pretty much is less pregnant than me - eeeeeeeeeeeek!

I feel like I've done the long climb up the first hill of the rollercoaster, and now I'm sat in the back row about to watch the front cars disappear over the hill! Not that I should be on any rollercoasters in my condition!

Bump Watch - week 26 (sorry it's late, I was busy being engaged!)

Note the engagement ring :-D

Momentous news

No1: As of yesterday, the remaining pregnancy is officially in double figures! 98 days to go today in fact! The reason I didn't update this yesterday was because of...

No2: We're engaged!!!

Al and I went on a lovely day trip to Brighton yesterday and Al took advantage of the glorious sunshine and the fact I was lying on the beach in my maternity bra (sexy!) to propose! I was so surprised, not at the proposal, but my state if undress, that I first asked if he was joking, then said a flustered maybe, the corrected it immediately to YES! Dylan celebrated by going to sleep! We celebrated with a glass of champagne on the beach then a huge meal at my favourite Brighton restaurant (Piccolo's on Ship Street - it's nothing specially to look at, the menu is very simple and touristy but you have to go there and have Mozzarella in Corroza (warm deep fried mozzarella in a tomato and cream sauce) - it's to die for!

Click the photos to open bigger in a new window

Wake up call

Today I was woken by Dylan with the hiccups! I awoke to my belly quivering all over as the little man hiccuped away for a few minutes - very cool! He's hiccuped before, as we saw at our 21 week scan. Then we saw his his whole little body contract and expand with the hiccups; but it's never moved my whole belly before. I was like belly jelly!

You know when you're being a bit keen when...

...you've already packed most of your baby's bag for the hospital! Seriously, Dylan's bag is 90% packed already - look!:

See! I wasn't kidding! So far I've packed:

Changing bag and mat
5 sample nappies
Wet wipes
Snow suit
Toiletries bag - cotton wool, cotton buds, nappy cream
Bib
1 newborn sleepsuit (in case he's a normal size)
2 newborn vests
3 0-3 sleepsuits (in case he's a whopper!)
3 0-3 vests

I need to get and pack:

Cot toy - Dylan's first present from Mum and Dad
Blanket - possibly buy a swaddling blanket, as I don't think I'll ever finish the blanket I was knitting, I just can't face it for some reason!
1 pack of disposable nappies
Socks

Hat
Scratch mits
2 x newborn sleepsuits
1 newborn vest

If anyone can think of anything else he'll need in his bag, please drop me an email!

The BBC pregnancy website has gone mad!

I'm not sure what they've done to the BBC pregnancy calender, but all the days are out of kilter. I've checked back through the blog and things that happened on day x, are now dated day y - and they are 2-5 days different! It's showing the correct due date, but all the other dates have shifted! Argh!

As a result, it's showing today's entry as the one I posted on the 22nd! Confusing! I can't be bothered trying to work it out, so I'm just going to pick up the bump watch in two days. Worst case scenario is that it's all two days out, hardly then end of the world; or it could be correct now and wrong previously... it's too much for my pregnancy jelly brain to cope with!

Bump Watch @ BBC 23 September 09

"Start playing music to your baby, or sing when things are quiet. This is soothing for both of you, and yes, your baby can hear you." Been doing so for months, and he loves it! Can’t do it as much as I’d like, as he gets VERY energetic! Of course, I never need an excuse to play him a bit of ukulele! I'm just sad that because my bump is so low, I can't perch the uke on top of it properly!

It's official, I'm nesting!

You know you're nesting when, despite feeling like absolute death and needing just to go and bed and sleep, all you can think about is cleaning and sorting! I may be exhausted and be having the day from hell with my M.E, but have already started on the kitchen for a long overdue deep clean of the microwave, coffee machine and the washing machine. I've washed and now am limescale-removing the batch of eBay bottles that have just arrived (other than teats, I think I have enough now, and with the breast pump that Al's Auntie Jan so kindly gave us, I'm sorted whether I breastfeed or bottle feed, as the bottles fit the pump - whoop!)

