The First Trimester

So, now I'd completed the first hurdle - telling the babydaddy - I had some family members to inform. Ben and I sat in Nando's and talked about how we were going to tell everybody. It seemed so surreal to be discussing such a thing that we both kept bursting into laughter. In between a load of 'I still can't believe it''s and 'God, we're gonna be parents', we kept trying to talk about other things, like what my holiday had been like and what I'd missed at work in the week I was away, but nothing else was even remotely sinking in.

We walked down to the pub and told my dad and Fi first. It was hard trying to hide all the high-running emotions from the punters, though, so we went out for lunch the next day and they told me some amazing news of their own - they were getting married! We were in the tea-shop area of Mad Dogs and Englishmen, which is tiny, very quaint and usually occupied by quiet, well behaved middle class ladies enjoying a spot of high tea. Luckily it was empty that afternoon, because there was a fair bit of excited shrieking and laughter coming from our table. Angie served us Earl Grey and cake and was all excited with us, and it was lovely.

We only really told family in the first couple of weeks, before I had my first scan. Everybody was amazingly positive - all my brothers jumped up and down when I told them, even the 20 year old one, which was cute. It was funny realising exactly how many relatives our baby would have. 2 Nans, 2 Stepnans, 3 Granddads, 7 Great-Grandparents and 8 Uncles!

I had to have an emergency scan at 8 weeks, as I'd had a tiny bit of bleeding when I'd gone on a birthday shopping trip to Brighton. I was massively freaked out, but everything was totally fine. I could just make out a tiny, peanut-shaped little foetus on the screen. Seeing that really made it real. The sonographer said my baby would be due between the 20th and 30th March, but it was too early to give an exact date. I got given a ton of leaflets to read, and had some midwife and doctor appointments made.

Now I'd seen my tiny bubba was healthy, I felt safe telling everybody else I was expecting. Another load of happy, excited reactions! Only a handful of people had anything negative to say - one person said "Oh, I thought you might be pregnant - you've really put on weight!". Another told me to seriously consider abortion, and one or two punters muttered that I was too young to be having kids. None of it mattered, though. It didn't stop the euphoric feeling I got in my chest or the massive grin plastered on my face every time someone said "I heard you're going to be a mummy!". I couldn't get used to hearing it.