(Week 13) A lemon sized mini me

I promised I would post a picture of our little bump, and here it is in all it’s glory!

It’s so weird to think, that within that bump is a lemon sized mini me! SO CRAZY!

Things seem to have got much more real this week, now that most people know and because now we can see a slight bump. But also I think the whole thing is properly sinking in now. All those worries I have of will we be good parents and can we afford it, seem to be easing up slightly and are being replaced with sheer excitement and joy. It truly is an incredible feeling and experience. It’s not something you can ever begin to explain, it’s a whole new feeling and I like it!

The baby is already making an impact in our life in a physical way, not just because of the bump, and that meaning Lara has to buy lots of new clothes. But we got our first baby clothes this morning, sent over from Lara’s Mom’s cousin Riva, in Seattle. When I opened the box this morning to reveal a tiny hat and bib, and a little baby grow, a little tear came to my eye. It was another moment that made it that bit more real. It was an amazing thing for me, something that I never really thought about before it happened, but it just got me all excited and happy. They are also all UW (University of Washington) branded, which is where Lara and quite a few of her family went to school. I have a funny feeling our little baby might be wearing a lot of that stuff through his/her life. Thank you so much for the clothes Riva, I’m sure he/she will be very happy in them!

Lara’s back is really causing her some problems at the moment, she looked it up and it seems a pretty common problem, something to do with her lower back joints. The hormone that your body releases during pregnancy loosens up your joints and makes them more mobile which then causes over use and inflammation. Sound fun doesn’t it?! I don’t like it when this sort of stuff happens to Lara, because it just reminds me of how I go through this pregnancy without any pain, sickness, tiredness or anything changing, and she has all that and more. I try to be as understanding as possible and offer to help in any way I can, but I think most of the time she just want to sit, relax and block it out. I guess it’s getting close to that time when I have to do everything around the house.

Me and Lara are going on our first baby shop on bank holiday Monday, and we’re going with my parents, Nana and Grumps (I want him to be called Grandpa, because he is so much like his Dad and that is what me and my brother called him. I also think Grumps just sounds like another name for Grumpy – he is not Grumpy!). I’m not sure what we’ll come back with yet, I’m hoping to get 1 big item sorted this weekend, so we can spread the cost over as much time as we can, but we will see.

I would just like to say a quick thank you to everyone for the amazing response to our news, knowing how happy and excited you all are really means a lot to us, and it just reminds us of how lucky our little baby will be, to be coming in to a family (I include all our close friends in our family) with so much love and support.

(Week 10) I spread the word

I TOLD SOMEBODY! And the relief is gooooood!

I know we aren’t officially telling anyone until after 12 weeks, but I’ve told one of my really good friends, who I also happen to work with. I think the fact I had been drinking helped it slip out a little easier, but my wife was there as well and she said I could tell. So I did!

And the reaction was amazing, I knew it would be, but as you’ll already know, I’ve been so worried about telling my friends, in case of a mixed reaction. There was nothing mixed about this, it was mouth wide open and pure excitement. GOOD TIMES!

I’m so glad we’ve finally told someone other than direct family and my wife’s best friend, it’s made it seem so much more real to me. And I’ve found myself day dreaming about what I’m going to be doing with my little boy/girl, taking them to as many places as I can as early as I can, so they can discover all these amazing new things that the world has to offer. Explaining to him/her that they are a Chelsea fan. Introducing them to all out family and friends, buying him/her presents, celebrating his/her’s first Christmas, seeing his/her’s first steps, hearing the first words, which I imagine will be ‘Dad’ or ‘Chelsea’… or maybe ‘Mum’.

So I’m pretty excited now, I’m finally starting to feel fully ready, the scared feeling isn’t there right now, but I’m sure it’ll be back, so I’m just making the most of it.

Although, that said, we went to a party last night, with all our friends, and it did make me think about what we’ll be missing for the next couple of years. Not because we can’t go to any party for the next couple of years, but I imagine things become different. Even if you do go, you will be so tired you will probably be the couple taking a nap in the corner, you’ll want to get home to either put the baby to bed, or if you have babysitters, you will want to get home to make sure the baby is ok, this will be another moment my worrying won’t help with!

It did make me sad thinking about this, but then the thought of telling them all about our little guy/gal inside my wife’s tummy, and seeing the reactions… that makes it all seem better. It’s so exciting!

I think people might be starting to guess now, as my wife was at the party, amongst people with bottles of beer, glasses of vodka and coke, cocktails, vodka jelly, and she has bright pink ‘juice’. In fact, when our friend was taking vodka jelly around to people, she didn’t even ask my wife. Maybe it’s me looking in to it too much, but I think they are starting to guess.

Well they’ll all know for real in about a week and half. Then it really will feel real and I can finally talk about how excited I am. And about how scared I am. And about how expensive it will be. And about how bloody awesome it is!!!!

I guess I should probably give you an update on my wife as well, as she’s kind of a big deal in this whole pregnancy thing.

She is good, she is suffering a bit with back pains, and she isn’t sure if that is to do with the baby or because she has knocked it or pulled a muscle or something. I don’t think it helps with the whole mood roller-coaster though, because yesterday morning that thing went on one hell of a dip. A couple of things hadn’t gone quite right, and it just pushed her off the edge, I think all her emotions suddenly came out. It’s hard for her anyway dealing with these emotions, but she is also so far away from all her family (who all live in the US). I think some people forget this at times, and probably don’t realise how hard it can be for her. But my family are amazing, they treat her as one of them, and give her so much support and love. We’re both so lucky to have them. And fortunately when we go and visit her family in America, I get exactly the same from them. It’s pretty rare I know, but we’ve both done pretty well with in-laws!

Her brother is coming to visit us for 2 weeks on Tuesday, and my wife is so excited about it, she has the full 2 weeks off and is so excited to have her little brother over here, and can’t wait to show him around where she lives now and all the exciting stuff that comes with it.

Other than yesterday morning, this weeks mood roller-coaster hasn’t been too bad, it’s generally been a steady good mood. I like this mood, it’s much more husband friendly. She been a bit tired, but not nearly as tired as she was in the first few weeks. I think maybe she is starting to get used to the whole thing a bit more. Either way she has been amazing, I wouldn’t want to be in her position, it sounds exhausting, so well done to her!