After lunch I need to photograph Concorde the scooter for sale, post some eBay parcels at the post office and clean the plastics in the car (which are minging!) Looks like nice lie down is NOT on the cards, especially as when I do, Dylan starts kicking like Beckham on crack.

The nesting instinct has proved very useful so far, over the past few weeks in terms of getting the flat ready to hopefully get it rented by the start of December. Wikipedia describes the nesting instinct thus:

"In human females, the nesting instinct often occurs around the fifth month of pregnancy, but can occur as late as the eighth, or not at all. It may be strongest just before the onset of labour.[does that mean I'm going to get worse?!]

It is commonly characterized by a strong urge to clean and organize one's home, and is one reason why couples who are expecting a baby often reorganize, arrange, and clean the house and surroundings. This behavior is colloquially known as "straightening out", "clearing the road", or "clearing the coast"."

Yep, that sounds about right! Over the past month I've packed and moved all the non-essential kitchen and lounge stuff; planned what we need for the baby like a military campaign; written detailed to do list for getting the flat sorted; started ripping out the kitchen; keeping a calender of what to apply for, maternity wise, and when... there's much more, but the list in getting boring!

Nesting is useful, it's driving my usually-lazy ass into actually getting sorted. It's actually quite handy being off work, as I would never be this sorted by now if I had to throw working into the mix.

Anyway, I'm off to make lunch and do some washing up... God I'm so rock and roll!!!

Dancing Dylan

The past few days, the amount of movement I can feel from Dylan has easily quadrupled! I thought he was just having an active few days, especially yesterday, but several days in, it seems he's he's either more active, he's moving the same amount but in less space, or he's taken up dancing. As usual his favourite is the old favourite, the big, booting kick - maybe he' actually doing the can-can? He does have French/Belgian blood in him, so you never know!

It's all very strange, you simply can't forget he's there! Plus he must only be getting an hour's sleep at a time, at the most. Maybe he's a bit hyperactive like his mum? All I know is that it's exhausting for me...

Bump Watch @ BBC 22 September 09

"Have you noticed a difference in your skin? Sometimes it can itch where it's being stretched – moisturising baths and creams will help (but no, they won't prevent stretch marks, sorry)." I always know when I’m due for a bump growth spurt, as the Dylanbump itches, it's very odd and always a dead give away sign!

Breakfast: today and everyday

As I'm always having the same breakfast, I thought I'd share the recipe. I wake up CRAVING this, it's sooooo good:

1/2 mug of porridge oats

1/2 mug of milk

1/2 mug of water

dessert spoon of nutella

Microwave until it's the right consistency then *ping*, you're done - super quick, super easy. High in fibre, a good source of calcium; with the naughtiness of the nutella to replace the sugar. It's FABULOUS... and I'm addicted.

Just thought I'd share my strange recipe! I wonder if I'll still crave it when Dylan's here?

Bump Watch - week 25

A scruffy 25 weeks

Bad maths? Well I'm going to have to learn to spell in Welsh too!

Well, we're back from a lovely break in Bromsgrove, and a gorgeous birthday meal for my Mum in Wolves (if you are ever in Wolves, head to the Spring Hill - the food is amazing and the portions massive - hurrah!)

Whilst we were there, we sorted the naming of the grandparents. My side is relatively simple (pardon the pun!) - Nanny Shirley and Granddad Roger. However, I've had to have a few spelling lessons for Alex's side! Alex's mum is a nice and easy Grandma, but Alex's dad is Grancher, a sort of local Welsh equivalent to grandpa (the proper welsh for grandfather is tadcu -pronounced tadkey, which is what Alex and Ian used to call their Grandfather.) As Dylan is fortunate to have a great grandmother, Alex's Mamgu (pronounced Mam-gee, welsh for grandmother) becomes Mamgu Mawr (mawr meaning great.)

I better get learning those spellings!

NHS Newsletter - "How your baby is growing: 25-28 weeks"

I get an NHS newsletter every so often, but today's was interesting, so I thought I'd share the 'How your baby is growing' bit, as it's a bit less premature birth obsessed than the BBC one! My comments are in [ ]s.

