Button has a name!!!

OK, so i think its safe to say that baby Button officially has a name! We have been pretty much set on the boys name for a while now, as it was one of the only ones we both seemed to like. However we now have a boys middle name too.

The girls names have taken a little bit more thinking about over the past few weeks, as we'd narrowed it down to two, and were struggling to choose between them. I've had mixed feelings about our chosen middle name for a little girl because its incredibly unusual (so unusual I've never heard of anyone with it). In some ways i quite like the fact that its unusual, as it will make her a little more unique, but at the same time i worry about what people will think. I don't want anyone to think we're one of those couples that have just randomly made a name up.. it is an actual name. Don't get me wrong, its nothing horrendous, we're not the type of couple to name a baby 'Chlamydia-Smirnoff' or anything weird like that.. its just a little different.

I've managed to think of a few reasons why we should go with it, these have helped me to make my mind up.

1) Adam and I both think it sounds beautiful, especially with the chosen first name.

2) It is only her middle name, so if she didn't like it, she wouldn't have to shout about it.

3) It has a secret hidden meaning to us as a couple which makes it extra special.

4) We shouldn't have to pick a name for a child based on what other people will think.

Also, i have anonymously joined a random pregnancy forum, and put a post on there asking what people think of it. I got 16 responses and all we're incredibly positive. Not one person said anything bad about it, they all thought it was really pretty!

I think i would actually be more excited about announcing our girls name than the boys now too, as the boys name is the complete opposite, quite popular, but i love them both!

It feels weird to think that this tiny person I've been carrying around for the past 33 weeks is actually going to be called one of those two names. I almost feel weird and kind of sad that baby wont be 'Button' anymore. I've been calling him/her that since the word go, and so does everyone else now, I'll miss it.

They will always be my little Button though :)

So yeah, this is quite a big point in the pregnancy for us, it all seems very real now our little piggy has a name!

P.S Please don't get tempted to ask us what the names are .. our lips are sealed until the day Button's born! Hopefully that means there will be no more than 7 weeks to wait!

Love Love Love xxxx

24+3

I actually can’t believe how fast time is going. It’s actually getting scary. So, we are now 24 weeks and three days pregnant, and Button (according to magazines etc) will be about 14 inches long! Our pregnancy is now 'Viable'! Which means that if little Elce was born now, there would be a chance of survival, and each day from now on, that chance will be greater. Still, fingers crossed they will carry on cooking for now!
While we're on the subject of early births, I still can’t help but feel a little paranoid that there may be indications of Button arriving early. I’m getting really distressed by the number of people telling me my bump is strangely low. Its approx 7-8 people a day! Even patients at work! Its really beginning to feel like something’s not right. They might as well be walking up to me and saying 'Hi, your bump looks worrying abnormal'! That, along with the fact that baby’s head was so low at the scan, my bump getting big quickly and a few other more recent premature symptoms im really starting to doubt my due date. I've got an appointment with Heather (my midwife) on Wednesday though so im going to ask her about it all and hopefully get some reassurance :)
Iv started making a book for Button. I've spent hours on it and im really proud of how its going (although I think there’s a few printing issues with it I need to look at). It’s full of photos and information on different family members, how I and Adam got together, our wedding etc. As a nice little keepsake to show Button where he/she came from. Im hoping to be finishing it and sending it to print within the next couple of days.

Buttons really active now, Adams felt his first kick and my tummy is moving around loads. Some kicks are even a bit uncomfortable, but i dont mind. Its lovely having little reminders that they are ok in there. Im starting to notice a bit of a pattern of when the baby is awake and asleep. I always get kicks when i first wake up, and as i settle down in the evening, often a little bit of movement after lunch and in the early afternoon, and lots of movement on the bus home! (I think thats Button looking forward to seeing daddy :) ).
Theres lots of wriggling going on in there right now :)

