Dad's Thoughts

From Daddy

Well we are getting quite close now to meeting our little fellow. I'm so excited and can't wait to meet him. I think we have everything organised for him. As you would see from earlier posts by my wonderful wife. He has some of the cutest little outfits, one of the coolest nurseries I've ever seen, some pretty cool toys, an awesome pram and car seat that work together and lots of modern cloth nappies, there is so much stuff that we have gotten for him either ourselves or from family and friends that has helped us out, we are so thankful for all the gifts we have received from family and friends.

I'm pretty sure that I'm ready to be a dad. Not that there is a test to take that tells you whether or not you should be a parent. Although I did come across this today and had a chuckle about it: Think You Are Ready To Have Children?  as much as a lot of this may be true the sheer joy and unconditional love a child gives their parents will outweigh any of the negative aspects of being a parent. Spending time together and watching our child grow is going to be some of the best moments in our life and I can't wait.

Baby Tiley - 36 Weeks.

Tiley This Week:
Baby is gaining around about 28-30 grams a day now and weighing in at around 6 pounds (2.7 kilos)! His grown another centimeter too, 48 centimeters / 19 inches. I can really feel his length now because my insides and lungs feel SO squashed. I can't wait to see how he actually measures compared to the stats!
Tiley's fat layers are starting to build now and his starting to look like a chubby, rolly little newborn. He may even be forming his little dimples on his face, knees and elbows, how cute!
By now, many of baby's systems are pretty mature and just about ready for outside life like his blood circulation and immune system. His lungs and digestive system still need to be perfected. In fact, his digestive system wont fully mature until after birth!
Monday marked exactly one more month to go!! One month 'till the 22nd of November when baby is due. OH.MY.GOODNESS! Today marks 29 days to go :).

Tiley's Movements/Routine:
Lately Tiley has been moving alot more. His been really active and seems to be awake much more then usual. He is probably awake around three times during the night now, where before I would never wake to his movements. His awake till about 10-11pmish, then again around 3am and then again around 6am. If this is his newborn routine, I can deal with that.
I've felt Tileys hiccups this week more then I have the whole pregnancy, I think before this week I only felt them about twice or three times, and this week I've felt them about four or five times!
During Week 34 I wrote about how Tiley found my very uncomfortable left side... and yet again he has. Although he mostly kicks on the right side or the middle he seems to go into my left ribs every couple of days, If I place my hand on my rib I can feel him pounding it, I can feel his foot pushing into them.. His so strong!

Naming Ceremony:

The hall we are wanting to
book for the naming ceremony!

I have started organising baby boys naming ceremony which is still months away and will be on the 23rd of March. Tiley will be around 4 months!

A naming ceremony is a non-religious celebration of the arrival of a new child. An alternative to a dedication or christening. It is a way of welcoming the child and officially introducing him/her to family and friends.
During the ceremony, important mentors for the baby/child are introduced. Poems, readings, speech's, wishes for the baby, gifts from the parents are presented, signing of a certificate and anything else symbolic that you choose to do. Basically you can do whatever you would like to represent the beginning of your child's life.
Naming ceremonies are often held by a celebrant but as they have no legal status or anything we are going to run the ceremony ourselves with family.

Symptoms This Week:
-Heartburn.
-Pelvic Pain
-Fatigue
-Mild Back Pain
-Insomnia
-Increase In Allergies
-Out of breath.
This week 'pregnancy' has really hit my body. I'm not 'over the pregnancy' but I have struggled to be comfortable this week. At times I feel incredibly weak physically because I can't bend properly or move quick enough. I'm quick to get frustrated at myself and I'm always asking Tim if it's frustrating that he has to help me out all the time... yes ladies, his always quick to say 'not at all' ;).
I am really thankful for my husband, his always quick to help me out. Pregnancy is really a team effort thing!
Besides that though, this week has been another incredible learning experience :).

Labour Signs:
-Sharp Pains 'Down There'.
-More Painful Braxton Hicks.
-Baby More Active.
-Stomach's Changed Shape.
Still could mean that labour is 4 weeks away, or I may even go over but I thought I would start documenting my labour signs!

