Min & Tilly's Wedding

2.5 weeks left and still no sign of Junior. Yesterday was my little brothers wedding reception (see picture of Min and Tilly - bottom left) and as you would expect there was lots of speculation about the due date, sex of the baby and possible names. The curry on the buffet was delicious, but did not have the desired effect of speeding up the arrival of Junior.........so the wait continues.

A few more updates for the nursery room this weekend. I fitted the blind and a book shelf as shown in the bottom left. The top right shows a really cool sea horse night light which we found in IKEA. It goes really well with the Nemo / underwater theme. Also we found these nice fishy mats (centre picture) - not sure whether to put them on the floor or the walls yet?

T Minus 3 Weeks & Counting

We are now into the waiting game part of the pregnancy (and very frustrating it is). Junior could be born in the next 3 mins, the next 3 hours, 3 days, 3 weeks (to the due date) or as late as 5 weeks from now! So the mobile phone now becomes a permanent attachment to my body (very annoying for the gym and karate!).

Apparently at this stage the babies development is around 92% complete and Junior will weigh close to 6.5 pounds / 2.8 kilograms and may be about 20 inches / 50 centimetres long from head to toe. Another midwife appointment today confirmed a healthy size, healthy heart beat, healthy blood pressure and that the baby is in a head down position (but not engaged yet).

Most of the Junior's downy coat of lanugo that has been covering him/her since 26 weeks would have disappeared, and so has most of the vernix caseosa, this is the whitish substance that also covers the baby. Junior will swallow the lanugo and exterior coating, along with other secretions, and store them in her bowels (a bit like Junior's Dad when he stores up a good curry!). These will become Junior's first bowel movement, a blackish waste called meconium (and I'll make sure I get a picture of it for you all to see!!!).

Of course the other big countdown is T Minus 2.5 days - this is how many working days Tina has left before giving up for 9 months (and yes she does keep rubbing it in!). From what I understand of newborn babies, something tells me that the hard work hasn't even begun yet though.......

T Minus 4 Weeks & Counting

Only 4 weeks and counting folks! We are told that by the end of this week the pregnancy will have come full term - which basically means the baby could be born any day now. Junior probably weighs over 6lb now and judging by the way Tina is carrying I would say Junior is definitely dropping (otherwise known as the lightening).

This week we went to the final relaxation class to learn all about the "huffing" and "puffing" during the delivery process. Once again I was the only birthing partner to attend this session - so just me and a room full of pregnant women.

There has been lots of speculation about whether Junior is a girl or a boy. But one thing which most people agree on is that due to our diving interest, people are saying that Junior will be a water baby and will be born with gills or fins or something like that. Well not to disappoint, I found this nice little Onesie which we purchased from the US saying "I'd rather be DIVING". Junior will have to wear this for his/her first appearance at our local dive club.....

Junior's First Wheels

Is it a bird, is it a plane.........no it's a "travel system". We soon learned that you do not buy prams anymore for babies, you get travel systems which are kind of like transformers and seem to do everything except the washing up! So we purchased this little beauty from "Babies R Us" and spent some time at the weekend trying to figure out just how it all works.

Some people are superstitious and say it is unlucky to buy the pram or to have it in your house before the baby is born. But neither me or Tina are that superstitious and agreed that it would be more unlucky to leave it until the last minute for several reasons. Firstly, we wanted to familiarise ourselves with the pram and car seat - the last thing I want to do is leave it until the day I collect my new family from the hospital only to find out bits are missing, broken or simply that I haven't a clue how they work. Secondly, it helps break the expense down by getting this big chunk out of the way a bit earlier. Thirdly, we saw the one we wanted in stock and at a good price. Fourth, I didn't really want to be chasing around in the last week or so trying to shop around for prams/travel systems. Lastly and most importantly, there are companies around that check the installation of your babies car seat to ensure it is compatible with your car, installed correctly etc.etc. Since the car seat came as part of the travel system then it was an excuse to purchase the pram early so that we can get the car seat checked over properly and approved from a safety perspective.

Apparently now we have to buy a matching umbrella for the pram to go with the matching baby bag and rain cover!!! PS Do the designers of these travel systems expect the parents to push their babies around World Rally courses at high speed? After all the car seat and the pram are kitted out with a 4 point harness which would have any boy racer wetting his pants with excitement.

