Baby cuddles

Is it true that baby boys are much more affectionate than girls? My little boy is so sweet and cuddly and I just can't get enough of it. He loves to hold me around my neck and hug and cuddle with me and also tries to give me kisses, which actually are just very wet open-mouthed licks or nibbles on my cheek or nose (which is where I kiss him) whilst grabbing my face with both hands.

Mummy's boy? I think so!!

Teeth update

Two more teeth have just appeared. We have a fourth one on the bottom row, and the second top tooth. That makes six and counting.

I still can't get used to my baby having teeth at all!

Holy sh...

This is going to be a TMI post and anyone who is particularly squeamish about number twos should stop reading right now.

Baby had to be CUT OUT OF HIS CLOTHES yesterday. Yes, you heard me right. We had a toxic leak so toxic and so leaky that I saw no way of dealing with it other than screaming at Dad (who was thankfully home at the time) to get me the scissors and I cut up a brand new bodysuit which was covered in hazardous sludge literally from top to bottom. Oh yes, it went all the way up and across his back up to his neck. Oh. My. God!!!

4 months

My little baby boy is 4 months old and I can't believe where the time has gone. His dad and I have been sorting through photos and videos and can't believe how he has grown and changed and how it seems so long ago that he was this tiny little squirmy thing we brought home from the hospital.

He is so cute and fun now. He is such a sweet, smiley, happy baby and there is no sound in the world cuter than your baby's giggle. He is so curious all the time, looking around with his big wide eyes. He laughs and giggles all the time. He's getting really good at grabbing things and it's so cute to watch him really concentrate on something while he grabs it and tries to get it in his mouth. And yes, everything goes in his mouth now. Today I watched him staring at his own feet all the time and grabbing them. I guess that's his new thing. They didn't quite make it into his mouth but I'm sure it won't be long!

He also babbles a lot. He's been doing it for a while now. Daddy says it's because Mummy talks to him so much and doesn't shut up so he does it to get a word in edgeways! It is adorable though. He seems to "get" conversation and responds to us talking to him. He peaks in the evening and loves his quality time with Daddy, it's like he's telling him about his day! In the last week or so he has started to sound a little different. He squeals and shouts more than babbles, and also makes very distinct complaining sounds and "singing".

The one thing he's not so good at is rolling. All of his friends seem to have rolled over at least once and he just doesn't seem interested in doing it. He's been rolling onto his side for a while and I guess that's the sign it could happen suddenly soon, but he's made no moves that way at all. I don't know if that's because I don't give him enough tummy time or what. I guess he'll just do it when he's ready. When he does tummy time he makes crawling movements, and he's always been very strong at holding his head up, but rolling? Nah!

He can also sit up pretty well, propped up. He likes his Bumbo but not for too long. I can tell when he's had enough of it because he starts to protest and arches his back to get out of it. He can sit up on the sofa and looks so comfortable doing it that I want to offer him a drink and the TV remote, but he tips over after a little while if not propped up well enough. Which is funnier than it should be to watch!

He loves songs. We go to a music and rhyme session every week and he loves the nursery rhymes sung with actions. I do them with him at home all the time and he loves it, he definitely has his favourites and they make him laugh and giggle. He especially likes anything that involves his nose!

We have also been swimming and he's doing great at that. He now knows to close his eyes and mouth when he hears "Ready.... Go!" and has been going underwater a lot of times each class. We have a trip to California planned for the end of May and I can't wait to go swimming with him. It means Dad can come too. I know he would like to swim with him, and it means we'll also be able to take some pictures and videos. Dad bought a waterproof video camera before Baby was born, knowing that one of the things I really wanted to do with him was swimming.

I know I keep saying it, but I love motherhood! It's probably a weird thing to say but I just didn't expect to like it this much and it's been without doubt the best surprise of my life.

Fully cooked

Today is my due date. My bun is officially cooked! No sign of him making an appearance yet though, so I guess he still needs a little browning off. Hope it won't be too long though, I'm getting impatient now. I didn't really expect to make it to this day.

I've been getting some early nigglings...I think. It's weird because I'm really not sure what to watch out for, having never done this before. I had a midwife appointment yesterday and she seemed to think it was all heading in the right direction. I've been getting some cramps and tightenings and I'm never sure if that's early contractions. Somehow I didn't expect them to be quite so low down. They're getting more frequent but not regular enough yet. She said that's what I will be looking out for but they need to get regular and (sorry) more painful. I've also had a bit of backache here and there which I know is part of the package. So let's hope it's not too much longer. I could do with no longer being pregnant by the end of this week!

Off to bounce on my birthing ball. Then some walking. Maybe a curry and some bedroom shenanigans later. Anything to help nudge him towards the exit!!

Approaching d-day

I'm due next Tuesday, and feeling kind of strange about it. It's just this bizarre waiting game. I had several friends due around the same time and most have had their babies already, including the one person due after me. I think there are just three of us left, one due tomorrow and the other overdue from Wednesday. I feel like I will be the last. The nice thing is you get some great advice, but you do also have to hear a few scary stories!

Right now I'm feeling weird about it. For a couple of weeks now I have felt like I am really over being this tired and huge, and everything is ready and waiting and I feel really ready to meet my baby so I was getting impatient. But over this last week I have wanted him to hold off for a little longer. At the eleventh hour of my pregnancy I have started to feel like I'll miss my bump and also feeling my baby move inside me. Right now it's just him and me and I want to protect him, even though I of course can't wait to meet him and hold him. I've also had a stressful week and hardly slept so I don't feel strong enough to go through labour if he decides he's ready now.

