ProjectXY

Even though Cat will be solely responsible for “holding the baby” we are going to try and share as much of the baby experience as we can. I want to be involved right from the start, so neither of us has to go through anything alone, and neither do I want to miss any of the many joys along the way. We are both nervous first timers so I think we have many feelings and emotions we can share.

I have to be honest and say that the thought of having a baby scared me at first. I guess I still don’t see myself as very old, but I’m at at age where many people have already have 4 or 5 children! The real problem comes from having never truly understood how to take care of a new born. Sure, once they reach a certain age, I am OK with children, but at first I’d be clueless.

However I’ve come to realise a few things. Firstly is that everyone is in much the same boat, and everyone has to start somewhere. In fact I am very fortunate in that there is a wealth of knowledge freely available – something my parents never had. The other thing is that people have been having babies for millions of years, even before the internet!! So this is really nothing new in the grand scheme of things. And finally I realised like every other experience, I’ll learn it, and so I should not be afraid and hold off until it is too late!

The other problem to face is the cost. Everyone knows babies cost money, and with the wedding still to come, things could get difficult. But as my friend Adam T always says “You’ll find the money”. And it’s true. We’ll find a way no matter what else life throws at us.

Today was proof to me, that my nerves and worries will dissipate with the acquisition of knowledge. Vicky, the midwife we saw today, was absolutely lovely and answered all of our questions, and took us through much of the process we have to look forward to. I feel a lot better already, and we are barely 2 months in!

I don’t think I’ll truly be anything less than petrified, but more than anything, I’m looking forward to holding little baby Aloysius in my arms for the first time

Today was the day. Got my urine sample and there we went to the surgery. After some waiting (there was some confusion with the time of the appointment) we were met by Vicky, a very cheerful albeit quiet midwife. She was really nice but I had some difficulty understanding her because she was so quiet.

She told us about loads of things, asked us lots of questions and filled in a little booklet which will contain all the pregnancy info and test results and that I must carry with me at all times. She also gave us lots of leaflets and magazines with all the info we need and more!

She got some blood out of me for tests, and measured my blood pressure. Apparently I’m not supposed to be able to stand as my blood pressure is very low: 90/55 Also got weighed and got urine tested.

She also said that because I have A- blood type I will need to take some injections so that my body doesn’t create anti-bodies against the baby. She said I should worry too much about my pains because they are normal as the uterus gets used to expanding. She will arrange for the first ultrasound at the hospital soon

We got list of thing to do and not do (can’t eat seafood or rare meat), all the appointments and tests we need to do and also info on prenatal yoga classes.

She asked about my symptoms and said I was lucky I wasn’t having much ‘morning’ sickness. Yet…

It was all really exciting and we have lots of things to read and learn. She sad the due date is 9th Feb 2010

I got home and had little time before I had to go to work. I came back from work and I was knackered so I had a little nap which turned out to be a little too long. Only woke up when Russ phone me to say he was on his way at 7pm.

Got dinner started – some nice oven BBQ chicken. The problem was when I sat down to eat it. Forget about it! I got so sick I couldn’t stand even a tiny bit. I had to go to the window to get some air and ended up going with Russ to the shop to buy some ginger biscuit. They say they are very good for sickness and they happen to be my favourites. Got back and still couldn’t eat. So I skipped dinner. So much for no morning sickness… I’ll wait a bit, have a read through all the info we have, and try again later