5 Weeks Left!

These last few weeks feel like they have gone on forever and we still have 5-ish weeks left!

As we lead up to Christmas we have managed to get the tiny bits we needed so we are fully 'ready' as they say for baby Tring to come out now although we have had to move some appointments around due to the time of year!

The midwife still has an inkling its going to be an early one so we shall see - let's get Christmas out of the way first eh? :)

We are planning on a low key Christmas this year as we are all still grieving about losing our Grandad so it will be nice to relax without things running at 300mph!

Katherine starts her maternity leave on Christmas Eve and I hope this means she will be putting her feet up ready to meet our little squid!

Not much else to report at the moment - enjoy your Christmas shopping x

34 Weeks Now!

I have been thinking recently - where does the time go?!

Honestly..this year has been a blur at best and no that we are at that last 5-10 weeks I think time has started to drag that bit more!

Katherine is doing well and our little squid is moving around lots :)

Our midwife Demi has said squid is 4/5th engaged and she can barely feel any of he/she's head which means things are moving in the right direction - I still make sure I put stretch mark cream or bio-oil on Katherine day and night to further the bond then kiss bump goodnight.

With Christmas coming up and all the shopping we have been doing it's starting to take it's toll on Katherine (bless her!) but we are nearly there and can't wait to put our feet up and relax - we are having a quiet one this year due to recent circumstances and my parents will be over looking after Nanny.

We are counting down the days again - 39 until due date..who knows we might meet our little one before then :)

I have uploaded a picture of how bump looks now - happy reading!

Baby Related!

So now we are at 33 weeks and since 31 weeks our little cherub has been 3/5 engaged into the pelvis with 2/3 of the head still showing above the border (as they say)

We have pretty much everything we need now and it is just a waiting game - they do say that the last 10-ish weeks go the slowest and they are correct, we are counting down the days and next month we will have our gorgeous bambino in our arms :)

I helped Katherine's friends organise a baby shower for the 17th at my sister's house, she had no idea but had lots of fun and baby Tring got spoilt and Mummy too!

I had made up many excuses to get the house decorated and sorted with the girl's help so thanks to all of them for making the effort :)

Our midwife has informed us that the baby seems very happy but could be early as per previous family history - fingers crossed it isn't premature as we want to ensure it is of the best health!

I make sure I put stretch mark cream and Bio-Oil on bump every night just to make sure I create a bond and it helps to keep the skin supple.

It has been a tough couple of weeks but I am hoping now that we have a healthy little baby inside of Mummy which will help to heal the heartache we are all suffering from..I love our little nugget so much already and I haven't even met them yet!

Last Few Weeks

Sorry I haven't updated this for a while it's been a bit mad here!

Unfortunately my Grandad Christopher Kehoe lost his fight against lung cancer on the 17th November at around 9:40am - he went peacefully in his sleep at Our Lady's Hospice in Blackrock, Dublin.

Now I could sit here and talk to you all day about my Grandad as we were so close but I wouldn't know where to begin. To say I am heartbroken is an understatement and I can't help but feel a great sadness even though it is nearly 2 weeks on since his passing.

Since we last left Dublin at the hospital he was transferred to a hospice with the help and advice of the palliative care nurses at St Vincent's Hospital - even towards the end he was smiling and looked very at peace.

It hurts me to say he isn't going to be physically here to witness his 2nd great grandchild but I know he isn't suffering anymore and will be watching over us from above.

We went over to Ireland (Myself, Katherine, Mum & Brent) on the 18th to organise funeral/burial proceedings and to comfort my Nanny.

He was buried on the Thursday with a lovely service and I had the honour of a small reading and carrying his coffin taking him to his final stop in his journey - this was important to me and he would have been beaming a smile down nursing a whiskey!

Unfortunately I broke my toe the day before (long story) but nothing was going to stop me carrying him.

I couldn't have asked for a better service and to be so heavily involved has helped me cope a little bit better - we managed to pick a lovely plot too at Dardistown Cemetery near the airport, Grandad loved planes and retired working for British Airways.

The wake after was lovely too, seeing everyone's faces light up at the sight of Katherine's bump and bringing some happiness to a somewhat sad day.

