20 week scan

Just got back from the 20 week scan at the hospital.

All is well and the baby's doing fine. So fine, it doesn't have things we didn't even think about. So worried about Down's Syndrome, we didn't even think about things like hairlip or Spina Bifida!

Seeing the baby more developed than 8 weeks ago is making it all the more real. I had a pang of impending fatherhood sitting there watching the midwife slide the ultrasound wand over Sue's goobered belly.

We tried to video the whole thing, but the midwife said they usually frown on that. I managed to sneak in a few seconds of video. To make up for it, she gave us pretty much a whole roll of baby photos!

It's coming up now! I'm actually beginning to get excited.

Sell Sell Sell

We went to an NCT sale today. For the uninitiated (which very recently included me) the NCT stands for National Childhood Trust.

Basically what I imagined the sale to be was parents selling things their little loved ones had recently outgrown. For the most part I was right, but what I didn't count on was the stalls selling new stuff and actually giving out information.

I got the low down on the car seat law (it's any child UNDER 135cm regardless of age, but there seems to be age 12 attached to the law) and Sue got an Indian head massage from a woman who apparently massages babies, after their hard day... at the office? pooping?

Paul came with us and stocked up on secret santa stuff for a pregnant woman at work.

All in all, a nice eye opener, and a good place for us to not only stock up on baby gear but to also offload it once we're done.

For the £1 admission fee, we also got an "I support breastfeeding" wrist band, which they were flogging for £1 in the main area of the fair. Not bad!

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Now playing: Cyndi Lauper - She Bop [12" Version]
via FoxyTunes

We are not alone!

Just got off the phone with my mate Tahir who also seems to have all his bits in working order. Good on him and his mrs, Maria. They've been together far longer than Sue and I have, so it's good they're having a wee-one too.

This also gives Sue a more friendly person to co-mother with than the random strangers at the clinic or hospital. I can imagine there'll be loads of cross info sharing between them.

At least Tahir and I can go bulk on the cigars for the waiting room.

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Now playing: Bruce Springsteen - Dancing In The Dark
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Mid-wifery

Sue went to see the midwife this afternoon after having picked up her notes from the hospital this morning. And yes, she was working from home, so there was no need to run around town between doing in-office stuff.

Good news is: all is well. The baby is doing well, we're not diseased and things are on track for a March 3 delivery of healthy goodness. Yay!

Sue picked up some sort of bounty pack at the hospital as well, which I think is just a bunch of coupons for baby-related stuff. Yawn.

Next on the agenda is the 20 week scan later this month and a glucose tolerance test for Sue in December. A number of people get gestational diabetes, so I guess they want to make sure all the sugar and chocolate isn't adversely affecting her.

Reading and other issues

With a few months to go, I thought it prurient to start reading about what we're actually going to be bringing into the world.

It seems you could devote your entire life to reading the exacting a proper way to bring a baby into the world, what to eat, what to avoid, etc.

Before I crack open the latest tome though, I have to say I am still scared to breaking point about bring a new life into the world. On the way to work today I read about a loved private school boy who topped himself in his 20s as a smackhead who couldn't get clean. Then I walked by a nursery for children with problems.

On top of that, when baby does arrive I have to figure out how to drop it off at nursery after 8am and pick up before 6pm, even though I usually take the 7.53a train and never get home before 7p.

I just need to sit down and have someone tell me this is all doable and everything's going to be alright.

I really fret that in 17 years time, Sue and I are going to look at each other and say "where did we go so wrong?" In that, I hope I am very wrong.

Morning Sickness

With Sue in full pregnancy, it's amazing how her sense of smell has developed.

Having said that, sometimes it's been to her detriment. She hasn't had morning sickness all that bad over the last few months, but there are the odd things that she can smell that really makes her step back and take a breath. Most of these things I can't even smell.

A new one today was the site of a dog dropping a liquid load on the grass across from our flat. I'm not sure if it was witnessing the act or the combination of sight and smell that set her off (again I couldn't smell anything), but Sue was rather unwell after that brush with dog business.

I guess morning sickness is a cliché like the crazy cravings - some women are affected, some aren't, and it's never what you expect that will set a person off. I've stocked up on dill pickle ice cream, though, just in case.


From Amazon: Morning Sickness Magic 60 Capsules

Cat firmly out of the bag

Well, if the cat was ever in the bag, it's now been comfortably removed, sitting on the floor drinking some milk.

Almost everyone I know now knows that Sue and I are expecting. I wanted to tell everyone face to face, and given circumstances, wasn't able to - Sue and I had to tell our families over the phone.

Most of my friends in the UK had to wait a few weeks, just because I'm a hermit and don't get out much. Well, over the weekend I managed to see a load of people - from ex-colleagues at a leaving drink on Friday to a group of guys at Paul's birthday on Saturday night and then at the NHL game on Sunday.

So, bring on March 3, I'm just a little more ready now.

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Now playing: a-ha - Scoundrel Days (Album Version)
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Wonderment and lotteries

The closer we get to "babytime", the more I wonder how we are ever going to cope. Yesterday Sue went to the work baby care centre. They want around £1100 / month to look after newborn babies. So, that's not an option.

Apart from that, we've got to figure out all manner of other costings for baby. How we are going to travel to Oz or Canada, when there's three of us to pay for; how all our stuff is going to fit in a pokey flat with even more stuff to buy for baby.

I know people the world over, and in worse economic circumstances than us have babies every day and every year. I just want it to be as perfect or at least as good as it can be.

The mind boggles. I guess that's why I've been buying lottery tickets like an impoverished idiot lately. If I can't get promotions and better pay to get us out of the problem zone, maybe the money of hard-working people can sort me out.

Oh what am I doing?

Clothing score

Went shopping today for various bits and pieces and came across quite the score.

Sue's been talking to her mates in Australia and there's a shop called Pumpkin Patch that does kids clothes and a range of maternity clothes. So, we went shopping to Croydon, ostensibly so Sue could check out the Pumpkin Patch outlet at the Whitgift Centre, one of three shops in the UK (most of them are in Australia and New Zealand).

They had their "Big Patch Sale" on which meant Sue managed to get about £80 worth of clothing for around £30.

Of course, I just can't help thinking that maternity clothes shouldn't be bought, they should be rented. You need them, at most, for around six months and sometimes even less. Still, with sales on, it makes the financial sting a little easier to handle.

The second hospital appointment

We're almost becoming dab hands at this hospital thing now.

Had our first mid-wife appointment this morning. It was basically all paperwork. We were asked a load of questions about family history and personal history, then Sue gave a load of fluids for tests.

Thankfully our next meetings with mid-wives should be in Wallington, so we don't have to traipse all the way to St. Helier again.

With every meeting and every blood sample, the idea of becoming a parent is becoming more and more a reality.

Now we're going to have to address all the practical problems - like space in the flat, money issues, etc. THAT is something I'm not looking forward to.

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Now playing: Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas
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