A good night's sleep

We've now had seven nights in a row where the baby has slept right through.

A couple of mornings she has woken up around 5am, but if we get 6 hours sleep then we're counting it as a full night!

If she keeps on like this we can move her into her nursery to see how she does.

What are these wiggly things down there?

The baby has just discovered her feet.

I was sat holding her sat on my knee when she suddenly noticed her feet.

She became fascinated by them and starting moving them around and wiggling her toes.

It's amazing to share her new discoveries.

Finger's Crossed

We have a doctor's appointment this morning.

Our doctor's office is on the 22nd floor of the hospital.

Our bags are in the car so we'll be hoping the doctor tells us to go down to labour and delivery on the 3rd floor.

Fingers crossed.

All star

I made it to the game on Wednesday.

That's the good news but the bad news is we're still waiting for the baby to show her face.

Here I am at the game.

Manchester United beat the MLS All Stars 5-2.

United! United!

It's the day of the big game and still no sign of the baby yet.

There's still a few hours to go though so stay tuned...

Gaga

So...here we are, 9 days until the baby is due, my wife is on the way to the magic dilation number and what exactly have we been up to tonight?

I've had a quiet night. I watched a bit of TV and played with my iphone.

My wife on the other hand is living it up at a Lady Gaga concert.

Don't worry though, she's not roughing it with the plebs, she's tucked away in one of the suites nice and comfy.

That is definitely the way to go!

Progress

We were at the doctors again this morning.

It was a quick appointment, we were straight in and out.

The doctor did his thing and told us that my wife is 2 centimetres dilated which is good progress from last week.

The magic number is 4 centimetres. That is when they will book my wife into the hospital.

We made another appointment for next Monday, but it could be before then.

Fingers crossed.

Shrek feet

My wife just phoned me complaining of sore and swollen feet that look like Shrek's feet.

Obviously being the caring, sensitive husband that I am, I reassured her that she did not have Shrek feet.

They're more like Princess Fiona!

Latest Doctor visit

We had a doctor's appointment today.

We were due for another ultrasound and after our last one a couple of weeks ago when the baby was already 6 lbs 6 oz we were expecting (or hoping) for her to have grown so much that the doctor would tell us it was time to get her out.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

The baby is now 7 lb 1 oz, which is perfectly normal and the doctor told us to make an appointment for next Monday as usual.

The ultrasound was more rushed than normal as the office was quite busy. The baby was not playing along so the technician took the measurements and that was about it. We couldn't really see anything so we didn't even get a picture this time.

At least we know everything is ok though.

Maybe next week..

Moving out

My wife and I were just talking about how we're tired of waiting for the baby to arrive and ready for her to move out of the womb and join us.

Then I realised that in about 18-20 years we'll be having a similar conversation wondering when she'll decide she's ready to move out and get a place of her own!

Haircut..

Today I had my first haircut in months.

I was starting to resemble Daniel Day Lewis in Last of the Mohicans so it was well overdue.

The incentive was realising that the baby could arrive any day now, and when she does, photos will be taken that will be looked at for the rest of our lives so I need to look my best.

Job done!

Full term!

My wife is 37 weeks pregnant today which means the baby is full term.

Still no sign of her yet though..

Hiccups

The baby had hiccups tonight.

She's had them before but it's the first time I got to feel them.

It was a funny feeling and I couldn't help but laugh.

No news..

We just got back from our doctors appointment and there's not much to report.

Dr Hold did his checks but the baby is not ready yet.

He did say that the baby is quite big as we knew she was 6 pounds 6 ounces when we had the ultrasound on the 2nd July.

We're scheduled for another ultrasound next week so maybe we'll know more then.

Now then youg lady...

We're now 24 days from the due date, which is August 4th incase you've forgotten.

My wife is about ready to go now so we're just waiting for the baby to agree.

The worrying thing is Manchester United are coming to Houston on July 28th and every one keeps telling me that that is the day the baby will arrive.