So this is to you Grandad, my hero, my best friend...I will miss you forever.

Until we meet again someday..xxx

Grandad Kehoe - My Hero

Unfortunately this week my Grandad had to be transferred to a hospice in Dublin called Blackrock - this hasn't come as a massive surprise but I can assure you the thought of him not being around is breaking my heart.

Ever since finding out Katherine was pregnant he has always been heavily involved and mega excited to meet our little one, unfortunately it's not looking likely he will be around but that doesn't mean he won't play a massive part in baby Tring's life like he has done in mine.

I know this isn't related to the baby as much but our little one will always have lots of photos and knowledge of just how great a man he is!

We have always been close mainly because he stepped in as a father figure when mine wasn't around and the bond grew from the many weekends and days after school spent at Nanny & Grandad's - playing football, golf and most other sports in the back garden. We had a joke recently about when he used to wash my hair with his giant hands back then and I used to cry about it like a girl as he put it :)

I just wish for him not to be in pain and that he goes peacefully to his final destination.

xxx

Family = LOVE

Just this week got back from Ireland and visiting my poorly Grandad - bless him

He has been on oxygen for his lung cancer and is showing signs of improvement and he made Katherine & I a promise to be around for his great grandchild in January 2014 which made us a bit tearful.

Growing up he was my best friend and I idolised him as my biological father wasn't around and to see him in this way is devastating and slowly breaking my heart - the nurses have said it isn't curable so it's really time to make sure he is comfortable and making some of the most difficult decisions deciding where he should come to his final stop, as long as he is comfortable and not in pain we will rest a bit easier.

Baby Tring was kicking away being around him so we feel like the connection is already there :)

We have been buying the little bits this week but nothing special just sleepsuits and bodysuits from Tesco!

This Sunday the 10th Katherine will be 30 weeks and only 7 until full term which is quite scary - time has moved so quickly!

Not sure what Katherine should pack in the hospital bag or when I should have the pushchair built? Any advice is ALWAYS welcome! 

Thanks for reading :)

28 Weeks - BUSY BUSY BUSY

So we are now at the 28 week mark and only 12 ish weeks to go - SCARY!

I have recently sold my car to make room for a newer safer and child friendly car, I have gone from a Citroen Saxo to a BMW 1 Series which is a huge step up as you can imagine :)

When we first saw it we fell in love with it - picture is below and it is a 118i SE which means it has extra safety, nicer seats etc and we got it for an investment as BMW engines tend to last for a VERY long time if serviced correctly etc!



Going over to Ireland on Wednesday to see my Grandad as you know so hopefully can pick the car up before then.

We went shopping on Sunday spur of the moment to have a look at car seats as Nanna & Grandad said they would treat us and baby Tring to one, we had noticed Amazon were doing a great deal on Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix stage 0+ car seats and they were listed at £66.66 which is probably for halloween so we enquired to see if Mothercare would price match and they did so we got it in red as I support Manchester United and baby Tring had to have something in their colours other than the baby grow :)

Auntie Natalie also bought us a lovely playmat from Mothercare which looks so comfy and has different stages for development which is a good investment!

27 Week Hospital Visit..

Crikey how time flys...I still remember being in Turkey when Katherine was only 9 weeks gone and giving baby Tring some well needed Vitamin D!

I recently sold my car so we are on the look out for a nice family-ish car so if any of you spot on let me know although I REALLY want a BMW 1 series :o)

This week we had another trip up the hospital as KJ hadn't noticed our little one move for a good 2-3 days really..so up we went to triage after a lengthy chat with our midwife Demi (who is a god send).

We were hooked up to a machine for a good 30 minutes to make sure the fetal movements were as they should be and heart rates were fluctuating as normal - needless to say the maternity staff at Basingstoke hospital are fantastic and so comforting for Katherine and I.

