Bump2Birthday Journal

Ive always said if I had a a baby that I would keep a "keepsake-book" for him or her, as did my mum for me, and my Nan for my mum. I wanted something a little bit different than the usual baby books, to me they are very simple - fill out a word here and there, throw in some photographs and a lock of hair and et voila - a baby book.

Ii'd looked online at reviews and googled/amazoned/ebayed unique baby books and didn't really come across much if i'm honest. I found a distinct lack of cute itsy baby record books.

 I wanted a book that I could write all my pregnancy information in, but also continue for my baby's first year of his or her life - basically a big diary for my pregnancy. *I actually went out and brought myself a 2014-2015 diary from a card shop and began noting little bits of information here and there, but i often lost track of what i was recording and/or writing).

It wasn't until I were out shopping with my Mum and Nan one day, where we happened to pop into a local little trinket and home wear store (they had an absolutely adorable modern day rocking horse in the window, which i just HAD to go have a look at) and browsing through their new baby section. full of photo albums, keepsake boxes and trinket boxes I came across this - the  "Bump To Birthday Journal".

I picked it up and had a quick look at the cover and the back, which had a nice big £23.99 price tag attached to it, which i will admit, i thought was pretty steep for a blank book. So, I stood there, in the middle of the shop, like a lemon trying to get Wi-Fi signal on my phone in order to google the name of the book and see if it would be worth the £23.99 price tag. As i did, i found nothing but good reviews and praise for it, so I brought it, there and then (fully aware it was cheaper by £5 through amazon, but im impatient), and its perfect.

It really is a beautiful and brilliant book! "Bump To Birthday" literally covers your entire pregnancy, giving you medical information on your developing baby as the weeks progress, little cute things and snipets of information - for example:

" Week 14 - Your Baby is now about 8cm and weighs 45g. He is approximately the size of a lemon."

Each week where it compared size of baby to an object i would hunt around my house trying to find the object to show my partner - who by the end of it i guess must have gotten pretty fed up with my comparisons. It did make trips to tescos or asda more fun tho - id pick up a pineapple of banana and shout "LOOK!! This is how big our little Peanut is!!"

 It also has small sections based on how you (mum) are feeling, what you've been up to, and  section to note your weight and cravings (as lets face it we all put on a few pounds and fancy foods like anything!). It also has decent spaces to add photo memories and moments, like first and second scans until 39/40+ weeks (I think it lead to 42 weeks in-case mums were overdue) and then followed up the pregnancy section with a "Welcome to the World" where you were then able to log baby's birth details such as place and time of birth, weight, measurements, first photo etc.

The journal goes right on for a year after (in monthly installments) until baby's 1st birthday. This therefore gives you a record of your entire pregnancy as well as all the firsts - 1st Christmas, 1st Holiday, 1st Crawl, 1st Tooth etc. It doesn't miss a single little moment or detail at all.

Each page is just so SO cute as well, decorated with little trees and birds, in a range of colours - its not specifically blue for a boy or pink for a girl type thing. Its a general unisex baby record diary. Its just so adorable. I've actually another one of these, as a friend is also expecting a baby, and I think its a lovely way to record all information in one place.

Ive also since found out they do books that continue on from "Bump To Birthday" such as "Our Story - For My Daughter" or "Our Story - For My Son" which is a whopping 18 year diary (in 6mth installments) to record any big events or milestones that your child may have achieved -  I'm defiantly going to be buying the "Our Son" version!

The only problem with this book/diary, is that you have to be determined to complete it. With other baby books, you don't have the masses of writing as such to record, just a few words here and there. My son is now here, hes 6 weeks old and i think there's only 2 weeks where i hadn't recorded any in depth information, just quick notes that i added a few weeks later due to various reasons. If you like keeping detailed track of things (as i do, i blame a mild OCD) then its perfect. Its just a perfect keepsake.

 

The Bump To Birthday Journal 

available to buy at:

http://www.fromyoutome.com/parentandchild/bumptobirthday.html

Team Pink or Blue?!

I absolutely hate surprises. I like to know everything and plan it all to a T. So naturally I wanted to find out the sex of my unborn child! We had our 20 week scan on  22nd August 2014.

In my head, i just knew our child was a boy - that we were having a son. Call it "Mothers Intuition" if you like, but i was adamant i was carrying a boy. From craving Burger King Whopper burgers, crisps and crusty bread - that alone (according to Emma's Diary) proved old midwives tale that i was carrying a boy.

My feelings were SO strong that not long after finding out i was pregnant, and way before my 12 week scan, id find myself browsing baby boy clothes in shops, and i even brought "him" a little hat and booties that matched in baby blue.

People thought i was mad. They would refer to my unborn baby as "IT" which i hated, so after my 12 week scan we then refered to "him" as "Peanut" due to the songographer telling us to expect "him" to look like a peanut.