T Minus 5 Weeks & Counting PLUS 10 YEARS

Arrived home today after spending a couple of days on a business trip in the Czech Republic. Was extremely pleased to find Junior had not made a surprise early appearance. Fingers crossed this was my last business trip for a few months so there is no risk of me missing the big day. Due to this trip I had no option but to miss a midwife appointment and a relaxation class (this was a bit disappointing as up until yesterday I had managed to attend everything).

Speaking of big days...........today is officially 5 weeks until the baby is due. But even more importantly it is our 10th wedding anniversary. Who would have thought that this time 10 years ago we were standing on a beach in Barbados exchanging our vows and now here we are just over a month away from becoming a family of 3 instead of a couple!

Anyway this is supposed to be Junior's blog and not mine. So week 35.....at this stage the uterus is becoming more stretched, as it gets thinner it allows a certain amount of light and sound in (so mp3 player on the stomach tonight). Junior might as well start getting used to my kind of music before Tina brain washes the poor child with Abba and Steps!!. No signs of any Braxton Hicks or anything yet.......

The Baby Shower

Well yesterday was the big baby shower. The theme of the event was based on Nemo due to us being diving addicts. My younger sister did an absolutely outstanding job of organising this event and she must have put in so much time, effort and money which was appreciated by everyone. The day was filled with loads of fun activities such as Noah's arc, how big is Mom?, create a baby's name, advice book, labour bead necklace, various quiz's etc.etc.

We received some lovely gifts for mother and baby and some beautiful bunches of flowers. Some very kind words of wisdom were left for us in a "keep sake" book of the day which we will cherish and share with Junior in many years to come.

Many thanks to Sue, Nicky, Zoe, Amy, Lisa, Matthew, Kayleigh, Jan, Amber, Karren, Kathryn, David, Laura, Mikki & Oliver for attending the baby shower and making the Mum-to-be very happy. It was a shame that no-one could make it from Tina's Mum's side of the family.

T Minus 6 Weeks & Counting

Only 6 weeks to go now (see picture of the bump).....Junior's brain and nervous system should now be fully developed and the baby's bones will be starting to harden, even though the skull bones will stay soft and separated to make the journey through the birth canal easier. We are now starting to prepare for the big day and have pulled together our birthing plan along with the checklist/night bag. They say at this stage in the pregnancy that the mother often gets swollen ankles due to water retention. Tina has certainly experienced this over the last week - oddly enough they recommend drinking more water!

We had one minor hiccup this week as Tina had some pains down her side and felt a bit sick at work. So she took some time off of work and called up the midwife to get checked out. After a visit to the doctors later that day we found out she has a urine infection (which apparently is common during pregnancy) and has been prescribed a course of antibiotics and paracetamol. We are now re-evaluating when Tina begins her maternity leave..........

Relaxation 101

Tonight was the first of the relaxation classes at Basildon Hospital. Before going I was not too sure whether I would be of any value at these classes and expected to hear about all the pushing and puffing! It soon became apparent that I was the only birthing partner to turn up, so a class full of 32+ month pregnant women and me.

Today's class didn't really get into any of the relaxation or breathing techniques for during the delivery. Instead it covered lots of useful subjects for Tina about posture, sitting correctly, how to bend down, how to get in and out of cars etc.etc. After this they all got on the floor and did some ab exercises and then some breathing/relaxing exercises to some very soothing music. Tina now has to try and keep doing these routines twice a day until Junior is born.

Ironically the relaxation class was held in the hospital gymnasium - for the records this has got to be a new record for me, sitting around in a gym for an hour and doing absolutely nothing!!! How wrong is that. Anyway one thing I did pick up tonight which I wasn't aware of is that some insurance companies do not cover pregnant woman to drive a car in the late stages of pregnancy. So I better dig out the policy tonight and see what the wording says. Anyone got a spare chauffeurs hat?

B.I.G

No not the Tom Hanks film, yesterday we had a day of "Birthing Information Group" - B.I.G for short! Apparently this is the new name for NHS antenatal classes which are run as a 1 day workshop. A very long and tiring day, but extremely useful (well worth cancelling my Reading Rowathalon). The day covered subjects such as pain relief, labour and delivery, breast feeding, baby bathing and finally a tour of the unit.

Loads of good information and tips picked up during the day. They rather inappropriately showed the video of a baby being delivered right after lunch - not for the weak minded thats for sure! It was a bit of a wake up call to both of us regarding just how painful the delivery process can be - forget the macho talk, I don't envy what Tina has got to go through one bit.

