Welcome to the world, Baby Boy!

Hours after my last status update, my contractions started. Littlest was born at 11:54 pm on Thursday, 20 March after 7 hours of labour and weighed 6lbs exactly. We are both well. More later.

Status update

I am at the end of my 38th week of pregnancy. The baby's head is fully engaged and I am fully uncomfortable. Stay tuned for more.

New baby worries and a poll of sorts

I've been looking at a lot of Elliot's newborn photos lately in an attempt to remind myself what it was like to have a newborn in the house. I thought maybe it might not be such a shock to the system when I do have this baby. I'm glad we took photos of Elliot every single day, because there's so much I don't remember, even after just 2 years. So many different facial expressions, the way he cried was different, the way he smiled. And he was so impossibly small. But there will be so many differences this time around.

Gone will be the time I used to spend in between Elliot's feeds reading a book or napping. I'm worried that I'll be tired all the time and impatient with Elliot. I'm worried that I'll continuously snap at Elliot and be constantly grouchy and that Elliot will come to resent me and the baby. I worry that I won't have enough time for the both of them and that I won't be able to find the right balance. I worry that I won't be very good at being a mother to two children.

But I try not to dwell on that part too much. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, right now I'm focussed on delivering a happy, healthy baby. Maybe you want to take a guess with me as to when that will be? It'll be like a competition, see who gets the closest. Here is the backround information:

I went into labour with Elliot exactly one week before his due date. But he was born 6 days before the due date. I was in labour for 4 hours and 5 minutes exactly. My bump measured quite small and I was told Elliot would be underweight - he actually weighed 7lbs 6oz.

OK, so my due date is officially the 1st of April and my bump is roughly the same size as with Elliot, based on that and the above,

1) When do you think this second baby will arrive?

2) How long will labour last?

3) How much will this baby weigh?

I would love to hear what you think.

For lack of a better photo

Finally, another bump shot. When N took this photo he actually said I don't look as large as normal, and it's true. Maybe it's the position I'm sitting in. And I told him he could just focus on my belly, but he didn't, which is why the photo came out so terribly. I am the least photogenic person in the entire world. But here I am, this last weekend, just entering my 36th week of pregnancy. Here's hoping the last 4 weeks fly by incredibly quickly.

And the wait is over...

I present to you Baby Number 2 in all HIS glory. Yes, it looks as though the baby is most definately male!

Here's your task, should you choose to accept it...

I'm on the hunt for baby names for SecondChild. I've posted a message on my myspace page and one on my facebook page, but I keep getting very strange suggestions (from my brother and from N)(and then N went and enlisted some friends of his to also leave weird names). Here's the list so far, feel free to add to it as you wish:

Boys: Pepper, Primus, Lucky, Geraldo, Paddington, Smithy, DangerMouse, Rick, Flameboy, Romper, Bartholomew, Arnold, Derek, Proctor, Planstrom, Chuckie, Bing, Zippy, Anthony, Bosco, Sandford, Fievel, Jean-Pierre, Jean-Phillippe, The ICE man, Hayden, Edward, Oliver, Harry, James, Michael, Alexander, Levi, Scott.

Girls: Rain, Cinnamon, Elliota, Peachy, Maribelle, Amelia, Elena, Elana, Jing-mae, Cate, Lily, Indria, Anuradha, Kate, Amelia, Megan, Madison, Elizabeth, Cadence, Isabelle, Crysta, Lynn.

Other: Disney's 'The Kid', BPP, Bluetooth, Amber, Boston, Le Poo, Shimmy, DYMO, Symphonic-Harmonium-Composium, UnoDosTres, Baby Chuckles, Pumpoo, ChingChing, SuperFireBallThing.

Can you see what I'm up against?!

Lalala... I'm PREGNANT

So, as promised, here is the news I've been keeping since my birthday. I am pregnant! I've been very excited, but also hesitant to tell people, which I think is understandable. But we had our dating scan this afternoon, and although we're still in our 10th week, N and I feel confident enough about this pregnancy to finally share it with the world. WE'RE HAVING OUR SECOND BABY!

I haven't been blogging as much because of this. It seems like all that's been on my mind lately is this new pregnancy and the anticipation of a new baby. Will it be a boy or a girl? How will Elliot cope with a reduction in attention? What on earth are we going to do with all the stuff currently living in what eventually will be Second-Child's nursery?

Here are the bits most people like to hear about: the due date is 1 April, 2008. No, I have not had any morning sickness at all. Or nauseua. I have been constantly hungry and have had a few cravings/food aversions. Cravings: oranges, cold water. Food aversions: chocolate, icecream, some dairy products. I have a real on/off relationship with cheese at the moment. I've been sleeping nonstop. I nap when Elliot naps. I would prefer a girl, but wouldn't be disappointed at all if we end up with two boys. It's too early to have shortlisted any names. We're probably only going to have the two children in total. We'll be scanning the ultrasound photo at some stage if anyone is interested.

I think that sums pretty much everything up. I assure you semi-interesting blogging will return, as long as no one minds constant new-baby-posts. I'm really happy.