Breast Feeding Class:
Monday we went to a breast feeding class at the hospital I'm going to give birth at. It was much more informative and helpful then I expected. Tim came along with me too. At the start there was only one other male (we thought Tim would be the only one, so that was good) and then another male came late. It was great to see the males supporting there partners! Tim probably felt awkward at the start but afterwards when we spoke and debriefed about the things we had learnt it sounds like he really took alot in. We not only just learnt about everything breastfeeding, like how to position the baby, how the baby should suckle, how often around about baby should feed but also what and what not to feed/ give to drink baby when his a little older, and about baby's teeth when his older.
Everyone that were there, but two people, were due in November as well. There was one lady due on the 7th of November and then the next due was ME!! There was the 24th, 26th, 27th and 29th (Friends of ours), so we were all due around the same time.
While we were there I booked into do a tour around the birthing unit for next Tuesday.

Packing My Hospital Bag:
It's official, the hospital bags are 'almost' all packed and ready to go. I am finally parting with my dressing gown for a few weeks!! I'm waiting on the baby's first outfit to come in the mail and then it can be officially organised! There are the last minute things to do, like charge my camera and put it in my hand bag ready to go along with my birth plan, phone charger and other last minute things.
Inside the bags:
I've put a 00000 and a 000 suit just encase, two outfit's in 0000, two wondersuits in 0000... singlets (3), socks (2), bodysuits (2), beanie (1), mittens (1) and booties (1).
Nappies (20), wipes, apricot oil, bags for soiled nappy's, photo shoot items, face washers.
Two tracksuit outfits, underwear, two packets of maternity pads, breast pads, toilet paper, ural, lanosah, jumper, dressing gown, slippers, thongs, shampoo, conditioner, comb, toothpaste, toothbrush, plastic bags, moisturiser, winter socks (3), Nighty and a hot water bottle.

The Capsule:
The capsule is now in the car and ready to take the baby home! Probably a little early but we are just so excited and it's one thing we could tick off our to-do list. Yeeyy!!

The Nappy Stash:
Our Newborn & Small MCN stash is complete now, all washed and ready! And all ready for someones cute hieny! We have a few OSFM (one size fits most) too...

One & half weeks 'till we do our next progressive shoot!

Baby Tiley- 35 Weeks

Tiley This Week:
Baby is weighing in at about 5 & 1/2 pounds now and boy can I feel it! I don't know how I'm going to cope with another two pounds (hopefully!!) on top of that! But then again, two weeks ago he was supposedly only 4 & 1/2 pounds and it doesn't feel all that much different. Tiley has grown another centimeter this week, and will continue to grow a centimeter each week until around 38 weeks until he stops completely while in my tummy!
Baby is beginning to co-ordinate his reflexes now, his always accomplishing something each week.
For some reason I have been really looking forward to making it to 35 weeks, I couldn't wait to make it, and to be able to say only five weeks to go. Tuesday marked me being 8 months pregnant! Woohoo! Today marks 36 days left till my due date! woohoo!

Hospital Appointment:
Last friday I had the hospital appointment to check my blood pressure again. It was 145/75 which they said is fine because the most concerning number is the bottom number, and 75 is perfect. The top number is an indication of stress, and not a major concern, and the bottom number doesn't tend to go up too much at all with stress. The second number, the diastolic number is under 90 at the moment so it's not a concern.
I spoke about my concerns with feeling faint, dizzy, blurred vision and bad headaches which I have been feeling for a few weeks and have let them know about with the last three appointments. It seemed they finally listened and tried to figure out what was causing these symptoms. So the lady then again took my blood pressure but with me standing up! My blood pressure dropped to 100/65! Because of the huge changes in my blood pressure when I stand up I'm getting all these symptoms, and the 'bad headaches' are actually migraines.
I was just told to take my time getting up, sit down when I feel like I'm going to faint and take some panadol.
Because my blood pressure isn't a concern for now, my next appointment was made for when I am 37 weeks.