They say it so often that I'm now resigned to it actually happening.

It would be a shame if it did happen. I'd hate to miss the birth of my first child.

Just kidding!

I did tell my wife that there would be other kids, but Manchester United might not come back to Houston but I just got one of those looks that told me to stop talking.

Count Down

4 weeks to go!

Just like your Father

We had the latest scan yesterday.

We're about 5 weeks until the due date now and we'll have weekly doctors appointments from now on.

Our appointment was early morning so the office was pretty quiet. The ultrasound technician was able to spend more time with us which is a good thing because thew baby was not being co-operative at all.

The technician (nurse?) did all of the measurements and then started prodding and poking trying to wake the baby up so we could see her properly.

We gog to see the baby's heart beating on the screen and the blood flowing around her body.

She eventually woke up and gave us a couple of minutes to watch her blinking and pursing her lips, then she yawned and rolled bazck over and that was that. It was at this point my wife stated that the baby takes after her father.

I'm not sure what she meant by that obviously but what we do know is that neither of us can wait to finally meet her!

35/35

Today we have reached the 35/35 stage.

If you're not sure what that means, it's the point in the pregnancy where you've been pregnant for 35 weeks, and you have 35 days to go.

Almost there!

Unpacking etc

After a weekend of unpacking and finding little odd jobs to do and errands to run we've got the kitchen finished, and the computers set up in the study.

It's bloody hard work this moving lark!

Still, at least there's no real rush.

All in good time..

Up all night

Our first night in the new house was a short one, or a long one depending on your point of view.

All of our things were delivered this morning so we decided we would move right in.

Directv were coming between 4-8pm to install the TV and we'd be set.

The guy arrived a little before 7.30pm and got to work.

He was in and out of the house, in the garage, in the loft, in the bedroom, outside, every where.

At 10pm we were getting tired and wanted to go to bed so we went to ask him how much longer he'd be.

He said he was having trouble because the house was not wired for a DVR so he needed to put all new wires in but he said it would be about another hour.

We'd waited long enough so we let him carry on instead of asking him to come back in the morning.

Any way....At 1.50am he was finally done!

I was up again at 6am for work so we didn't get much sleep but at least it's all done now.

A weekend of unpacking awaits!

Closure (Part 2)

We closed on our new house today..finally!

It seems like it took forever but it all actually went through pretty quickly considering we sold a house and bought a new one in just over 2 months.

All of our stuff is getting delivered tomorrow so we'll be able to spend the night there tomorrow night all being well.

A weekend of unpacking awaits!

Almost there..

Our closing on the new house has been pushed back until next Wednesday.

There was a small snag with the seller trying to force us into giving them a lot more money at the last minute but we're all sorted now.

I'll be glad when this whole process is over!

Hospital Tour

We went on a tour of the hospital last night so now we know where we need to go when the time comes and what is likely to happen.

The doctor assured us that we're unlikely to give birth in the car on the way to the hospital, and that I'm unlikely to faint in the delivery room.

Now I'm worried about having to deliver a baby in the car at the side of the road, then fainting when it finally happens!

All in all, it was good to see where we need to go but by the time the baby gets here I will have forgotten it all and will be relying on my wife to tell me what to do in between contractions.

Baby Registry

We went to Babies R Us today to do a baby registry for my wife's baby shower.

The best part of doing a registry is getting to play with the hand held scanner.

We were probably in there for a couple of hours scanning all of the things we'll need once the baby arrives.

I must admit it was good fun, even more than when we did the Wedding registry, probably because we got to think about using everything with the baby.

We even bought a few things but we managed to avoid getting too carried away.

Luckily the shop gave us a list of things you should have on your registry. It came in handy because I have no idea what we will need once she arrives, other than clothes, nappies and toys.

Closure

We signed our life, and our house away today.

We finally closed on the house we were selling so it is all done and dusted now.

The appraisal is being done on the one we're hoping to buy tomorrow and then we're looking at closing at the end of next week all being well.