So after the 30 minutes and nugget kicking poor Mummy more than ever (as the pictures below show) we were given the 'all clear' and told we could go home but to monitor the movements so we were relieved. It's so hard to know when to kick up a fuss with the midwife in regards to anything different as you don't want to waste anyone's time or feel like you are asking the wrong questions but everyone we spoke to was lovely and assured us we should always check! :)

Got a trip to see my Grandad on the 30th October as he is very poorly and I want to spend as much time with him as possible whilst helping anyway I can - we got the all clear for Katherine to fly too which was nice as he has a great bond with her! 

Unfortunately we lost my Great Grandad Len Bott on the 9th October but he went peacefully in his sleep after suffering for quite a while without complaint - he is with his beloved wife our Great Gran now which makes it a bit easier.

FINALLY

GOT OUR PUSHCHAIR!

After purchasing our Bugaboo Cameleon Sunny Gold fabric set for our pushchair which was going end of life - link here we went out to Newbury for my birthday and it just so happened to have a John Lewis @ Home so we went for a quick look.

After looking at and playing with the Bugaboo Cameleon I noticed that it was priced at £650 not the normal £729.99 as shown elsewhere and Bugaboo is NEVER on sale as I've done a fair bit of research :)

I then had a chat with the sales assistant and she mentioned that the price was 2 days overdue and it shouldn't have been on there at that but then said she would honour it if we were interested.

We had a lengthy discussion about it and decided that an £80 saving on a pushchair is brilliant so back to John Lewis we went to get the final piece to our puzzle!

I for one REALLY like the Cameleon as its very easy to push around, has a HUGE shopping bag mainly for Mummy and is easy to put down.

So we have our pushchair and we are so excited to get to use it - we ordered it on the Saturday and it was delivered Monday so John Lewis take a bow!

We moved the room around Sunday and put the cot in a better position for the three of us to adapt, it should make things a little easier for us all :)

Crazy Week

Hey all - first of all I apologise for the lack of posting I started a new job Tuesday and it was my birthday last weekend so time literally flew!

The pregnancy is progressing nicely *touch wood* and now baby Tring is very active and moving about lots, I can most of the time feel/see a body part which I must admit at the start was very weird to see.

Off to Ireland to see my poorly Grandad on the 30th and just got the letter back from the GP to say Katherine is safe to fly as she will be around 29/30 weeks.

My hours have changed in my new role too so I won't be on as much during the day but hoping to keep you updated!

HAPPY MONDAY!

Sooo I should be starting my new role (if I accept terms) this week - exciting stuff!

Collected the cotbed Friday which was earlier than expected and had nothing to do over the weekend so I managed to put it up with no fuss which was nice as although I am fairly good with my DIY I was thinking it would be like a huge puzzle haha!

Still trying to save all those extra pennies so we can sort out a house but for the time being we will still be at my Mum's house bless her she is SO excited to be a Nanna again :)

Got the 25 week GP/Midwife appointment this week so hopefully everything is as it should be - I think they measure top to bottom of the bump this week!

Here is a shot of the bedroom as it stands and me getting swamped by the cotbed as we drove it back!





 

More Wishlists!

As we already have so much stuff for Baby Tring there are just a few things to go through and get nearer the time.

One of those things is a baby sponge support when bathing from birth although for the time being after birth it is most likely to be top and tail washing :) CLICK ME

Since we are having a January baby (YAY!) we get to purchase loads of gorgeous knitwear and cute little outfits for our Bubba including this lovely purchase from Zara for £14.99 - Perfect! CLICK ME

Every baby has to have one piece of Baby Ralph (in my opinion anyway haha!) this little outfit is adorable and yet so simple :) - CLICK ME

This playmat was shown to me by Katherine at Mama's & Papa's although being £89.99 (GULP) it is actually awesome and I may be caught playing with it at some stage..find it here CLICK ME

Unisex Purchases

It's been that bit harder trying to buy clothes etc for our little Tring because as you know we didn't find out the sex :)

Managed to get some amazing bits from Next though including the below.

 
Nanna got us some lovely yellow bits from her recent trip to Ireland to see my poorly Grandad, can't wait for him to meet his 2nd grandchild.

Not much else has been bought left but will update ASAP!

Busy Week

This is set to be a VERY busy week for us.