Symptoms This Week:
-Pelvic Pain
The pelvic pain, although it is terribly painful, I'm getting quite use to. Besides, nowadays, if I feel I'm in too much pain to do something, I can just say no and rest at home, so it's not overly terrible.
-Blood Nose
This week I was blessed with my second blood nose (not!), with these migraines and blood noses I feel like everything in my head is going to burst!
-Insomnia
My lack of sleep has actually improved this week. I'm only waking up twice through the night for bathroom/drink/quick eze trips and the first time I can easily get back to sleep.. I can deal with that ;).
-Heart Burn
My heartburn has increased this week, is there a limit to how many quick eze you can have a day???
-Migraines
My major symptom this week has been the migraines. This I think is all to do with my blood pressure going so high and then dropping so low as I mentioned above. I had never had a migraine before and just thought I was getting 'bad headaches'.. yep, very bad headaches!
-Swelling

My SUPER swollen feet!

>>> Check out my swollen feet! There not always like this, by the end of the day they are swollen but not this bad, but with my extreme business, this is what they looked like by the end of last week. They think they are pregnant too!
-Faint
So this is to do with my blood pressure getting so low too. A rest stop normally fixes this but has the tendency to make for some very embarrassing situations. During our maternity shoot I had to ask if I could sit and rest for a moment.

Amber Jewellery:
So I've just bought an amber anklet for Tiley, and wanted to share some information about them, if you know much or not much about them, they are so interesting! They have been increasingly popular over the last year or so and are suppose to be a relief for the pain associated with teething. If it does or doesn't work for our baby, I think it's worth trying.
The amber anklet I bought is made of raw baltic amber which comes from tree raisin that grew in the forests of the baltic region, especially Europe, millions and millions of years ago. It's said to be extraordinary amber. This particular amber is still sold in pharmacies and health shops in the baltic region, especially in Germany where their herbal remedies, natural therapies and medications are more advanced then Australia - I even take a German herbal iron liquid - so, so far it is not on the Therapeutic Goods Australia register.
Amber is thought to work by realising natural oils through the skin into the blood stream. Baltic amber contains about 8 % succinic acid, also known as the spirit of amber or amber acid, which is thought to be a natural antibiotic.
The raw amber is unpolished amber that has not gone through chemical shaping and cleaning so they have more natural oils.

Maternity Shoot:
Saturday was a pretty fun day, the morning started off with getting my makeup and hair done, all organised by our maternity photographer and we had our maternity shoot by TK's Photography. Here is a sneak peak image of our shoot.

I'm so happy with Tanya's work. I had major doubts about getting these photos done, from my pregnancy weight gain, to me carrying so low, but I thought with how much of a treasure and miracle it is to be here right now, the unknown if there will be number 2, and being our first, I knew one day I would look back at them and be thankful I got them done. But, with Tanya's amazing work I'm looking at this photo NOW and so thankful I got them done. Definitely much better then I thought they would turn out, my doubts of myself seem so silly now! So definitely check out her website,  http://www.tksphotography.com.au/.
I can't wait to share more images with you but I believe that will be in a few weeks time. Thankyou Tanya!
Tanya from TK's photography will also be doing fresh newborn photo's of little Tiley!

Masquerade Party:

Last Wednesday was my lovely friends 25th birthday and she had a masquerade! It was a fantastic night and my word, did her venue make some delicious mocktails! I thought I would share because I had spoken about getting a mask and dress organised in a previous blog post that you can see HERE. Not quite like the masks I shared but I suppose it was similar to the first mask on the previous blog post. Still gorgeous. My darling hubby bought me the gorgeous mask to wear so I didn't have to make one in the end :)


5 more days 'till out breastfeeding class!

Baby Tiley- 31 Weeks

Tiley This Week:
As of Saturday I was officially SEVEN months pregnant and today I only have 64 days to go!! It seems every time I check the days left it's down twenty days!! 100, 80 not 64, It's going SO quick. Then 40, 20.. then baby time :) He is now around 3.3 - 3.5 pounds, it seems now that different sites have different average lengths. I think it's because babies are bigger then they use to be and the average size has increased.
Tiley's hearing is so good now a loud noise near me would cause him to jump!
He may also move to the rhythm of music! (That's because his my boy :) ) Other then that he is starting to run out of room now and getting a bit squished and not moving as much.