In the meantime we're staying with my parents so I've just had a few beers in the hot tub.

Mustn't grumble!

Sign of the times

I have just taken down the For sale sign from outside the house.

I must admit it was a very liberating feeling!

Moving on..

At 4pm this afternoon we heard back that the appraisal on the house we're selling was ok so everything is falling into place.

It's a good job because we're moving out this weekend!

We should be closing on the 30th of April which is only a week away so we're going to be busy this weekend.

We aren't closing on the house we're buying for a couple of weeks yet so we're staying with my parents in the meantime.

The downside of that means we'll have to move twice but I'm sure it will all be worth it once we're in our new house!

Kick and a punch

Last night I felt the baby move again.

It's still very faint but we could even see it as well.

She's a stubborn little thing so when you're waiting to feel her she won't kick but sometimes I get lucky. My wife feels her all the time but the odd time I get to feel it is special.

A faint touch

I think I felt the baby kick for the first time last night.

I think I did.

It was a very faint kick but it's the first time I've been able to feel anything.

My wife can feel her kick all the time so I'm glad I'm finally getting in on the act!

House news

Our counter counter-offer was accepted a few days ago so things are moving on the house front.

We did the inspection this morning and there are a few things we want the seller to do before we finalise things so hopefully things will run smoothly.

Selling our house is also moving along and with a bit of luck everything will be done and dusted with both in about 4 weeks time.

Offer (Part 2)

We put an offer in on a house last night.

The seller came back with a counter offer this morning so we sent them a counter counter-offer.

We're waiting to see if they bite so fingers crossed!

Snake alert!

I'm just sat waiting for the buyers to show up with their inspector to look through the house.

On my final walk through to make sure every where was tidy I spotted something in the hallway.

I moved a bit closer to see what it was. It was partially obscured but I could see a bit of a tail, and what looked like a head. I thought it was a lizard but it wasn't anything that friendly.

There was a snake in my house!

It was only about 6 inches long but I know it's going to get bigger with every re-telling of this story!

I shouted my wife to come and get rid of it but she was hiding in the bath making it very clear to me that she handles spiders, but any snakes are my responsibility!

I bravely reached for a dust pan and broom and swept it out of its hiding place.

I didn't want it to slide under the washing machine so I had to be quick and I managed to get it into the dust pan where it stopped slithering about long enough for me to get into the back garden.

I think I deserve a pat on the back for rescuing a damsel in distress, and a very large drink!

Baby likes chicken

Last weekend we went to La Madeleine for dinner as my wife was craving one of their chicken salad sandwiches.

Usually, my wife can only feel the baby moving when she's lying in bed at night.

We were stood debating what we were going to have before ordering when all of a sudden my wife made a noise like someone had just tickled her.

The baby had given her a big kick, which was the first time while she's been stood up and out and about.

The baby was probably hungry and tired of waiting for us to order!

Accepted!

Today we bit the bullet and accepted an offer on the house.

It was lower than we originally planned on selling for but as time has gone on and we've found a house we like we decided to just sell up while we can and see what happens.

They still have to have an inspection and valuation done so fingers crossed!

House news

We're still in negotiations on the house.

We gave them our final offer last night so now we're just waiting to see if they accept.

We had a drive around a neighbourhood we liked that is not too far away and we really liked it.

There are couple of houses we liked too so we're trying to make appointments to see them this weekend.

There was one we especially liked from the outside and from the photos we've seen it looks nice inside so hopefully we can get to see it today to see for ourselves.

We're ready to move quick as the new home buyer tax credit runs out at the end of April.

An offer

We received an offer on the house on Monday.

Unfortunately, it was less than we want so after a day of soul searching, and a long conversation with a mortgage broker we went back with a counter offer.

Now we're waiting to see if they meet it.

We had another viewing today and six on Sunday so there is interest. We're thinking of doing an open house too hopefully we'll get an offer we can accept.

Baby's first concert

We went to see Muse on Thursday night.