Some factors of pregnancy have become less than pleasant over the past few weeks. I now have really bad stretch marks that seem to be taking over the whole of my stomach, they itch like mad and are really frustrating. I've been applying Bio Oil twice a day for months, but they are still really bad. If they look like this at the moment, i bet i'll be covered by the time baby is actually here.
Iv been struggling alot with back and leg pain still. I should be going for physio at some point next week, so maybe this will help, but its really getting painful.
Sleep is becomming a thing of the past, which everyone is saying its to 'prepare me for when the babys here', but i have literally been sat in tears at 3am because im almost going full nights with no sleep, then having to face a full day at work. Its just frustrating because it doesnt seem to be one particular thing thats keeping me awake, just general discomfort, aches and to much thinking i think. Iv tried alsorts, nice warm bath and a massage from my sister before bed, trying to really wind down, but nothing seems to work. I seem to be back to an average of 5 toilet get-ups a night too, which doesnt help. So if anyone has any advice, please feel free to comment.
Its funny really, id always thought that i just havent recieved any comments on here, but i found them all the other day, quite a lot of them, that i had never noticed, so if you have ever commented on a post, i didnt mean to ignore you!

Another thing thats bothering me at the moment is the fact that iv got to start making some serious birth decisions. Its the hardest possible thing to do. I dont know how your supposed to make such huge decisions about something, when you have no clue what its going to be like or how your going to cope. It isnt lack of thinking about it either, i must think about labour approximately 20 times a day! And its what i spend most of my time awake at night thinking about too. I've just got all these thoughts whizzing round my head, water births, epidurals, pethedine, gas and air, active birth, positions, birthing balls, caesareans, and episiotomy. It’s all driving me a little mad! I feel like its going to be some of the biggest decisions of my life, something I don’t want to be getting wrong!

Adam, Button and I went out for a lovely meal on Monday night, thanks to Abi and Paul buying us some meal vouchers for Christmas. We spent the evening at Il Rosso in Mansfield and thoroughly enjoyed the quality time together to discuss our current situation. We talked about money, the house and what sort of parents we want to be. It was really lovely chatting about it with him. It made me feel even more excited because we both seem to have the same views on parenting.

I'm feeling quite optimistic about my remaining time at work now too. I've got 9 days of actual work left before a week off with monkey for our wedding anniversary!!! (How fast that’s gone!) then I have four weeks at work, then another week off, then four weeks back then I finish! It’s just nice to know that i've only got four weeks in one go before I can chill out and prepare for my baby.
On the cravings front, we're very much back on fruit juice! I am almost getting through a carton a day, which I don’t suppose is a bad thing really; there are much worse things to crave.

More exciting news, we think Button may have a name! We'd pretty much chosen our boys name a while ago, as it was literally the only boys name we could agree that we both liked. We have been struggling to decide between two girls names that we really like, but I think we may have come to a decision!

So, things are going well, im still loving every second of pregnancy, even though it feels like a pretty unattractive, and often quite painful period of my life. I know this baby will be worth every little ache and every stretch mark that’s going to come my way!
Here is an updated bump photo, taken just before we left for our lovely meal, 23+5 :)

Exciting stuff!

I woke up on Friday morning (after a not so good nights sleep) with the most intense feeling of butterflies in my stomach. It felt quite similar to the morning of our wedding. We had a nice snuggle, and each set off for work. I nipped into Subway for a quick breakfast, i was almost bouncing off the walls with excitement! I only had to work for about 40 minutes before i headed off for the train station. I had a wee before i left work, and decided that would be my last one. I sat on the train, sipping my litre bottle of water, trying to decide how many photos we should buy of Button, they were £2.50 each, so i though we could spend about £15 and get 6 photos. I got off the train at about 10:35, our appointment wasn't until 11:30, so i headed up to college to meet Adam at work. The walk made me realise that i was actually quite desperate for a wee. I kept thinking, last time we went we were kept waiting for about 30 minutes after our appointment time. I didn't think i could wait a potential hour, and then have someone pressing on my tummy, so i went to the loo at 10:45!! :/

