So I guess you’re wondering what’s been going on in the Kilburn household in the past seven weeks since the dramatic but happy news that I was 23 weeks pregnant!!

Well after the initial shock had settled me and hectic dad to be rushed round to tell all the family and they popped open the champagne - not that I was able to drink any of course!!! And then of course I had to tell work - nobody warns you how many forms you have to fill in and decisions you have to make!!! And because I was so far on in the pregnancy the decisions had to be made urgently!! Stuff like: when are you finishing for maternity?, how much maternity leave are you going to take? are you going to take any unpaid leave? is your job safe to do whilst you are pregnant? etc…. My brain hurts!!!

The other thing that no-one tells you is that everyone suddenly becomes an expert on pregnancy when you’re expecting!! Of course they all think they are helping but everyone has a golden nugget of advice for you - and most of the time each person contradicts the next!!! Breast feed, don’t breast feed, let the baby cry until its sleeps, soon as the baby cries pick it up etc… And there are a thousand and one books out there filled with advice too. My head felt full to explode all the time. I didn’t know where to start!! But then I found a great website: http://www.gurgle.com/ which is full of really down to earth advice and also includes videos of things like how to bath your baby.
Also, my stomach has suddenly trebled in size!! I’ve gone from a little pot belly to very obvious baby bump in just over six weeks!!! Hectic dad to be can’t believe it!! Baby is also very active now - he’s a kicker!!! He waits until I’m settled on the sofa for the night and then off he goes - playtime!!! Hes recently started to do some strange things too - things that feel like somersaults and last night i felt like he was running a marathon up my stomach!!! Odd feeling. I keep grabbing hectic dad to be’s hand and making him feel it too - its such a strange sensation that there is another little human being inside of you!
But it’s not all bad - people are so kind when you’re pregnant. It just seems to bring out the best in people. We’d been struggling under the lists of “essentials” that you need to buy for baby but now we’ve got lots of things ticked off the list. As well as the friend i mentioned last time who lent me her maternity wardrobe , we’ve been inundated with friends, family and co-workers offering us maternity clothes, baby clothes, pushchairs, baby baths, toys, etc.. The amount of generosity is overwhelming and we feel really really lucky!
Anyway, to reward myself for being so good and listening to all the advice and reading all the books I decided to treat myself to a gorgeous new cardigan. I can wear it now open over a vest top, but I can also wear it after Kilburn Jr is born too - and it will still look great. Stylish and comfortable - what more could a hectic mum to be want?!
Time for me to sign off now I’m afraid - more baby shops to trawl round!! But don’t worry I’ll be back soon to update you with more adventures of the hectic mum and dad to be! In the meantime if any of you want to leave me any tips or advice - please do! Despite what I said earlier in this post - it will be gratefully received!!!”