"The baby is now moving about vigorously and responds to touch and sound . A very loud noise close by may make it jump and kick[don't I bloody know it!]. It is also swallowing small amounts of the amniotic fluid in which it is floating and passing tiny amounts of urine back into the fluid. Sometimes the baby may get hiccups and you can feel the jerk of each hiccup [not yet, but I think it's impending!].

The baby may also begin to follow a pattern for waking and sleeping. Very often this is a different pattern from yours, so when you go to bed at night, the baby wakes up and starts kicking [Oh yes, he wakes up first thing, then snoozes until lunch time, wakes up again, snoozes all afternoon then plays football with my innards all evening and night!]. The baby’s heartbeat can now be heard through a stethoscope. Your partner may even be able to hear it by putting an ear to your abdomen, but it can be difficult to find the right place [Oooooooooh Al, can we try this?].

The baby is now covered in a white, greasy substance called ‘vernix’. It is thought this may protect the baby’s skin as it floats in the amniotic fluid. The vernix mostly disappears before the birth.

At around 26 weeks the baby’s eyelids open for the first time. The eyes are almost always blue or dark blue although some babies do have brown eyes at birth. It is not until some weeks after birth that your baby's eyes become the colour they will stay.

Bump Watch @ BBC 19 September 09

"If you go into labour as soon as this, you will almost certainly be given treatment to try to slow down your contractions and, hopefully, stop them." Eeeeek! Labour? Now? God that’s a scary thought! I can wait until January thanks!

Bump Watch @ BBC 18 September 09

"Most of your baby's vital organs are in place and formed, and the remaining pregnancy time is for growth. However, the lungs are still very immature." I'm baking a Dylan pie!!!

Bump Watch @ BBC 16/17 September 09

16 Sept 2009
"Your baby's skin is still very papery and translucent – the veins show through quite clearly" Veiny? That makes two of us, as the increased blood flow in pregnancy brings veins to the surface, making them more visible – sexy!

17 Sept 2009
"Features of pre-eclampsia include high blood pressure, protein in the urine and swelling (because of fluid in the body tissue). It's a potentially serious complication of pregnancy, and you may be at risk from this stage onwards. Antenatal care usually spots the signs." So far so good on that one, my urine is routinely clear (in the protein sense) and amazingly, with the accident and losing my job, my blood pressure is absolutely fine. Marvellous!

King of the Road

Well, we went on a bit of a drive last night. We drove up to Hackney to rehome Arthur the hamster, who I just couldn't look after properly with my injuries (I couldn't bend to clean the cage properly for a start!). He's gone to an AWESOME new home, full of other animals and two very excited kids! Michelle, head 'zoo keeper' has already emailed me to say how much they all love him and that he's settled in well.

On the way back, we dropped into Asda to check out their 'Mother and Baby' event. It wasn't so much an event, more a load of empty shelves and about three things on reduction. Anyway, I had endless fun on their motobility scooter (I'm sure Al will show you the video, he thinks it's hilarious), and I treated myself to a couple of bits... plus at £2.50 each, I could resist the cool embroidery on either of these!

Look at his little feet! The hedgehog reminds me of the old road safety adverts from a few years ago, which rocked!:

Buggies galore!

Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Alex's Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike, we now have not one, but two buggies for Dylan! Nanny and Granddad Davis kindly brought them back from Wales for us, whilst collecting Dylan's Great Mamgu (pronounced Mamgi and for the non-Welsh, it means Grandmother!) or a break in Bromsgrove. After a long period of 'pram origami', Granddad Davis kindly emailed these pics (hence the much nicer house in the background!)

The first is a buggy that can be used as both a pram...

... or can have the car seat clipped on to make a travel system...

... or just be a regular buggy!

The second is a rather snazy regular buggy, for when Dylan gets too big for the buggy above. Eeeeek I love red - he's going to look so cool!

So there we go, exciting! What with his sling as well, he's going to be travelling in some serious style!

Even more bad maths!

I've done its again, seems the third trimester is generally held to start at 27 weeks, not 26 - so I have an extra week of non-scary second, before enterign scary birth-at-the-end third trimester! Whoop!