I have been sorting my job situation for a while now and there looks to be a light at the end of the tunnel so hopefully I am to move to a new role with more money which is always helpful :)

The Mia Cotbed is being delivered on Wednesday to the Mama's & Papa's store in Basingstoke and it will be my job to put it in position nearer in the future so I am looking forward to that haha!

Hopefully my future career will become more visible this week as I need some security around a role if we are to secure a property.

Also the colour pack for our pushchair will be here this week then we just have to buy the frame - we were told that the colour pack we wanted is going end of life so we decided to quickly buy it then we can get the frame closer to the time :)

Bugaboo Chameleon

We have finally made a decision based on the pushchair! :)

Below is a picture of the exact colours we are going for and it just so happens that it is a limited edition and personally we both think that yellow is a nice colour for girl or boy.

It is a Bugaboo Chameleon V3 Sunny Gold (mouthful!) and having strenuously test driven this bad boy we are excited to get it nearer November time - my best friend Ryan is generously giving us £250 towards it and Katherine's parents have offered to pay half which is nice as I didn't realise that it is worth more than my car lol

What pushchair are you debating or have you already bought?!

Unscheduled Visits

So we had to take a trip to the hospital last week as Katherine rang me saying she had experienced some 'leakage' shall we say and after ringing the midwife she advised that we go to the triage department at the Basingstoke hospital as there was reduced fetal movement too.

As you can imagine we were both terrified because being our first baby we didn't know every ins and outs - the midwife initially said it might be the waters but we had to remain positive that all was well and this was common and normal.

The wait was long and didn't help us but we were eventually escorted to an examination room and told that they needed to do their thing and check the baby was ok etc and take a few tests so I made sure Katherine was comfortable and after a while we were told all was well and Baby Tring was kicking away but that Katherine now needed to make sure she was resting correctly and if it recoccured then we are to return straight away but we were so relieved!!

Katherine also had to have some physio as the right side of her pelvis was very painful and the physio explained that Katherine's posture wasn't helping and her and the baby were damaging her uteral lateral ligaments which would mean it wouldn't withstand a natural birth so she has been given exercises to do and make sure she is building the strength up in both her pelvic floor muscles and her uteral lateral ligaments.

Not a good week for our Katherine but all is well now :)

Movements - Kicks & Somersaults

SO just felt my little boy/girl kick for the first time and it feels so surreal - thinking that it is a mini us in there responding to Mummy & Daddy's voices.

It was a typical evening relaxing in bed catching up on the day/week and Katherine quickly grabbed my hand and after a couple of minutes I felt this thud which i easily mistook for Katherine's heartbeat and BAM one kick after the other as I spoke to the bump :)

I then put my head to Katherine's belly and felt a thud against my head after a few seconds which was even more insane - it is making me so much more excited to meet out little pride and joy!

When did you feel your partner's/your bump kick for the first time?

Antenatal Classes

Hello again!

This weeks conversation turned to Antenatal classes and the free ones the NHS so kindly provide.

However i am fairly clued up as to what is going on and Katherine has worked with children from 12 weeks old to 5 years since she can remember so not sure what to make of them yet.

Can you provide any update on if they are worth doing please? 

Thanks

Anniversaries

Katherine and i first went on a date on the 23rd of May 2011 which was 2 years and 4 months ago (seems like a lifetime ;))

Every month on the 23rd we kind of celebrate it is an 'anniversary' as such - being how busy we are normally its nice to take a step back and remember each other which I think is important especially during pregnancy as time does move fast and you sometimes get so wrapped up in everything baby that slowly you forget things.

I imagine we will be so obsessed with our little one when he/she arrives that some of these dates might get missed aslong as it's not the big yearly one!

Seeing all these new families up the hospital excites us both - 17 weeks to go-ish?!

 

23 Week Update

Quite a busy period recently with changes at work and Katherine starting her new nannying position which will enable her to carry on working just after the birth - she will have a couple of weeks off or however long she needs health permitting.

Had a bit of a scare this week when Katherine was getting a lot of pain down her right side and had a bit of a leak (to try putting it nicely) so a trip up to the hospital quite a few questions and a nerve wracking wait was in store!