Tiley's Movements This Week:
The last couple of days Tiley has done some amazing movements. Monday Tiley was moving so much that I tapped on Tim to have a look (normally if I talk or something he will stop). When he looked over he did the biggest tumble, turn & dance and Tim got to see my belly move and jingle!! We were amazed!
Last night he was moving alot too.. I had my laptop, adding to this blog and he was moving it. I even ask Tim if he could see my laptop shaking (and nooo I wasn't typing at the time). He could! Tiley is so strong he was moving my laptop! So I put my hand my belly and he did the biggest kick or punch into my palm. It bought tears to my eyes. I get to feel alot of movements inside my belly but not many on the outside. It was amazing.

Dad-To-Be:
I haven't shared this before but I have the most involved dad-to-be as a husband. As soon as I say that baby's moving he will put his hand on my belly. He will spend all evening with his hand on my belly.. he never gets sick of it! It amazes me really. When I get his hand to put over my belly he has not one pulled away. Tiley gets more cuddles then ME! I love it :D

Midwives Appointment:
Some wonderful news, my blood pressure went down (and then up since and down since) so no pre-eclampsia!! yet... just a very unstable BP and protein in my urine. I need to keep an eye on it and realise how quick it actually does go up and make sure it doesn't turn into pre-eclampsia :). So so glad!... I guess if it was pre-eclampsia my BP would always be high and wouldn't manage to come back down on it's own.
Everything else at my appointment went well too. My fundal height is now fairly exact, I think it was about half a week over or something, so nothing at all. That's something else that's all over the place but  looking good at the moment :). My next appointment was made for two & a half weeks time.

The Baby Shower:
Here are some photo's of my shower, and of course, the amazing cake! We played 'Guess The Amount', 'Guess Baby's Name', 'Make A Baby Belly' & '20 Questions' They also wrote a meaning for baby's name, and a letter for the baby. We had some yummy cocktails that my wonderful husband prepared before the shower, a gorgeous cake and some delicious food my mum prepared!


The Baby Shower Cake by
the wonderful
Cupcake Fairy.
Find her on facebook HERE

 

Beautiful Katalina showing off her
'baby bump'!

Check out my 25 Week Blog to get the
recipe for these Mocktails!


Things From My Baby Shower:

Thankyou again everyone... we got so many cute things and so many essentials, he was so spoilt!

Tiley's Name:
Like I mentioned in the previous blog, I was revealing the baby's name at the baby shower.
The game we played:

 

Everyone got the letters YANJD all in different order and they had to put the letters all in order to make up what might be his name...This is what some people came up with....

Tiley's real name was revealed...


 which is....

 

Jydan (pronounced JI-DAN) will be our darling little boys name. (Arabelle if HE is a little girl)

Who Jydan Will Be Named After:
We made up Jydan's name as it is a combination of my two little brothers names, JYLE & JORDAN. Which are these two little gorgeous dudes:

Meaning Of Jydan:

Because we made up our little guys name I also got everyone at the baby shower to write a meaning of the name Jydan, because there isn't one! So here are some meanings my wonderful friends and family came up with:

• Joy, Youthful, Delighted, Angel, Nice.
• A Little Miracle.
• A Colourful & Beautiful Joyful Bird.
• A Tropical Bird with Beautiful Wings.
• King Like.
• Energetic, Brave, but also Thoughtful & Kind.
• Quite but Driven.
• Sun God; Giver of Light/Sun.
• Precious.
• Dinosaur.

Comment what you think the meaning of 'Jydan' is and we will add it to his scrapbook too :)

Stay tuned for photos of our progressive shoot next post!

One & half more weeks left of work!

 

Baby Tiley- 29 Weeks.

Tiley This Week:
Only 78 days till Tiley is due!!
Tiley's now about two & half pounds.. I guess about a third of his (hopefully) birth weight! Wow, It's taken 29 weeks to get to a third of his birth weight and he only has 11 weeks to grow the next two thirds! My belly's going to go all sorts of big!
Tiley's head is finally in proportion to his body, his muscles and lungs are developing rapidly and strongly and he can now taste and respond to pain (I hope he doesn't feel any pain in there!).