Anyway we now have a much clearer idea of our birth plan for the big day (Tina is even contemplating a water birth now!). The BIG course really brought home just how real and how close this baby is. Seeing all the facilities, watching the video, learning how to bath a baby, even seeing a new born baby only 3 hours old really got us thinking about just how much our lives will soon change (but for the better).

Next on the agenda is relaxation classes on Wednesay followed by the BIG baby shower on Saturday. Keep checking in for more updates.

T Minus 7 Weeks & Counting

How quick time flies - only 7 weeks until the due date. We went to the annual BBQ at our dive club last night and it was really weird to hear people saying things like, "Next time we see you the baby will have arrived"! The baby is now probably over 40cm tall and will probably have grown nails to the ends of its finger tips. I wonder if junior is settled in the head down position yet?

All invites for the baby shower are now out (best I get a golf course booked soon!).

Junior's First Bed

Of the many lovely gifts we have already received, this is just one of them. My sister, brother-in-law and nephew purchased Junior's very first bed. This beautiful little moses basket was purchased in Lakeside. I couldn't wait to get it home and set it up. Its getting really exciting now seeing everything come together and buying loads of bits for Junior. This is one spoilt little baby already.........

20 Week Scan

At the 20 week scan we were both really excited and itching to find out the sex of the baby (I'd already lost my bet for a PS3 that Tina was carrying twins!). We had an initial scare as the sonographer at Basildon Hospital thought the baby had low amniotic fluid and thus we was referred to Kings College Hospital. After a restless and worrying weekend we headed up to London on Tina's birthday - 11/6/7. At this stage we no longer cared what the sex of the baby was, just that the baby was healthy. After a very extensive scan, Junior was given a full MOT and signed off as low risk and in full health. Our minds were further put to rest when a consultant verified these results. Phew - you will never know how good this felt. As a birthday treat for Tina the 3 of us spent the day in London Aquarium and then went to watch the Dirty Dancing play. 20 weeks down, 20 to go............

When I grow up.......

The proud "Dad-to-be" was determined to be the first to purchase something for the baby and managed to find this little onesie from across the pond. Believe it or not I had this little number stashed away in the wardrobe for over a year before Junior was even conceived. Clearly we had no idea whether our first child would be a boy or girl, but who cares, anyone can drive a Corvette! Ever since the announcement of Junior we have received so many lovely baby gifts already from friends and family.

Now to furnish the room!

With the nursery now decorated the next expense was to furnish it out. After much searching around we finally found a nice Mamma's and Pappa's cot, wardrobe and changer unit set. Several hours later and with the help of my brother-in-law the flat packs were fully assembled and ready for Junior. Another job well done. Now time to start looking at bedding sets..........when does the expense ever stop????

Found NEMO!

Still not knowing whether Junior is a little boy or a little girl we both agreed on an underwater theme for the nursery. The beauty of this is firstly, we both love diving and fishies, and secondly, it is a pretty neutral theme. As you can see we found this really lovely tropical fish border and then finished off the room with some blue and yellow paint. Not bad for a weekends work! Now off to start looking at cots, wardrobes and changer units!!!! The expense has already started..........

Junior's First Holiday

At the tender age of just 18 weeks old, Junior decides its already time for his/her first holiday. So the 3 of us (god that sounds weird) head off to sunny Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. Unfortunately Tina is not allowed to dive whilst pregnant so she takes care of Junior by the pool while I nip into town to head of for a few dives!!! A great holiday on a lovely island, plenty of food and drink and now nicely relaxed ready for the coming months as mother and baby both grow. Guess I better start decorating Junior's room.......

Happy Birthday Dad!

The proud Dad-to-be gets the ultimate birthday present by seeing Junior for a second time. Last week the sonographer could not get all of the required measurements due to the babies position, so we were back there this week. Junior now measures 65.9mm long and the expected due date is confirmed as Oct 18th. As you can see Junior has now done a 180 degree turn and is head down. Amazing that you can see all the ribs already at only 13 weeks!

The First Picture

And this is how it all began............after a very difficult 9 or so weeks of keeping tight lipped about the pregnancy, the first scan was completed on 4/4/7. Our excitement could not be contained after seeing our baby and listening to its heart beat for the very first time. Finally we could let the world know about the arrival of the newest family member (called Junior for the time being). How we managed to keep it a secret for this long still amazes me.............