After a few tests and visual checks it was confirmed that it wasn't anything to be worried about yet but Katherine needs to rest up and make sure she monitors herself very closely..so a relieved Mummy & Daddy as we aren't ready to meet our little one just yet!

Bump is getting bigger week by week which is lovely but also very scary to think what changes week to week from eyelashes to lanugo!

More to come..

Pushchair..

Now this is an area that most Mumma's to be feel is the most important and I agree.

We have been searching pretty much since we found out Katherine was pregnant and I wanted something that (cost permitting) wasn't too difficult to manoeuvre, take down and could grow with our child.

We were intiailly looking at I-Candy's then the Britax Affinity but now we have kind of settled on a Bugaboo Chameleon but we are limited on what we can get colour wise until our little one is born and then we can always buy a colour pack if we feel it is necessary so black it is for now!

What did you look for in a pushchair?

Window Shopping

Now is there such thing when your partner is expecting or is it just me?!

The clothes now a days are amazing and places like Tesco, Asda & Next have really impressed me with their good quality products and affordability too - we love looking around for anything baby now and every penny we both earn goes towards making sure this child has the best of both worlds although we don't know the sex :)

I can't wait until I find out what it is, should be a great surprise and then we can go out and select some nice outfits and extras to match as we don't want everything in yellow, beige and neutral.

What are you like when you see a bargain for instance, do you indulge?!

I must admit though we have a few outfits for both boy and girl just incase you know?! :)

20 Weeks - Boy or Girl?!

We were both really excited to see baby again so on the 3rd September we went along to the local hospital with Nanna in tow to make sure everything was ok!

After a long discussion we decided to keep the sex a surprise as you don't get many in life and it will make it more worthwhile in our opinions :)

The scan is so detailed and Baby Tring was being rather stubborn so poor Katherine had to do some star jumps and pop back and forth to the toilet, eventually though she managed to examine the spine clearer and she showed us the 4 chambers of the heart whilst being VERY careful not to show us the area..although we saw his/hers little feet which were so cute!

Both scan pictures are below for you to guess - did you find out?

 

Time!

Just how quickly does it REALLY go...

One minute I remember we found out that Katherine was pregnant next thing it was the scans/midwife and everything is a distant memory, next thing I know I will be holding this precious bundle of joy!

Try to enjoy it as we are over halfway now and it's gone so quick :)
 
Had our 20 week scan the other week and it was amazing - how detailed everything is and how thorough it all is.
 

Cot/Cotbed?!

That is the question..

As we are living under my parents roof albeit having a big room space is still going to be tight but we eventually found a gorgeous cot bed from Mama's & Papa's for £199.99 in the sale.

I got home and measured up for a sensible space to place the cot and found the perfect position and it will fit so we were really happy - we then placed a deposit same day.

Here it is below :) 

http://www.mamasandpapas.com/product-mia-cottoddler-bed-white/cbma02700/type-i/

Getting Sorted..

Now I know that I started this late as we're 21 weeks tomorrow so you'll have to bare with me whilst I slowly update it :)

After the 12 week scan you can start telling people so they say and it's very hard to keep it a secret, telling my parents was the hardest thing as I just want them to be happy and proud of both of us as we live under their roof at present, this is where we will stay when the baby is born whilst we save extra hard for our own place - financially it has been a god send of my parents to help us on that front so we REALLY appreciate that!

We started buying stuff early as we didn't want it to be a massive hit when little one comes so we have been fortunate to get some bargains, Katherine really likes the Bugaboo pushchair and having test drove it I have decided that it will most probably be the pushchair for us but the hardest choice is the colours as we aren't finding out the sex so may have to be a base colour for now - we are planning on getting this in November a couple of months before little one is here :)

How have you purchased things?

Change of GP!

So we are finally settled into Chineham Surgery and happy with our midwife.

She informed us that Katherine had low iron so we went out and got some Pregnacare to make sure everything was ok, she had been taking Folic Acid and Vitamin D previous to this so getting the Pregnacare (which you take at main meals) is a good way to ensure both Mummy & Baby get the nutrients they need.