For three little Welsh guys they make a hell of a racket.

It was the baby's first concert so obviously we had to do it in style. It was at the Toyota Center in Houston and we were lucky enough to have a suite.

My wife said she could feel the baby moving during the show so she must have liked it, dancing around in there.

And the result is...

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and they did a full ultrasound and measured all of the body parts.

This was also the day we could find out the sex.

We've said all along that we were going to wait so it was a surprise. However, the thought of being able to know and buy clothes and decorate the nursery was too much and we found out.

It's a girl!

Blimey. Now what?

My family is all boys so it will be a culture shock for us, although I don't know anything about babies so it was going to be a rude awakening whatever it was.

We're both really pleased though and it definitely seems more real now. I think seeing the baby clearer on ultrasound and knowing it's a girl has made it sink in properly now.

We even had a walk round Babies 'r us last night but managed to not get too carried away with buying stuff.

Now we know, I think it's going to be more exciting planning for her arrival.

We're just over half way through now and the baby is definitely more photogenic than last time.

Butterflies

Yesterday morning my wife started to feel the baby move for the first time.

At least she thinks she did. She wasn't sure at first.

The way she described the feeling, it sounded a bit like butterflies, or little bubbles moving around. It could've just been gas I suppose but she felt the same thing again last night when she got into bed.

She's started to out grow her old clothes now so we made another visit to the maternity shop and bought her a new wardrobe.

These clothes fit much better and she looks pregnant now instead of her old clothes fitting incorrectly.

We have a doctors appointment tomorrow where we could found out the sex. Up to now we're not planning to but who knows when we get there!

All Clear

The doctor's office finally called back with the results of the triple screen that was actually for five tests (Down syndrome etc) and we got the all clear.

Good news.

How does your garden grow?

We've had some interest in the house but no offers so far so today I decided I would do some work on the front garden while my wife was working at the rodeo.

The recent freeze killed pretty much everything we'd planted in the front so it was time to start again and add some colour to give the house a bit more curb appeal.

We actually picked up some plants yesterday but when we got home from the garden centre and I was unloading the car, I noticed that the soil my wife ordered and had supervised the loading into the car while I was juggling all the plants we'd just bought, was actually mulch. All five bags of it.

So this morning at 8am I was back at the garden centre to pick up some top soil. I actually needed the mulch anyway so it wasn't a total waste.

So I spent all morning and some of the afternoon digging out the things we'd planted this time last year, added more soil, planted everything and added the mulch.

It wasn't too hot today so it was good gardening weather but I think next time I'll bring in my good friend Manuel to help. You know, Manuel Labour, the Mexican handyman who can handle any job you can't be bothered doing yourself.

Plenty of people have been driving by and taking a leaflet with the info for the house so there is interest. I actually caught a little Mexican girl looking in the window today. Her parents were sat in the car and probably asked her to get a leaflet and as I had all the windows open to give the house an airing she probably thought she'd look in.

Some people eh?

Sign o' the times

I came home today to find a For Sale sign up in front of the house.

Even though we've been planning on putting it on the market for a while, and I knew it was going up it was still a bit of a surprise.

We printed off some flyers so people can get the info on the house and hopefully come and have a look round and make us an offer we can't refuse!

After the big freeze killed most our plants I think I'm going to plant a few more at the front this weekend to give the house a little bit of extra curb appeal.

Interest?

We put the house up for sale yesterday and already had a couple come round and have a look today.

Hopefully there will be more interest and someone will put in an offer.

Fingers crossed.

House for sale

We finally put our house up for sale today.

Hopefully we will find a buyer soon so we can find a new house and move in before the baby is born.

If we don't sell the house by a certain point then we'll take it off the market and stay for a while.

It's no big deal staying here if we have to but we'd prefer to have a bit more room when the baby does arrive.

The results aren't in...yet

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and everything went ok.

The baby was a bit more co-operative this time and let us hear it's heartbeat.

