We are going to be Mummy and Daddy! We kept pinching ourselves, is this real? It was real and Natalie had 40 weeks of pregnancy to endure..
She had a largely uneventful pregnancy and enjoyed the experience, She did all the correct things to ensure that we would welcome a healthy baby into the world. She stopped drinking and maintained a healthy weight and diet. She avoided foods that could affect the baby. Much to her annoyance, pate was one of them. Her only cravings seemed to be sweet foods.
The 12 week scan was an exciting, experience. We couldn't wait to see a grainy image of our little baby growing inside of Natalie. This little black and white picture was going to make it all feel real.
I left work early and picked Natalie up in plenty of time. Off we went to the Royal Shrewsbury hospital grinning like cheshire cats, but our grins were soon wiped off our faces. 30 minutes of circling the hospital car parks ensured our excitement would soon turn to feelings of stress and anger. With the appointment time rapidly approaching, I make the suggestion that I drop Natalie off and meet her once I'm parked. Her bottom lip began to quiver and tears fell from her eyes. "I can't go by myself, I want you to experience it with me". My heart was breaking at the thought of suggesting it let alone it becoming a reality, but what could I do?
We decided to drive and wait outside the exit of the hospital doors and plea and grovel with people leaving, hoping that they would allow us to follow them to their parked car and take their space. It worked, we followed an old man and his daughter and we made it to the appointment 5 minutes late.
The sonographer explained what was going to happen during the scan and also requested that a trainee carried out the scan under her supervision. We all have to learn at some point and Natalie and I are big advocates of allowing trainees to attend appointments and carry out procedures under supervision. What a great decision that was. "I like this image, ohh, and I like that image" she would say. I think she liked all of the images and to our amazement, she printed them all off and gave them to us free of charge.
The 20 week scan provided the opportunity to find out the sex, We were excited to find out the sex of our baby. Our dog walks were spent debating names. For some reason girl names came easy, but we could never settle on any boy names.
Back at the scan, the sonographer asked if we would like to know the sex if the baby is in a position where we can see. "Yes we would like to know" we said. The ultrasound had barely touched Natalie's body and my untrained eye could see what looked like little boy parts. This was confirmed by the sonographer who could see the vacant expressions on our faces. "we haven't got a boy's name" we explained. She carried on with the scan and told us that George was showing up on the big side. Natalie decided that If he continued to be big her preferred option of delivery would be a C-section.
We left the scan and were both made up to be having a boy. A boy just seemed to suit our lifestyle more.
The following weeks were spent decorating the nursery, buying clothes, accessories, formula machines and any other item you could think of to welcome a newborn. We were so excited!
We settled on the name George and would discuss future and plans with regards to work and school. We weren't happy with our school catchment area and always lusted after our forever home. We decided 4 years time would be a good time to move but that plan soon changed.
Our next door neighbour moved out and we found ourselves living next door to an air b&b. Initially we were excited by this, who would rent an air b&b in Shrewsbury? we thought. Well....... Who wouldn't seems to be the correct answer. It was like a revolving door. All sorts would turn up. Families, Couples, Workers. There would be quiet stays, Party stays and even recreational drug taking in the back garden. Not to mention the invasion of cars and vans. All of a sudden our first home together was no longer a suitable environment for our baby.
We decided we wanted to move asap and ended up finding our current home, which we moved into shortly after Georges arrival. More on that in a later blog.
Weeks later we attended our final scan, not long now we were thinking. Mortgage offer and house move all in order, Baby name decided on. Everything has fallen into place and we are all systems go. Life is good!
The scan was completed and George was still showing up large. The consultant discussed delivery options and a C-section was booked. We had a date and the countdown was on.
We couldn't wait to meet our precious George.
Our pregnancy journey was probably very similar to thousands of other couples and the parents reading probably had similar experiences.
My next blog will move on to where things started to deviate from the plan and George's less conventional arrival into the world.
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