(Some sites say it's actually at 28 weeks, but more seem to say 27 and, well, it's all too confusing!)

I'm like today's weather, thoroughly miserable

Well, after having such a great day yesterday, I'm feeling miserable today. Firstly, I got a letter from fracture clinic. All letters sent to my GP updating my progress are copies to me. However, the latest one gave me a bit of a shock. It all starts very well:

"This lady returns today regarding her left knee. She had a highly complex fracture of her tibial plateau and associated compartment syndrome. The fracture has healed in a ice position and she has pretty much full range of movement of her knee. Her main problem is ongoing tightness in her calf muscle from the compartment syndrome and she lacks ankle dorsiflexion. She is working hard at this with physiotherapy and hydrotherapy and I have arranged to review her in 3 months time"

So far so good, some good news mixed in with stuff I already knew. But then my consultants drops in the final line:

"There is a significant chance that she will require an Achilles' tendon lengthening if this does not settle"

Er, significant? What happened to 'a small chance'? When did that become a 'significant chance'? So it looks like I'm going to be having more surgery next year. More scars. More crutches. More anaesthetics. And recovery with a young baby in tow. Great

Secondly, I gave up waiting for a call from the midwives (which turns out was never coming anyway.) To cut a long story short, after several phone calls a midwife called me back and has booked me in for 8th October. However, the midwife I'm seeing won't be my midwife for long, as she leaves in November, so I'll have yet another change. Plus I've discovered I've already been put down to have my baby in Lewisham Hospital - nice of them to ask me eh? I thought the NHS was about the right to choose, not secretly signing you up to a hospital without consultation. If it looks like we won't be moving in time, they can just bloody well switch me to Kings or UCH, as there is NO WAY I'm giving birth in Lewisham Hospital.

Bugger this, I'm off to make comfort food and feel sorry for myself....

Bump Watch @ BBC 15 September 09

"Babies born as early as this can have breastmilk – and the evidence is that it can bring long-term benefits." Why do they keep going on about premature birth! Shut up BBC!!! Dylan's staying put until at least New Years'Eve!

Oh, and happy birthday Nanny Shirley! x x x

24 weeks...

It's weird, I've suddenly noticed how different my pregnancy has become, now I've hit viability. Dylan is much, much more active now and I get a much wider range of movement from him than the pokes and stomps of a few weeks ago. I feel properly bumpy for the first time too, in a there's-no-way-I-can-be-mistaken-for-a-fat-person,-no-mattter-what-I-wear kind of way. For the first time I'm genuinely enjoying this. I'm getting used to the weird uncontrolled movements in my belly and, instead of finding the kicks and pokes annoying, I'm growing to love them (mainly cos they are a lot less painful now!) I feel like a 'proper' pregnant person now, all nice and round, but without being too huge and too uncomfortable. Lets hope this feeling last for a bit!

On an unrelated note, Al's finally sold his motorbike, so he's off on a celebratory walk to the shop to buy beer and already talking about who he's going to call to buy his commuter scooter. Ah the joys of dating a bike bore, it never ends! Good job I love 'im eh?

Bump Watch - week 24

24 week bump

and to celebrate being viable, I'm going to horrify you all with a naked-bump pic.... first thing in the morning.... un-showered and half asleep... and self-taken in my jammies - NICE! Tee hee!

Scary belly!

A big day!

Well, Dylan is now officially VIABLE!!!

Hooraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

What does this mean? Well, it's the point at which Dylan stands a chance of survival if he's born prematurely It's no a huge change (30 odd percent I believe), but from 24 weeks, they'll at least try! Or, as About.com puts it:

"Strictly speaking, most doctors define the age of viability as being about 24 weeks of gestation. In many hospitals, 24 weeks is the cutoff point for when doctors will use intensive medical intervention to attempt to save the life of a baby born prematurely... In the hands of experienced specialists, though, babies born slightly earlier may have a chance at survival. Babies born at 23 weeks may survive with these specialists in a state-of-the-art NICU, but the odds of survival are much lower. The earliest baby to have ever survived premature birth was born at 21 weeks and 6 days, and this was reported in the news as having been a "miracle."