We went to get the results of the blood tests they did last week but the results aren't in yet. The lab are backed up so we should hear something in the next few days.

They said they'd phone us when the results are in so we don't have to go back in.

It was a good chance to talk to the doctor again though and ask questions. Dr Hold seems really nice and will put us at ease when the baby is ready to make an entrance. The thing I like about him is he makes eye contact with me and knows that I need to know stuff and have questions of my own.

Once he confirms the baby is ok at the beginning of the appointment, my wife probably switches off and starts thinking about how we're (I'm) going to decorate the nursery etc. Dr Hold realises this and tells me everything so I can fill her in later when she tries to tell friends and family what the doctor said.

Our next appointment is in three weeks when they will be able to determine the sex, although we don't plan on finding out.

By that point we'll also be half way though. Time flies eh?

Maternity shop

The other day, my wife decided we needed to visit the Maternity store. Both of us.

"It's something we can enjoy together" she says.

I'll be perfectly honest love, if you drag me somewhere like that, I can tell you now I will not enjoy it.

So, no, it's not something we can enjoy together. It's something you enjoy while I stand around awkwardly, feeling really uncomfortable among all the jumbo bras and breast pumps.

So thanks for that.

Luckily we were the only people in there at the time but it's not something I feel I have to experience again.

Like Father like Son/Daughter

I've just noticed that the baby looks a lot like me.

Scroll down a bit and look to the left.

Lucky thing.

Born a red..

After reviewing our latest ultrasound picture, I have decided that the baby actually looks more like a devil than an alien. A red devil (if it wasn't a black and white picture). Manchester United through and through.

See for yourself:

The baby is towards the left about half way up.

You can see it's eye sockets, chin, arms and rib cage.

This might be a better view:

United!

Coming up...possibly

I am trying to get my wife to scan the latest scan of the baby but because it looks like an alien she's bit reluctant to show it to people but I will keep trying.

A few more grey hairs..but a happy ending

Today, I found out what it is like to be a parent worried about the well being of their child.

We had a doctor's appointment today and although everything turned out ok in the end, it was very worrying at one point.

Today was supposed to be an easy appointment to meet for the first time the doctor who would be delivering the baby, Dr Michael Hold.

Once my wife's name was called we were taken through to the back where they did the usual checks before taking us into one of the rooms. The idea is for a nurse (or whatever they're called) to do all of the routine stuff and then check the baby's heartbeat before the doctor sees you.

Only today, the nurse couldn't find the baby's heart beat. She tried for a long time, possibly about 10 minutes, although it seemed a lot longer at the time before attempting to reassure us that sometimes the person doing the scan can't locate the baby but another nurse usually can.

She did say she heard the heartbeat but only for a short time and she wanted to hear it for longer to make sure everything was ok.

So she leaves the room and another nurse comes in, introduces herself and gets straight down to the business of locating the baby's heartbeat. This nurse was a little more forceful and pressed the doplar thingy a bit harder into my wife's stomach. She moved it around and heard lots of various sounds but nothing like a heartbeat.

She eventually did find something with a heart rate of 133 and said though it was low for a baby, it was probably too high for a normal person so that was probably it.

We were starting to get a little bit worried by this point and that wasn't helped when the nurse took my wife's pulse and her face changed dramatically. She mumbled something to herself and ran out of the room.

We were both left wondering what was going on and were now very worried something was wrong.

Luckily, a few minutes later Dr Hold came to the room with an ultrasound machine. It was much briefer introduction than we probably expected but by now we just wanted to know the baby was ok.

Dr Hold did the ultrasound and after a few minutes located the baby who was moving around a lot. He showed us the blood flowing through the baby's body and legs and arms moving around but he still struggled to detect a heartbeat.

When he eventually did we were very relieved. Even when we could see the baby moving, it wasn't until we could actually hear a strong heartbeat we were sure the baby was ok. He took various measurements of the baby, the circumference of the head, length of the arms, legs etc.

