I Am Your Father – Part 4: 28 Weeks Later

OK, we’re just over 28 weeks in, with just around 12 weeks to go until the big day. The countdown has well and truly started!

Bump Update

M’wife is really showing now. It’s been remarkable how quickly she has grown from the size she was just before Christmas. The picture below isn’t a great representation, it’s mainly an excuse to share a picture of our dog and the t-shirt that I bought because I just couldn’t resist!

Anyway, according to her app, the baby is the size of a butternut squash this week; over 1.2kg and 39cm long.

As for other updates; well, there have been a few midwife appointments, but I haven’t been going as they are just simple checkups and she doesn’t need me to be there. The only other thing to report is that m’wife has had to deal with some pain in her hips, which the midwife said she will “just have to live with until the baby comes”. There are exercises and things that she can do, but she is discouraged from taking any medication, even ‘everyday’ stuff like paracetamol. Fortunately, for whatever reason, the pain has since subsided, but that was the first time that I’ve felt like I’ve really had to look after her during the pregnancy so far. Other than that, not a lot of news on the medical front.

There have been some new pregnancy purchases though. She’s bought a giant, u-shaped cushion thing, designed to help her sleep comfortably in a position that’s good for the baby (she’s not supposed to sleep flat on her back and, obviously, can’t sleep on her front any more). I was slightly unsettled by the size of the thing at first, but it turned out not to be a problem; it actually keeps her safely confined to her side of the bed!

Back to the bump; he has started to move around in a way that you can feel from the outside. She keeps grabbing my hand and placing it on her belly, and he has been getting more tangibly active in the last few days, but I still haven’t really had that magical “ooh, I felt him,” moment that people seem to have on TV. Maybe it’s just me and, hopefully, it will happen soon, but I’m told it can be difficult for fathers to bond with their babies at this stage, or even when they’re born, so I’m not too worried.

Baby Shopping

Back to the subject of shopping and we have started stocking up on stuff we’re going to need when he actually arrives. We’ve got a few key things, such as a baby monitor, a sling and some clothes. We’ve also been buying a packet of nappies and baby wipes every time we go to the supermarket, so we’ve got a bit of a stockpile going.

There’s so much stuff that is marketed at you and I’m not sure how actually useful most of it is (and a lot of it ain’t cheap!), but so far we’ve been fairly restrained and only bought things that we think we’ll actually need. Once the baby is here, I’ll let you know how good/useful/essential it all was.

The expense was one of the things that I was most worried about going into all this, but it hasn’t been too bad so far. We got a lot of stuff second-hand, or through e-Bay, to avoid paying full price, which is useful if, like us, you have a limited budget and aren’t the sort of person has to get their baby shiny new everythings. One of the few things you actually have to buy new is a car seat – after all, you have to be certain that the seat hasn’t been in an accident before and that your child is going to be safe.

At this point, I’d like to do a big shout out to our amazing friends and family. We’ve already got loads of clothes and other useful things that have been kindly donated, as well as having things like the aforementioned car seat bought for us by generous soon-to-be-grandparents. It’s amazing how people have come out to support us and it has been a huge load off our minds (and our bank balance!). We are very aware of just how lucky we are to have all this help and support, and we are so incredibly grateful!

Final Thoughts

Now that the baby is arriving this year rather than next year, I think the reality is finally starting to sink in (as well as some of the terror!). However, while I don’t imagine anyone is ever truly prepared, I think we’re doing pretty well so far. It will be interesting to see what the next few months have in store!

Coming up; we’ll be starting our NCT classes and getting the house (and the dog!) ready for the baby’s arrival. I’ll report back in a few weeks to let you know how that goes. Until then, farewell!