So there you go, Dylan's one giant leap closer to a safe delivery - whoop!

Bump Watch @BBC 13 September 09

"Your baby is about 32 centimetres long and weighs about 500 grams (over a pound)." So Dylan’s pretty much the length of a ruler then!

More for Dylan's wardrobe

Here are a few of the ebay bits Al and I have picked up over the past month:

At a pound, I really had to!

Alex begins his cultural conditioning... Dylan WILL be a rock god like his dad!

I had to go for some slogan action! The left says 'It's not easy being this cute' and the t-shirt says 'When I grow up, I want to be a pirate'!

You've gotta love eBay bargains.... though I might stop now, he has quite a wardrobe. Though there are still some gaps.... step away from eBay!!!

MISSING Midwife, wanted for, er, midwifery

Well, it looks like I'm officially midwifeless now! Despite her best assurances, I wasn't contacted by the Health Centre with details of my ongoing midwifery care. So I'm left not knowing why I'm no longer seeing my current midwife, when and where my next appointment will be and even if I have a named midwife anymore, or whether I'll just be seen by whoever can be bothered! I don't know who to call either. My old midwife wasn't based at, and would only visit my GPs once a week, so I can't contact her. Plus she may have left already anyway, I just don't know. I can hardly ring up the Waldron Health Centre and say "can I speak to a midwife please, no I don't know which one"

Should I wait and see if someone gets in touch? Should I ring and have the above embarrassing phone call? Shall I just go without midwifery care, as they do b*gger all really anyway (I have my own doppler and I can ask the GP to check my urine and fill out any forms.)

*sigh!* I'll stop moaning now!

On a positive note, I got my first batch of Health in Pregnancy vouchers yesterday. I wasn't sure if I was eligible, a the instructions were very vague. Turns out I am, so I get £3.10 a week to spend on fresh milk, fruit and veg a week - bonanza!

Alex's Tuppence Worth @ 11th September 2009

Just had to share this genius comment from my father:

"You'll find that baby bouncer a godsend - even you used to nod off quite quickly in ours, but putting Ian in it was like shooting him with a tranquilliser gun - 2 kicks, his eyes would roll up and he'd be out for hours!"

2 kicks! No wonder my little bro became a policeman...

Alex, aka Babydaddy

Bump Watch @ BBC 11 September 2009

"If you're unlucky you may sometimes get a stitch-like pain in your side from time to time. It's simply the muscles of the uterus stretching – not contracting, which is what happens with Braxton-Hicks contractions." Oooooh I had this on the bus back from town on Saturday night! I thought it was weird to get stitch whilst sitting still! Now I know it was my stretchy uterus! Tee hee

It's all a bit strange this pregnancy malarky!

On an aside note, got to debut my maternity swimming cozzie at hydrotherapy today. It was hard work, knackering but it felt so lovely being in the water. Am bullying Alex into going swimming with me Sunday - I'm hooked!

Congratulations...

...to Martin and Laura Kearn who have just had their 20 weeks scan, and are having a healthy bouncing baby boy!

Welcome to team blue guys! We just need a few more boys and we have LOPR juniors! (and maybe a token girl!)

Dylan's latest acquisitions

Well, it's been a busy time in our flat the past few days, with Dylan getting some absolutely lovely stuff, thanks to some judicious ebaying, but mostly the absolute generosity of friends and strangers. First up, a lovely chap on Freecycle emailed me and offered me an electric steriliser and the cutest high chair, which he even kindly dropped off as we didn't have a car at the time!

Next, I found this gorgeous bouncer on eBay for a fiver. It's cute and simple and should hopefully keep Dylan quiet!

Finally, we decided to take a trip out in our new car (aka the Dylanmobile) last night, and dropped round Lucy's. We picked up the moses basket Lucy's mum (aka surrogate-granny Avery!) very, very kindly got us. She has also bought some of the cutest clothes for Dylan - thank you so much! Isn't it gorgeous?

Everyone has been so kind! It's made getting ready for Dylan whilst dealing with my recovery so much less stressful and cope-able!