When he put all the figures into the computer it said the size was that of a baby 16 weeks and 4 days old. My wife is actually 15 weeks 5 days so the doctor said this is a sign that the baby is healthy and growing. He then tried to find a good picture for us to take home but I think he got our baby's picture mixed up with something from Area 51. If it is our baby then it seems to have got it's looks from my wife's side of the family!

After that, we just asked the doctor a few questions we had and he asked us if we wanted the triple screen blood tests to check for Down's Syndrome etc. We agreed and we went over to the lab for them to take some blood.

My wife had previously suggested we get a dokpar thing for home so we could hear the baby's heartbeat whenever we wanted. After today, I think she now agrees it wouldn't be a good idea. Everytime we couldn't find it there would be a mass panic.

I suppose this is how it will be for the rest of our lives now, worrying about our children's well being so we better get used to it.

The results of the triple screen, which actually became a quin screen aill be in this week so our next appointment is next Monday to discuss the results.

Hopefully next time the baby will be a bit more co-operative!

There'll be no letting down your hair young lady

After yesterday's bombshell that contained the words 'womb' and 'eggs' I've been thinking about what I would do if the baby is a girl.

My family is all boys so it would be a bit of a culture shock for all of us and knowing how blokes are I have decided she will be named Rapunzel, locked in a tower until she's 30 when she will become a Nun.

Sorted.

Now then young lady..

Did you know that if the baby is a girl, she already has over 2 million eggs in her womb?

I know they grow up quick but I think it's a bit early to be thinking about that kind of thing!

Baby Center

My brother very kindly sent me a book called "The bloke's guide to pregnancy" by Jon Smith.

The book tells blokes what is happening and what is going to happen in the language they understand. It doesn't go into too much detail because we don't really need to know everything.

For example in the early stages of pregnancy, the book tells you that your wife (or partner) is going to very emotional and completely irrational but it is important to show sympathy and do whatever it is she needs you to do. It explains that it's not really her fault but is a result of her hormones going wild like it's the Hacienda in the late 80's.

Anyway, the book mentioned a useful website called Babycenter. It recommended that blokes sign up to the weekly updates that gives a brief explanation of how the baby is developing, any changes from the previous week and lets you know how big it is. My wife is now 14 weeks pregnant and in the last week the baby has gone from the size of a medium shrimp, to the size of a lemon. He or she can now squint, suck their thumb and pee, which is nice.

So if you're a pregnant man (it happens apparently) or your wife or girlfriend is pregnant, I would recommend checking out the resources aimed at helping blokes understand the things they need to know without scaring them with explicit details.

MOT results are in (or not)

You may remember that my wife had a doctor's appointment on January 14th which was just to check that everything was ok with her and there was nothing out of the ordinary.

As usual, the hospital told us that if we didn't hear from them everything is ok. You can read my thoughts on this policy here.

So it's now been 3 weeks so I think everything was ok. They did send my wife a postcard telling her that one of the tests came back ok and I know she really appreciated that information being shared with everyone who handled the mail that day as using an envelope would be too much trouble!

I was ill on the day of the appointment, well, actually I was ill all that week with a fever of 102 but my wife decided I should sit in a waiting room full of pregnant women.

When we went through for the actual inspection they left us sat in a tiny room for 45 minutes until the nurse decided to show her face. You can imagine how much fun that was with my fever and my wife shivering in the lovely paper vest they gave her to wear.

Anyway, we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat again and it was still strong so everything looks good.

The next appointment is the 15th February. This is when we can find out the sex of the baby if we want so I need to make sure I'm there to tell the nurse we don't want to find out. If my wife goes to this one on her own I'll probably come home to a spare room full of pink or blue baby stuff.

Crazy Cravings

My wife is about 11 weeks pregnant now and has started having cravings.

So far she's wanted fish and chips, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and spaghetti and meatballs.

Hold on a minute. Those are just things she likes anyway!

I'm suddenly feeling like my good nature is being taken advantage of!