We'll see. Hopefully things will start to happen next week and he won't wait too long.

Immodesty

The thing that has both surprised and amused me most about being pregnant is the lack of modesty that comes with it. It starts off slow and increases until by the end of pregnancy you no longer give a damn! Now, I have always been a little bit of a shy and modest girl. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude but I am the kind of girl who likes dim lighting and turns her back to get undressed. Now I find myself not caring about letting it all hang out!

I've heard stories from friends of mine who were mortified after their deliveries to hear from their other halves that they threw off their clothes in the middle of labour and spent hours panting naked, and about the sheer amount of people who enter the room and have a good peak at your nether regions during birth. I guess this is the norm and you spend those few months of your pregnancy building up to that.

It's not just nudity either, there's also the bodily functions. Nobody warned me about the sounds I would be making all through pregnancy. I have never been a burping or farting kind of girl. Burping was a largely silently into my hand sort of affair after a gassy can of Diet Coke. Farting was rare and my husband always suspected I was shy and did it privately but that wasn't true, I just didn't do it much. It was kind of a shock to find myself emitting these sounds all of a sudden but once I (quickly) got over the shock and initial embarrassment of it, I have embraced it, and with glee! I have found myself making sounds that could sink a battleship and laughing over it rather than being mortified, and what's more, if I'm honest I'm kind of impressed with myself!! Luckily, Hubby finds it very amusing!

But anyway, if nothing else this lack of modesty is probably good preparation for labour and birth. I'm sure it's nature's way of helping us get through it. I for one am embracing it, it's strangely liberating!

Wonky bump

It moved! I'm sure it has. I think Baby has "dropped" or something, my bump feels shape-shifted. It's slightly more curved to the right and I'm wondering if that's his bum. It doesn't seem to be moving so if he's stuck there now I do hope he's head down. I suspect he might be as I'm sure that's feet I can feel in my ribs close to the big curve. We'll see though. I have the growth scan soon and will find out then. How exciting.

Flu - Pig or Human?

I came down with flu at around week 27. Lovely! I woke up feeling kind of crappy on a Monday morning and thought I was maybe fighting a cold. I came home early from work and by that evening had deteriorated pretty rapidly. The next morning I woke up really sick, I was tired, feverish, achey and also had a bad tummy. I called my GP and they made me a phone appointment with the doctor later in the day because they didn't want me to come into the surgery in case it was swine flu, but recommended that in the meantime I call the National Pandemic Line for a diagnosis.

It was interesting because the Pandemic guys weren't sure, my symptoms were borderline and could have been swine flu but could also have been your run of the mill flu too. But they are pretty cautious with pregnant ladies so they prescribed me Relenza. It was like calling MI5! They had to give me a secret code for the prescription and told me very firmly "Please write this down and repeat it back to me, I can only give it to you once", to which I fought the urge to make a self-destruct joke. Then I was instructed to send my husband to pick it up from an agreed collection point, with his ID and mine. Wow!

Hubs was a little worried about me taking the Relenza. It's what they prescribe to pregnant women instead of Tamiflu as it is inhaled and supposedly safe as it doesn't cross the placenta, at least not in large amounts, but he was concerned about its safety as we really have no way of knowing. I ended up then calling the midwife on duty at the hospital to ask if they had any experience of this and any advice. She was very understanding about my concerns and said if I was that worried I shouldn't take the drug, but to make sure I spoke to my GP about it too because if it was swine flu and I let it go untreated the complications from that can be a much higher risk than the drug. I then talked to the GP who was also very understanding and agreed that I could wait. The main symptom to watch is fever and she said if the fever doesn't get worse in the next day or so then it's either a regular flu or a mild case of swine flu, and even being pregnant I am probably healthy and strong enough to fight it off with enough rest and fluids for at least a week. However, if my fever got worse I should definitely take the Relenza.

It was a happy ending. I didn't get any worse. I stayed home for 10 days and got tons of rest and fluids. The only thing I was suffering from at the end of that was cabin fever!

Making an honest woman of me

In week 16 of my pregnancy my former boyfriend and fiance of 2 weeks, made me his wife. In all honesty I didn't care about getting married but under parental pressure and for ease of paperwork (for Baby's dual citizenship it is much easier for us to be married) we decided to have a small and quick ceremony before I got too big.

Our friends and colleagues thought we were crazy. We were moving house at that time and it wasn't as if we didn't have enough to do. But I thought it was great, I recommend planning and executing a wedding in 3 weeks, it is much less complicated that way. We booked a date, invited four friends, shopped for rings, had a formal proposal at lunch, and then had a lovely day tying the knot.

Baby wanted to make sure he wasn't forgotten that day though. During our lunch at Gordon Ramsay, I had to make a run to the bathroom and I threw up spectacularly!

The in-laws would like us to have a US wedding next year to have a proper celebration and we agreed to it but let's see if we ever get around to it!

Where to begin...

Sometimes life hits you with all kinds of surprises. Sometimes you are cruising along enjoying life just as it is and then all kinds of weird stuff starts happening to your body that you can't explain, and then a helpful friend suggests you should take a pregnancy test, and then life is never the same again because of a little pink line that you can barely see. That is how this story began!!