Tiley's Movements:
Tiley's movements have become alot less frequent lately, as I pointed out a few weeks ago the majority of Tiley's movements will be around 24-28 weeks.. as predicted, it has dyed down alot but the movements are still amazingly strong and beautiful. Before it was like he never slept, now I can definitely tell he sleeps well. I've started counting movements at 8pm at night, besides the morning where I'm often busy he seems to be active around 8pm every night. He definitely does more then 10 movements in that hour (which is around the amount of movements you should make sure baby is doing) His getting stronger and stronger though and sometimes his kicks or punches can be jolting!
He also has started pushing his leg or arm out and leaving it out for about a minute!
Tim has felt him turn and roll around now and he was quiet shocked at how strong it was. He kept saying how strong it was! I asked him what it felt like and he said it was as if he was there, under his hand, then not, then there again. He was pretty amazed, it was followed by a big kick! Me, it felt like my bowels (or where they use to be) were rolling around.
Monday I'm pretty sure I felt baby have the hiccups. For about five minutes I felt regular kicks at a time where his normally quite, I placed my hand on my belly and smiled. I realised that it wasn't kicks or arm movements because I couldn't feel it on the outside and then it dawned on me... Could this be the hiccups??

Braxton Hicks Contractions:
Today I've been having 'fake' contractions all day. I haven't done much research on them because today's been the first time I've noticed them. If I put my hand on the top of uterus I can feel it contract/tense up for about a minute and then release to normal, but I can also feel it internally which feels pretty strange - alot like a muscle cramp. It's not painful at all, at times a little uncomfortable perhaps, and at times I say 'aww' because it's unexpected (they can be very strong or mild) but they don't actually hurt at all. I'll keep you updated though!

Bump This Week:
I've always thought that this top makes my bump look smaller then normal.. but anyway, here is a recent bump pic :) The second picture is facing the mirror and if you look closely you can see my belly is a bit lop sided!!... It points to the left a little bit, pretty amazing, huh?

 

My little darling is growing... perfect bump!

Iron:
So this week I received a letter in the mail from the hospital saying the my recent blood tests show that my iron levels are less then desirable. My iron is naturally low anyway but must be extra low at the moment. Although it's not good that my iron levels are low, I'm pleased that when I feel faint and dizzy, it's not a pregnancy symptom but something can be fixed. I've found that I can't stand for too long without searching for a seat to sit down, I've had to call Tim to lean on a few times while cooking dinner or doing my makeup. So I'm now on Floradix Herbal Iron Liquid that I need to take three times a day. It's disgusting, but hopefully it helps with my iron levels!

Fathers Day:
Although Tiley hasn't arrived yet, I bought Tim/Tiley a little something for fathers day.. cute little booties and a beanie that say 'I Love Dad'. I thought it was the perfect little dad-to-be gift. He will have to wait to next year to get a bigger present!
I also found this PERFECT card to go with his fathers-to-be gift. It says;

"One lucky kid on the way, One great DAD in the making."

 

While On Maternity Leave:
My maternity leave is coming up in only three & half weeks so I'm preparing what I need to do before baby arrives, what to do to keep myself occupied and what I need to catch up on.