The day of the 20 week scan arrived, that evening i did not sleep one bit - a mixture of nerves and exitement, but then also the feeling of not wanting to know. Perhaps this was the biggest surprise of my life, and it would be a magical moment to just not know and be shocked after i gave birth. I told my partner that morning en route to hospital that i didn't want to find out and he looked a little saddened but if that's what i wanted then it was fine.

We arrived for the scan at Broomfield Hospital and were lead into the consultant room. As per protocol i layed on the couch ready for the scan. The sonographer asked if we wanted to know sex during the scan, and we said no. She then knew to avoid certain scan positions etc to give baby's gender away. My first reaction upon seeing "Peanut" again was "WOAH" that's no Peanut!!" By now "he" was a fully sized baby, with big arms and legs and a predominant button nose - my nose i was told (?!). It were the day of a England World Cup Match, and just before entering we were told via radio that England had just scored, and i swear our little peanut was giving England a cheer!! "He" was a footie fan already - another obvious sign "he" was really a boy!!

 The sonographer did all the necessary checks and measurements, then went to give us one final look at our baby via screen. The next time would be when we met for the first time! As we said "bye!" to our baby "He" spun 180 degrees around and presented us with a birds eye view of "his" bum, and within seconds, opened "his" legs to reveal a little winkie. The sonographer became flustered and tried to not assure us i was carrying a boy, but eventually she caved in and revealed that infact, my intuition was correct. I was pregnant with a boy. We were having a SON!!

                              

My partner and i were estatic. The first grandchild of both families, and it was a boy! My dad grew up with 3 sisters, and then obviously my mum had myself and my sister, so a grandson was a perfect surprise and gift to them all. We were extremely blesssed to be having our first child, a boy, who was fighting, fit and healthy and due 10th of January 2015.

This little person who we had only met several times via a video screen was already our complete and utter world. Its so crazy how you can be so in love with someone you've never met before. It was now a matter of playing the waiting game!!

Reassurance with BabyBond

My life changed forever the day my son was born. Realistically it changed the moment i found out i was pregnant, but it really was a life changing moment when they placed this tiny little bundle into my arms and it was announced my son was born.

I found out i were pregnant back in March 2014. I were due for the routine 12 week scan on June 23rd, but on June the 4th at 9 weeks gestation i were experiencing extreme stomach cramps and some slight bleeding. I was admitted to Braintree General Hospital where i were examined and told by a consultant that my pains were either one of 3 things - 2 with a negative outcome. It was either simple growing or nesting pains, an etopic pregnancy or the start of a possible miscarriage. To hear either of those not-so-nice outcomes, and basically being told your going to loose your baby either way is absolutely heart wrenching. Every possible emotion sweeps through you. When we questioned if we could have a scan to check that the pains were the positive of the 3, the consultant (if im honest) didst seem that bothered. He said the next scan they could get me in for was a week on Thursday. That was in 9 days time. There was no way on this earth we would be waiting 9 days. We rang around frantic trying to find somewhere that would take us and give us a private scan - no matter the cost.

We eventually managed to get an appointment at a center called BabyBond - they were based in Cambridge (and us in Braintree) but we didn't care. We drove the 44 miles in complete silence, preparing ourselves for the worst.

We arrived at the center to be greeted warmly by the receptionist, we explained our situation and she seemed genuinely concerned for not just us, but our unborn baby. We then met our chief consultant songographer who lead us to a a dimly lit room. We explained we were 9 weeks gestation and had the cramps and bleeding, and she warned us that at 9 weeks, all we would see is a peanut shape with no visible arms or legs as such as he/she would be so small.

She also prepared us for the worst case scenario if it were to be, and explained they had a team to help deal with losses etc. She then instructed me to lie on the couch and placed the gel on my stomach. We held our breat as she scanned. 

First we saw nothing. Just a black emptiness that was my womb. Suddenly, something flickered up - yet we still could see nothing. By now we could hear a faint whoosing noise, which we were told by a smiling sonographer that it was infact, our babys heartbeat. She then moved from left to right, and right to left until we were greeted with this image...

It was no "Peanut". It were a full silhouette of a baby, and its arms and legs were frantically kicking and moving about. Our baby was fine! He/She was very much alive and kicking, with no issues or problems at all. The sonographer could see the revilement on our faces, and again asked how far into the pregnancy we were. When i explained i were entering my 9th week, she laughed, and corrected me by telling me i were infact 13 weeks!!! One whole month longer than i originally thought!! The pains WERE just growing pains after all!!

The overwhelming relief that swept through me was indescribable. We had just met our future child for the first time, and he/she was ok! Tears were cried, happy tears by both myself and my partner. Life just got so real - we were going to become parents in 6 months time - Scary but exciting times!

Ive vowed that if i ever needed or wanted another scan done privately, id go again with Ultrasound-Direct. They were reassuring, professional and warm in everything they did. They made us feel at ease, and that our case was special and unique to them - even though they must have had our situation 1000 times over. Ultrasound-Direct comes highly recommended from us.

http://www.ultrasound-direct.com

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