I've got a few more other clothes and bits that Al and I have bought, that are in the wash. I'll pop them up here when they are washed and dried!

New York cool

A big thank you to Aunty Becky (Al's bro's wife) for this awesome baby gro! She was in New York last month, but Al's only just remembered to send me the pic - naughty Al!

Wow, it's Thursday already...

It's scary how quickly the second trimester is passing. Packing, smashing up kitchens and endless trips to Lewisham hospital helps! (I'm not exaggerating either, I've now got 2 x physio and hydrotherapy physio, let alone impromptu A&E trips!) There are so many milestones coming up fast, it's scary! On Monday (24 weeks) Dylan will be viable, at 25 weeks, I can apply for my Health in Pregnancy Grant (whoop!) and the following Monday I hit my third trimester - THIRD!!! That's the one with the birth at the end - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! I've even only got 16 days left of the number of days left in my pregnancy being in triple figures!

Also, the lovely Aileen Birch hasn't got long to go now, and is technically full term next week! She's due at the start of October, so Hector is likely to be with us within a month or so. As he's finally scooted round to the correct position, here's hoping she has a nice easy birth and a healthy bouncing Hector soon!

Bump Watch @ BBC 9/10th September 09

Now our internet is back up, I can post yesterday and today's bump watch!

9 Sept 2009
“Your baby is well-formed, and with most of his body parts in proportion – but skinny. There's only a very small amount of fat laid down under the skin.” At least someone is, his mother certainly isn't!

10 Sept 2009
“You're likely to have an antenatal appointment around now. The midwife will be able to feel very clearly how your baby is lying in the uterus. Most babies are still head up at this stage.” She had a feel at my appointment last week, no idea if Dyl’s head up or not from that though I assume as I’m being kicked at lot at the moment below my belly button, his feet are still down there!

Bump Watch @ BBC 8 September 2009

After weeks of bump watch being full off filler on the BBC site, it sems over the next few weeks, a lot is going to be happing with little Dylan – exciting!!! Anyway, here’s today’s:

“Babies born as early as this can sometimes survive... but they need a lot of intensive care, and a long stay in the hospital.”

Awesome, but I’m not sure if this is 100% correct It’s commonly held that viability is at 24 weeks, 0 days – which would be on the 14th . However, the BBC might know something I don’t, so I’m going to celebrate abyway – WHOOP!

Alex's Tuppence Worth @ 7th September 2009

First of all, just how sexy does 'len look in her new maternity swimsuit! Me likey...

Secondly, just how much do I need a trim of the old face fuzz...

Alex, aka Beardybabydaddy

Bump Watch - week 23

Stripey!

Development Update - Week 23

Wikipedia actually has something to say about his week! Here it is:

Week 23
Gestational age: 22 weeks old.
Embryonic age: Week nr 21. 20 weeks old.

The fetus reaches a length of 28 cm (11.2 inches). [BBC says 32 cm... I'll go with the BBC!]
The fetus weighs about 725 g (1 lb 10 oz).
Eyebrows and eyelashes are well formed.
All of the eye components are developed.
The fetus has a hand and startle reflex.
Footprints and fingerprints continue forming.
Alveoli (air sacs) are forming in lungs.

Ailments

Quick moan. A cold when you aren't allowed decongestions (they aren't pregnancy friendly) is miserable. Combined with my dodgy shoulder/back thing, I'm miserable. Lets hope my physio referral comes quickly for my shoulder, when I take it in tomorrow!

Meh!

I can see the top of the shopping mountain... and the view looks good!

Well, I've been taking stock on where we're at with collecting and purchasing all the gubbins for Dylan's arrival. Today I've kindly been offered a high chair and better steriliser from a nice chap on Freecycle, and they aren't even on the list, although they will be very, very useful.