• -Cleaning - Yes, they're some cleaning 'to-do's' on my list, specifically, dusting and gardening. I'm sure this list will get longer and longer as I nest. I don't mean a quick dust like I normally do.. a dust my nan would approve of! I also need to wash Tiley's clothes and bedding.
• -I need to sort out what else we need for Tileys clothes. I have a list of what we've got on the computer (Yes, that's how organised I can be!) so I need to sort through that and buy the final clothes, nappy's, bathing equipment ect. I also need to buy breastfeeding bras and tops. 
• -So something I've been really looking forward to while on maternity leave is doing our wedding scrapbook. Other scrapbooks I need to do and finish is our engagement one, maternity one and my 21st one. I also want to start just a 'Tim & Harley' one from when we met to our maternity pictures, over the last five years, so we will be right for the next five years. I also need to fill up all the empty photo frames we have around the house. I am terrible for this when we're given photo frames and have soo many empty frames that need gorgeous photos.
• -I need to update my birth plans, both for a natural birth and emergency c-section.
• -About three months after baby is born we are going to have a naming ceremony so I need to begin organising this while I'm on maternity leave because I'm sure I wont have the time while I have a tiny bundle.
• -I go on maternity leave two weeks after my baby shower, so it would be a good opportunity to make the baby shower thankyou's and send them out :).
• -At the moment our address labels say 'Tim & Harley Cocks' so I need to order new address labels with baby's name on them!
• -My computer is a MESS... so unorganised and it annoys me every time I go looking for a document, so I need to sort through it and make it organised. Also back everything up for a new laptop, very soon!
• -As I've mentioned before, I really want to read save our sleep before the baby arrives!
• -The bassinet at the moment is in the baby's room and his little beds not made, so I need to move it into our room and set up his bed. Before I do this we need to find a new place for the computer to make room for the bassinet.
• -Most importantly I need to buy the final things for my hospital bag and baby's hospital bag and get packing. I'm planning for this to be done by 34 weeks.
• -By the time babies due I need to make sure the car capsule is set up in the car, ready to take our bundle of joy home!
• -When I am 36 weeks pregnant we have a breastfeeding class at the hospital and I also want to watch some other online classes.
• -While I'm cooking meals before my due date I'm going to make extra meals and freeze them, ready for when baby's due. Freezing alot of casserole's, lasagna, soups and other easy to defrost meals.

One more week till I'm 30 weeks!!

Baby Tiley- Week 22

Tiley This Week:
This week means I'm officially 5 months pregnant!! And bubby's doing so well, growing heaps too! Almost gaining his first pound!!
Here's a weight and height chart for the next 8 weeks

WEEK	LENGTH(inch)	WEIGHT	LENGTH (cm)
22 weeks	10.94 inches	15.17 ounces	27.8 cm
23 weeks	11.38 inches	1.10 pound	28.9 cm
24 weeks	11.81 inches	1.32 pound	30 cm
25 weeks	13.62 inches	1.46 pound	34.6 cm
26 weeks	14.02 inches	1.68 pound	35.6 cm
27 weeks	14.41 inches	1.93 pound	36.6 cm
28 weeks	14.80 inches	2.22 pounds	37.6 cm
29 weeks	15.2 inches	2.54 pounds	38.6 cm
30 weeks	15.71 inches	2.91 pounds	39.9 cm

Can you believe how quick Tiley is going to put on the weight now? It took over 22 weeks to get to one pound, and then only another 5 weeks to gain another pound!

Mummy's lesson this week:
So I thought this week I would share a little lesson my little boy taught.
Last weekend left me feeling a little flat, Saturdays is my most uncomfortable days and random blood spotting last Thursday (Scan on Friday showed no reason- again, but received an answer from the doctor).  So I thought I would share a moment today. An amazing one second moment that changed my day.
 A big strong kick.
 Even though I get many a day, this was a big strong one right when I was feeling flat. It made me smile. It made me stop and think, okay, yes I'm uncomfortable but his so so so worth it all ready. It made me fall in love with my little boy that tiny bit more which I didn't think was possible. It made me positive.
My dear son, although not here yet is the most precious thing to me. I'm so proud of him all ready.

Kicks:
Tiley's kicks are really strong now. About a week ago they started feeling like proper kicks. I love documenting how his kick's feel because they change all the time. They went from pins & needles, to flutters/spiders in my tummy and now they feel like big air bubbles in my tummy poping (and no it's not wind : P). They are strong enough to sometimes lift my hand/jolt my hand when he kicks it.

Second Scan:
So this scan went very smooth and bubby was turned on his back so the measurements for the heart, brain and kidneys were taken which we missed out on last week and everything was perfect!! I couldn't believe how big he had got in just a week! The pictures this week are also so much clearer! The sono also ended the scan right between the little boys legs... still a boy ;)

Doctors Appointment:
I waited over an hour to see the doctor for a ten minute appointment but I found out our son is perfect (which I all ready knew). My fundal height was measuring at 22 weeks, perfect. My blood pressure has gone up a little bit but still in the normal range, perfect. My darlings heartbeat is between 150-160 bpm which is normal and perfect. Everything from the morphology scan was perfect too....... one very perfect little babe on our hands :)

Morning Sickness:
Am I speaking too soon? Could my morning sickness really be finally all gone?? It looks that way! Finally no morning sickness this week which is the first time since I was about 6 & half weeks pregnant!