Maybe if she'd asked for mint chocolate chip ice cream with sardines mixed in it might have been a bit more believable.

Nice try!

Fingers crossed

The last few days, my wife's morning sickness seems to have eased up. She's nearing the end of the first trimester so hopefully it is over.

The only thing that seems to make her ill is milk, or yogurt so it should be easy to avoid those things.

Luckily, a cup of tea doesn't have the same effect. Phew!

The sickness

For the last few weeks my wife has been suffering with morning sickness. Morning sickness is also accompanied by afternoon sickness, night sickness and all day sickness.

Pretty much from 3.30am on the 24th November my wife has been suffering with the effects of pregnancy. In fact, the first thing she said after she told me was pregnant was that she needed a back rub.

My offer of some hot towels instead was declined but I've tried to be as understanding as possible.

Sympathy doesn't seem to help. Sometimes I get accused of mocking her or of not taking it seriously when I show sympathy, but I've also learned that a lack of sympathy helps even less.

My usual wake up call these days is hearing my wife's heaves and groans echoing around the bathroom.

For Christmas, I bought my wife what I thought would be a useful gift. First off, she opened one of the joke gifts I got her, a big jumbo pack of her favourite toilet paper. I'm no Charles Darwin but I think only women can have a favourite toilet paper.

When she opened it she laughed and said "I can't believe you bought me toilet paper."

Then she turned to the next gift, weighed up it's shape and declared "that better not be a bucket!". She then put her fist through the wrapping paper and let out a little laugh before remembering she was supposed to be pretending to be mad about it.

Well, within a few days of having the bucket next to the bed, she was declaring it "the best Christmas present ever!".

Do I know my wife or what?!?

I know it is probably much worse for her but this sickness is getting a bit old now. We're nearing the end of the first trimester so hopefully it will stop in the next few weeks.

I've cooked so many meals lately that have gone uneaten that I'm beginning to take it personally. Sometimes she'll even tell me what she wants, but as soon as I put the plate down in front of her it turns her stomach.

She's actually lost a little bit of weight since getting pregnant from not eating so the other day I did a bit of research of the foods pregnant women need, wrote myself a shopping list and took myself off to Kroger to stock up.

I'm going to take control of the cooking and shopping for the next few weeks until her appetite returns. At least telling her to eat her greens will be good practice for when the baby is a bit older!

A Birthday Ultrasound

We went to Memorial City Hospital on December 11th which also happens to be my wife's birthday.

My wife gets very excited about her birthday and this year was no different. I woke up as she was getting out of bed and asked where she was going. She replied she was going for a shower and to get ready so I looked at the clock. It was 12.30am. We'd been in bed about 2 hours!

She got back into bed and tried to get back to sleep. She seemed to wake up every hour until 5.30am when she decided that was late enough and she was going for a shower.

I think she was excited about her birthday, but also nervous about the doctors appointment. This would be the first time we'd actually see our baby and she was worried something would be wrong.

While she was getting ready I got her birthday gifts from the other room and laid them on the bed for her to open when she came back into the bedroom.

She loved all her gifts, and we had breakfast before heading out to the hospital.

The appointment was 9am but we got there just before 8am as my wife had to go to the clinic first to take a glucose test before waiting an hour before they took her blood. The test is to see how the body reacts to the drink and to detect diabetes.

My wife asked for the orange flavour drink after a tip from a friend but it wasn't long before I could tell even that wasn't too tasty.

She did manage to drink it all down and we went to sit in the waiting room for the doctor.

After about 4 minutes, my wife very nearly revisited the drink she'd just had so I stocked up on tissues and made sure there was a bin handy incase she couldn't hold it next time.

I tried to be encouraging as she would only have to take the test again if she threw it all back up.

After about 20 minutes her stomach seemed to be settling and it got a bit easier.

About 8.50am we were called by the nurse to have the ultrasound. The person doing the ultrasound was much younger than I was expecting but I suppose that's just a sign I'm getting older!