So many people have been so kind and generous, whether it be family or strangers. In terms of the 'big stuff', Alex's Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike have given us the pram, the car seat, baby bath (which was first Alex's when we was a baby! Scary thought..); the brother of Alex's school friend Twiggy is kindly giving us a cot, and surrogate-Auntie Lucy's mum (does that make her a surrogate great aunt?) has got us a lovely moses basket. With the nappies we've been given, and my bargain hunting on things like the changing bag and sling, the end is definitely in sight, and miraculously we haven't gone bankrupt! And of course, Dylan's wardrobe is starting to look very dapper thanks to two very lovely grandmothers and a spot of ebaying!

The main purchases now seem to be bedding, cot mattress and then lots of odds and ends like room thermometers, changing mats and laundry baskets. There are still bits I need to sort, like gaps in Dylan's clothing, and final bits for the real nappy system. On the whole, it all feels a LOT less scary! I can apply for the Health in Pregnancy Grant at 26 weeks (not far now!), which will give us £190 to hopefully get us the rest (and maybe a pizza! lol)

Next on the agenda then is decorating furniture! Have a a trunk and a chest of drawers I need to sand back and decorate, so I can store all the Dylanalia away. I'm thinking of big black and white animals with colourful backgrounds. Hmmmm... fun, fun!

A very scary thought

OK, I'm freaked out... I've just realised that by the end of this month, I'll be in my third trimester!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!

That's so, scary! I remember when my lovely friend Ailsy hit the third trimester thinking "she's on the final leg now", and she's due the first week of October (and having a jolly lovely maternty leave at the moment by all accounts - she deserves it!)

Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Less than a month! Eeeeeeek!

OK, panic over (yes, I'm lying, I'm still panicing!) At least Dylan' nearly viable now, just got to get to a week on Monday then if the little bugger arrives early for any reason, with every week that goes past, his chance of survival get stronger and stronger.

I'm still convinced he'll be born on New Years Day though... but I'm hoping I'm wrong!

Nappucino and nappy confusion

Well, I went to the Lewisham 'Nappucino' or 'Nappy Natter' this morning. I've registered for my £30 voucher and I've got a great bunch of papers about nappy care which even taught internet-obsessed little me a few things! The downside was that the talk was given by one of the companies you can use the voucher with, so it was as much a sales pitch as advice session. The lady in question very much pushed the brands she sells, which whilst giving me lots of information on pocket nappies, meant that I didn't learn as much about shaped nappies and terries as I'd have liked. I'll explain what that all means to real nappy novices in a minute! However, for the price of a sales pitch, I got to hear first hand experience about using these nappies and how they can fit into a routine. I must admit, it really sounds like a plausible option and not a huge amount of work, despite common perception.

Anyway, now I really need to get researching, as there seems to be three main routes we can go down, or combinations of the three:

First is terry nappies, the big flat squares that both mine and Al's parents used. These require learning a spot of origami, but have the advantage of being very cheap and tried and tested by our parents.

Option two is the shaped nappy. These are similar to the terry nappies, but have been, er, shaped. This means they just do up with press-studs rather than having to faff around with origami and pins/nappy nippas. They make for a less bulky nappy too, but are a little more expensive than terries. Another advantage is that we've got about 15 of these already, plus liners. All we need is is the outer waterproof wraps and the paper liners and theoretically, we're sorted for nappies. However, they are quite old and won't last forever. Plus there is the temptation of...

...the pocket nappy. The most expensive option but the easiest. Basically it's an all in one nappy with an outer waterproof layer, inner fleecy layer then a pocket to put liner(s) in, like the Bum Genius that the lady was particularly pushing today. If I'm honest, I'm a little bit sold on these if we can afford them. They are one size, so 15-20 nappies will last us until Dylan is 3-3 and a half and they come in pretty colours. Yes, I am sad! However, I think these might end up being a bit cost prohibitive.

Whichever way we decide to go, at least I come away from today knowing which kind of liners are best for various issues, like heavy wee-ers, or heavy poo-ers (nice!) I think it'll be a trade off with convenience vs cost, so we might try a few of each and see if we take to it? We might be so overwhelmed we end up using 'evil' disposables after all.... dum dum daaaaaaah!