Baby Shower:
This week I began organising my BABY SHOWER!!

I realised that their was only 8 weeks before my baby shower, me being the organised person I am, (We also have to be organised when family will need to travel) I started jotting down some ideas:

• The shower will be at my mums house, in Gravelly Beach. It's a bit far out for my friends, but I'm sure people could car pool.
• BLUE theme.
• Dedicated to TILEY not mummy-to-be.
• It will be on Saturday the 15th of September. Probably from 2pm.
• Kids & babies will be welcome.
• Lots of fun games!!
• Name Reveal.

Nothing like having your first baby :)

 

 

What I couldn't live without:
Here are some things I couldn't live without!!

I adore my pregnancy journal!!
You have room to write about three sentences
each day. Highly recommend it for every
pregnant lady.

VEGEMITE! One of my major
cravings through my pregnancy. Definitely
can't live without it.

I have this wonderful November 2012 mum's club
through bub hub. There's always someone to
answer my questions and it's been great to share
my experiences and experiences of others.

My husband!
This pregnancy has been really hard on my body
and my wonderful husband has been the best support.
I couldn't imagine doing this without him.

My Body Pillow!!
I only have cheapy, but WOW is it comfortable,
especially with this big bump.

Okay.. so to be honest, I could live without
Ebay... but it's been brilliant! Bargains everywhere!
We've got so many clothes and MCN's from Ebay- love.

Justine's Baby #2:
My beautiful friend Justine is due this Friday with her dear little darling, bubby number 2. Her first little boy is just a bundle of cuteness and was born the day before his due date so my fingers are tightly crossed that this little (cheeky) bub comes soon!

Pop-To-Be's Birthday:

Today is my dad's birthday! We're celebrating with dinner and a blue's night on the weekend but I gave him his birthday cards yesterday. He got one from Tim & I and then a 'Happy Birthday Pop' one from Tiley.



Blog Readers:
I've realised that somehow I have a growing number of blog readers each week. The readers double and this week tripled. I'm really excited to share my journey with everyone.
I thought of making this a private blog, as this is my pregnancy diary, but my little baby boy is not just a miracle in the sense of a child being made but also in the sense that so many odds were against conceiving him, and then carrying him. I think it's worth sharing with everyone how my husband and I have (almost!!) come out the other side.

So THANK YOU for reading :)

Only 8 weeks till I'm 30 weeks!!

BABY TILEY - 20 WEEKS.

Half Way: 
HALF WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So over the moon to have made it! The last 20 weeks have gone SUPER quick and I’m expecting the next 20 to go quick as well! So super proud of our little treasure... our little spec of gold is really turning into something so more amazing. So this blog is pretty long this week, because it was SO exciting to be half way!

Tiley this week:
This week is a BIG week for bubs skin protection!
A protective white fat substance has been made around bub's skin to help protect the delicate skin as well as bubs skins getting thicker. The growth of fine body hair is starting to grow on the rest of bub's body. Toe nails and finger nails are also starting to grow. Can't wait to feel the darling’s soft skin!!
Some more amazing things bubby is doing this week is swallowing even more, Tiley would also start recognising my voice and have grown to about 25 CM (10 inches) from head to heal, around half of what Tiley will be when it's born! As of next week, bubs measurements will be taken from head to heal, instead of head to bum. This will make things so much easier when I research bubs size!

Progress Video:
Take a look at how much Tiley has grown and developed in the last 5 weeks:

http://www.babycenter.com/2_inside-pregnancy-weeks-15-to-20_10308111.bc

Morning Sickness:
So just when I thought my morning sickness had left... it came back just for a couple of days this week. I've also had throat infection/flu this week so that combined with morning sickness was not fun!