I then started guzzling the rest of my water, and when we got to the waiting area i managed to down about an extra 4 cups too. We were called it pretty much bang on time, and i couldn't get in that room quick enough, Adam gave me a kiss and a little squeeze on my hand and i hopped up onto the bed. The lady said she needed to find the baby first, then she would turn the screen so i could have a look. Adam was staring straight at the screen, gripping onto my hand. I stared straight at his face to see his first reaction. Pretty much as soon as she touched my tummy Adam gasped and his whole face lit up. She turned the screen and i saw button straight away. My eyes filled up instantly and i looked back at Adam, he was welling up too. Buttons a total wriggler! The little legs we kicking all over. The lady drew a line from the top of Buttons head to its bottom, and told me i was 13 weeks and two days, and baby was just over 7cm long! We sat watching the screen, amazed! Then the best thing ever happened, baby turned its head towards us, stuck its arm in the air and wiggled its hand! 'Its waving at us!' i shouted, crying even more! As she moved further over my tummy we saw these two long bits, at first i though one was the cord, but then we noticed properly formed feet at the end! I couldn't believe it! Iv never seen legs like that on a scan photo! The little heart was fluttering nice and strongly too! It was the best feeling in the world! I could have laid there forever and watched our tiny baby on that screen! We asked for 6 photos, and she only charged us £10 for them. Iv literally spent the past two days staring at it. Iv got it as my wallpaper on my phone, and my display picture on facebook. Its soo nice for everyone to finally know, and us not have to worry about keeping quiet!

We've both been on cloud 9 since Friday, we went for a celebration dinner last night, and possibly even found a boys name! That's made things seem really exciting, i thought we were never going to find a compromise. We both really like it, so with a bit of luck, we may be almost sorted for names. We've still got two girls names we are deciding between!

So its been a magical few days! Everything feels so real now :)

I'm absolutely besotted! :)

xxxxxxxxx

Eeeeek! Buttons got a little Button nose!

Pooorlyish :(

I haven't been very well these past few days. Ended up rushing to an emergency doctor on Friday due to a referral i had from work for having blood in my ear. I seem to be being taken over by nasty infections :(
We stayed at mums on Saturday night, so that i could get to work on Sunday, it was really nice as Abi (my sister) and Paul were over from Norfolk, so it gave us a lot of time together which we don't get very often. After tea, Adam and Paul sat at the table with their laptops talking about football and boys stuff. Me, Mum and Abi went and sat in the living room and had a really detailed conversation about childbirth. It was really nice to ask all my questions, and its made me feel a great deal better. It made me realise i was actually quite naive about the whole thing, and need to stop believing everything i see on TV.
I woke up feeling awful on Sunday morning, i kept having really hot flushes, where i would literally break into a sweat, and i had a really bad headache. I managed to get through my three hour shift at work, and got back to mums to a beautiful Sunday dinner, my step sister Claire, her husband Liam and my little niece Emilie came to join us. It was really nice to have everyone together. Almost as soon as id finished my pudding i felt really sick, and could barely keep my eyes open. So i excused myself and went upstairs to lie down. I only planned to rest for about 20 minutes but ended up being there for well over an hour, i then had to force myself to get up.
I was quite poorly in the night last night, waking up in hot sweats and shivering etc so iv had to have the day off today, which i hate doing.
I am managing to control the pain and temperature with paracetamol, but i don't even like taking them. Iv slept loads today so hopefully I'll shake it off pretty quick because i have got to go to work tomorrow!
According to one of my apps, our baby is now the size of a 'green olive'!! Why its specifically a green one, i don't know!
We officially have not agreed on one single boys name as of yet! We've been through thousands and just don't agree at all. We have two girls names which we both love, so its just a matter of choosing which we want to go with. We even have a middle name chosen for a little girl!

Bump is still pretty huge, and has got even more solid! Will put another picture on within the next few days!

Love love love xxx