I struggled to get my head round just how much it takes out of Mummy physically & emotionally so a nice evening or two of pampering is a must :)

Katherine was surprised this week with a mystery present of the change bag she likes so she was thrilled - it's nice to see her happy and how excited we both are about becoming a little family :)

Change Bag

First Trimester

These are just a few things that I think help along the way especially sleeping in the first trimester - one minute I would be talking to Katherine and then it would go silent and she would be asleep so get plenty in while you still can ;o)


Vitamins are essential in the growth of your baby especially during the first 12 weeks as the growth rate is astonishing so encourage your partner to take some form of vitamins as their appetite might suddenly disappear and they may become nauseous!


Bio Oil is perfect for trying to help your skin adjust to the amount of growth it is about to experience so we found that twice daily is a good way to start - no stretch marks yet *touch wood*


It took me a while to adjust to the fact I was going to be a daddy but when I finally saw that little person on the scan it was INCREDIBLE and now I can't wait to meet him/her - I think as your partner changes you will too and you are said to cherish every moment good and bad in the pregnancy as it will fly by!

Scans & Tiredness!

We had just got back off a family holiday in Turkey (so plenty of Vitamin D for our little one) when we had a discussion with the midwife about family history etc, it was a bit of a worry to have to discuss previous miscarriages in the family amongst Katherine's Mum having Lupus & Fibro Myalgia so our GP managed to get us in to be seen at the EPAU in Basingstoke to check all was ok with the baby!

We had a quick discussion with a doctor about symptoms and she had the cheek to ask if Katherine had any symptoms which was a bit strange as we had done so many tests - she seemed to ponder the question 'why are you here' which threw us off a bit as you can imagine as we sort of worked out that Katherine may be around 12 weeks pregnant with a rough date in January but we honestly had no idea what our due date was.

They took us into a scan room but had told us they may have to do a transvaginal scan as baby probably won't be big enough to be seen - we were then told the lady who questioned us was a Jnr Doctor and she would be supervised, the look on her face was priceless as this baby came on screen and the senior explained that it was possibly 13 weeks in :)

The Senior Doctor was such a lovely lady and made us feel very at ease even asking Katherine if she could get a few more people to have a go at scanning her as everything seemed so perfect so we were delighted! :)

We opted to have the Nuchal Fold examination just to rule out any questions we might have given the circumstances and they had to book us in same day as we would have run out of time - gladly all went well and the picture is below!

Pregnancy Advice

Now...If I could give any advice to all the 'Dad's' it would be to be there to support your woman and child in EVERY way possible as it can't be nice for all the changes happening to her.

Anything little or big you can be doing to help - DO IT she will be so grateful and I am sure that you would rather it was her going through it.

Pregnancy is a wonderful thing and lots of changes occur whilst this little one is growing insidde her - yes hormones are a factor but it is understandable.

I am loving the changes Katherine is going through and it is a massive learning curve for me aswell - the best thing I can do is be there. 

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I have decided to blog a joint adventure with Katherine my fiancee whos blog address is kjandthebump.blogspot.com - this is basically the pregnancy adventure from a guy's point of view :)

Me and Katherine have been together about 2 and a half years from when I write this and are due to get married in May 2015 at Rivervale Barn in Yateley so you can imagine the reaction when we found out we were having a baby - to be honest it's great to be madly in love with someone who accepts you for everything you are and I couldn't be without her she is an absolute gem!

At first there was the shock stage and all the questions about where to live, how to afford it etc but we eventually spoke about it properly and realised you can NEVER truly 'afford' a baby - there was never an inkling of not keeping it so we rapidly adjusted and got very excited at the prospect of becoming a little family.

We must have purchased quite a few tests at this stage and decided it was time to get an appointment with the GP which was great and all confirmed, so onto the midwife who at first glance wasn't very nice and happened to ask me if I had a good job so we tried to get someone else rather than make do!

We received a letter a few weeks later saying that we live too far away from the GP partnership and would need to source another surgery which is always a help!

We have recently moved to Chineham surgery and they are brilliant in there and our midwife is lovely so we are finally relaxed! :)

Thanks for viewing!