Alex's Tuppence Worth @ 3rd September 2009

We're over the halfway mark in baby-baking terms, and yet it comes as a surprise that there's close friends we've entirely neglected to inform of our impending parenthood, most likely due to reaching the end of the 12-week 'danger zone' whilst Helen was in hospital having her leg sewn back together (giving us somewhat more pressing concerns than spreading our happy news about the place).

This situation came to light about an hour ago when we enjoyed a visit from my old University friend (and occasional partner-in-musical-crime) Jonny the Greek, who has recently become a father himself. The look of shock on his face upon encountering 'lens bump was a picture to behold - felt like an utter cad for inadvertently keeping him out of the loop.

Obviously he got his own back on my unpardonable failure to share my news with him by recounting tales of 3 months of night-feeding and generally getting no sleep following the birth of his beautiful daughter Alexia, an evil glint in his eye and a smile on his face as he saw the effect this information was having on me.

My friend Chris Sadler used to swear by a brand of coffee called 'Rocket Fuel'; a colleague at Faber similarly recommends 'Percol' as the ultimate pick-me-up cup of Joe. They both contain substances that go above and beyond the ability of mere caffeine to slap the brain into action whatever the circumstances. I think I'll be needing a cocktail of both if Dylan takes after either me or 'len in the first-year sleeping stakes.

Yes Mother, I know you're reading this blog with an evil grin and the glint of revenge in your eye - god knows you've earned it after raising me...

Alex aka Babydaddy

I WANT I WANT I WANT!!!

This is the coolest thing I've ever seen - you can take a cast of your bump! The cheapest I've found it is here. What do you think, frivilous spend or frivilous no-no? Answers via comment or helen.crook@gmail.com

*** update *** Am now being very naughty and scanning eBay to see if I can get it cheaper... and it looks like a yes! Whoop!

*** update 2 *** Have now found DIY instructions on the internet, so just need to buy the plaster modroc bandage - much cheaper still - hurrah! Al, you're going to get messy at some point!

Another trip to the midwife zzzzzz

God visits to the midwife are DULL! It's the same everytime: pee in a bottle, "is everything ok?", check the heartbeat (ok, that's always cool!) and out the door. The only variation today was that they measured my fundal height (height of the top of my uterus from my nether regions) which is apparently 24cm... er, is that good?

There was a joyful bombshell though - my midwife is no longer going to be my midwife and my care is being shifted to a clinic at the nearby health centre. So now I will have no continuity of care whatsoever, and will be hearded in a clinic like cattle branding at the corral. Marvellous. The sooner I am out of the care of Lewisham Comminuty Midwives the better!

Dylan's wardrobe 2010

Well, I finally got round to photographing everything we have so far, stuff we've bought, stuff bought by doting grandmothersand adoptee aunties, and stuff I'v got off Freecycle. It's all washed and now bagged up by size. I'm even keeping a spreadsheet of what I think we'll need compared to what we've got, so if anyone asks "what do you still need" I don't end up asking for something we already have a dozen of! Copies available upon request - tee hee!

Premature/early/tiny baby - hopefully we'll never need these, or anyone else!

Newborn

0-3 months - vests and tops

0-3 months - sleepsuits. Aren't these the coolest ever!?

3 months plus, and anything onesize

Dylan is one lucky little lad!

Mobiles

So far we have two mobiles for Dylan. The first one was actually a birthday present to Alex from his brother Ian. It's a photo mobile and we've decided that it would be really great for Dylan if we took this and hung pictures of all his family and friends. It holds 20 photos, so I'm going to start collecting photos of all the family, friends and surrogate aunties to print and hang in the mobile. That way Dylan will always be close to those who can't be near him all the time.

The second mobile is a present from Nanny Shirley. My 'lot' have just spent three weeks in Brittany and Mum fell in love with this in a traditional toy shop in Dinan (is that right mum, correct me if I'm wrong!) Anyway, it's obscenely cute, so I had to take some piccies. It's called 'papillon sur avion' or butterflies in planes! ACE!

Dylan's first wash loads

I've washed all the clothes and nappies we've collected so far, so they are nice and soft and ready for Dyl.... yikes it looks a lot, but there's several sizes there. Once they are all lovely and dry, I'll photograph everything and show it off here!