Nursery:
So the painting has begun on Tiley's room... here's some photos of the room colours before and updated photos of the room all painted. I'm SO happy with how it's looking! Exactly how we pictured it :). Next week it's time to make a start on moving stuff in and decorating. Still a lot of wall decorations on order, we don't have a cot yet and a lot of other stuff, so the decorating won’t be finished for about a month or more.

Now

Before




Before

Now

(Click the photos to make it bigger)



Checklist:
here are some things we've accomplished being half way pregnant:

-MADE A BABY
-Bought a portacot, nappy bags, clothes, nappies, rocker/bouncer, play mat.
-Delegated and chosen bassinet, high chair, pram, bath, towels, face washers and capsule to/from family members.
-Chosen a nursery theme and colours.
-Painted nursery & bought decorative wall stickers.
-Booked maternity & newborn shoot.
-Bought maternity clothing.
-Filled out admission forms for St Vincents.
-Rough drafted a birth plan
-Booked into the Launceston General.
-Chosen names!!
-Bought baby monitors.
-Began maternity scrapbook.
-Started progressive shoot.
-Joined a birth club.
-Laybyed a baby carrier.

Some things we still need to do and organise:

-Buy stimulating toys, coat hangers, more clothes, electric breast pump, bathing equipment, disposable newborn nappies, wipes, baby carrier.
-Buy bottle steriliser.
-Buy nursing pads.
-Buy breast milk storage containers.
-Buy swaddle/Sleeping bag.
-Decide on and buy a cot.
-Wash clothes.
-Decorate nursery.
-Buy a tallboy.
-Finalise my birth plan
-Book into St Vincents.
-Buy cot bedding X 3 or 4 sets.
-Buy bassinet bedding X3/4.
-Buy waterproof plastic sheets.
-Get a queen size bed.
-Buy a rocking/nursing chair.
-Buy nursing bras.
-Buy nursing tops.
-Pack baby & mummy bag.
-Arrange care of Millie while in hospital.
-Make a list of names and numbers of people to call when babys born-Delegate!!
-Make lots of food and freeze for when baby arrives.
-Book antenatal classes.
-Finish maternity scrapbook.
-Get material for curtains and get Di to make.
-Buy a video camera.
-Buy a SLR camera.
-Begin baby proofing the house.
-Organise baby shower.
-Organise naming ceremony.

SO MUCH TO DO!!

Things for Tim & I to do before 2 becomes 3:
-Regular date nights, at least once a month. A whole night, just us.
-Go on a babymoon.

Babymoon Itinerary:
FRIDAY:
11:00am Morphology Scan.
2:00pm Leave For Hobart.
4:30pm-5:00pm Check into Hotel Collins.
Dinner
7:00pm Gold Class Cinemas (Ted)
SATURDAY:
Breakfast
Lunch
1:00pm Savoy Day and Spa
Dinner
SUNDAY:
Breakfast.
11:00am leave Hotel Collins - Head back home.

Morphology Scan:
Not long to go now!! Only two more days, amazingly excited. Were hoping bubs not shy so we can find out what sex bubby is too :). But before we find out bubs sex, my first priority is finding out if all is okay with Tiley xx

Progression Shoot:
Did we finally start our progressive shoot?
....................................................................
WE SURE DID!!
Remember these are a set of 4 photo's throughout my pregnancy, in the same position, wearing the same clothes at different stages of my pregnancy that will go into bubs room with a photo of bub when it's born. I'm not sure which ones we will use as the actual progressive one, but here are some of my favs. PS. I THOUGHT I was smiling... apparently I can't smile when I've got the flu!

These will go on the brown feature wall in the babys room so I wanted them to reflect the green walls.

Tim's card from Tiley x

Tim's Birthday:

It's Tim's birthday TODAY! It was present time this morning, filled with winter wonder warmers, thermals and slippers and DVD's he wanted. I hope he has an amazing day... he deserves the best xx




Millie's Birthday:
It's Millie's birthday on MONDAY.. her second birthday, so no longer a pup. She really has settled into adult life the last month or so which is great for when baby comes. Her day will be filled with presents (toys & a new jacket) and walkies.


Officially HALF WAY!
2 days till our scan xx