My wife got undressed and got in position. Very quickly, and without much warning if I'm completely honest, the ultrasound thingy was in place and all of a sudden my wife's insides were displayed on a large plasma TV on the wall. The nurse/ultrasound child/scanner person pointed out the baby and turned up the volume so we could hear the heartbeat.

It was a very strong healthy heartbeat and it was pretty amazing to hear at such an early stage (6 weeks and 2 days). The baby is only 4.6cm and looks a bit like a cashew nut.

We were given a picture of the baby and went back to the waiting room to wait for the nurse practioner we'd seen last week, Mary-Helen.

While we were waiting, an hour had passed since my wife took the glucose drink so she went back to the clinic to have some blood taken.

The Nurse practioner told us everything was ok with the baby and the tests my wife had done at our last visit were ok.

She gave some more advice on eating and exercise and told us about what would happen throughout the pregnancy and the type of appointments we'd have.

The next appointment is January 14th which will be more like an MOT for my wife to make sure everything is working as it should.

They told us they would only contact us about the glucose test if something showed up. The results would be back in about a week. It's been over three weeks now and we haven't heard anything so hopefully that means everything was ok.

Confirmation

On Tuesday December 1st we had our first doctor's appointment.

At this point, I still wasn't 100% convinced my wife was pregnant. I knew there was a good chance, and she thought she was, but somewhere at the back of my mind was a nagging doubt. I suppose it was a defence mechanism to prevent too much disappointment if something went wrong.

My wife had done research on doctors in the area and decided on the Women's Health Care Center of Houston.

Once there, they took my wife off for some preliminary checks, weight, blood etc and then I joined her ready for a chat with the doctor.

The first thing I noticed when we entered the room was the stirrups. This was a new experience for me and I must admit they made me keep my legs tightly closed when I sat down. Stirrups are not something men usually see at the doctor's office so it was a bit unexpected.

The doctor, or nurse, whatever she was confirmed my wife was pregnant, asked a few questions, answered a few questions and gave us some general information on nutrition, exercise etc all without giving me a second glance.

My wife had already told me that this was no longer about me so I suppose I should've been prepared for that!

Overall, it was a good experience and everything went smoothly.

We made our next appointment for the end of the following week at their office at Memorial City Hospital for an ultrasound and also a glucose test to check for diabetes etc.

Memorial City Hospital is where our doctor delivers and isn't too far from where we live.

Judgement Day

As you know, my wife and I went on a trip for our first Wedding Anniversary in November.

We got back late on Monday the 23rd, but not too late to stop by my parents house to pick up the dogs, Boomer & Busby.

On the way home, my wife asked if we could stop at Walgreens to pick up a home pregnancy test so we did.

When we got home, we went straight to bed and I didn't think any more of it.

Due the time difference, we were awake early the next morning. I heard my wife get up and go into the bathroom.

A few minutes later she shouted to me "should I tell you now or should I tell you later?".

That was my first cue something wasn't quite normal so I looked at the clock and put on my glasses. I always seem to hear better when I'm wearing my glasses for some reason. It was 3.30am.

"I'm pregnant". Those were the next words out of her mouth.

I don't know if it was the jet lag, or shock but I didn't really react. Sometimes my wife messes up these kinds of things so I wasn't letting myself get too carried away at this point. It was only after a week of taking ovulation prediction tests that she finally read the instructions to find out she'd been doing it all wrong so I think I was justified in my hesitation.

We talked for a little while, then I went to work nice and early.

She took another home pregnancy test the next day and when it too was positive, we made an appointment to see the doctor.

Big news

A few days ago I mentioned that this blog would be changing slightly.

The reason is that I am going to be a Dad! So this blog will be about my adventures in fatherhood (to be).

My wife is now just over 9 weeks pregnant so it's still early days.

Over the next few days I'll be blogging about how we found out and what we've been up to so far so stay tuned to see how my life changes!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope 2010 is a good one for you!