Who's the Daddy!

A week ago, I had my 24 week midwife appointment, which unfortunately HID couldn't attend, even though he's dying to hear the baby's heartbeat on the dopler machine. All was very well, healthy and normal. When the midwife started to check the baby's heartbeat with the dopler, the funniest thing happened, the baby kicked it away! This didn't just happen once but twice, which gave me the giggles, and made it very hard for the midwife to actually get a good listen!

Anyway, I thought that since the baby was now big enough to kick the midwife away, surely HID could feel the kicks too? I'd even thought I'd SEEN the baby kick a few times now! When I told HID what had happened at the midwife's later in bed, he obviously thought the same thing and put his hand onto my tummy. Within a few seconds, the baby moved right under his hand:

ME: There! Did you feel it?

HID: Yes!

a short passage of time....

ME: Again, there...

HID: Yes, right at the tips of my fingers!

Which is exactly where it had been! We rolled together, and he hugged me as tightly as he did the day we found out I was pregnant. Even though it was 11pm, and we were in darkness, HID reached for his phone. I knew instantly what he was doing: he was updating his status on facebook. This is what he wrote:

HID is very excited about becoming a Dad as just felt the baby kick for the first time!

How sweet is that?

Grown.

Mini-break

My ever-thoughtful husband, aka HID, booked a romantic getaway the other week. I had been feeling a little off-colour with my pregnancy, having to spend the best part of a week in bed (well, not really the best part as that's the weekend!), so he decided to treat me to two days and a night in Leeds, in what he described as a "posh" hotel. I'd thought he'd meant posh by our standards, not the bloody Queen's! Although it was divine, I've warned him not to burn money like that again! We stayed in the 19th floor, the views from the two (count them) panoramic windows were breathtaking (especially for a vertigo sufferer like me) as you can tell from my pic, as artistically taken by HID. The bed, well, you know how normal king size beds have two pillows laid across them? This had room for three, set side by side, huge it was! I barely touched HID all night! I bet that wasn't what he'd had in mind...Oh and I get so excited about all the little freebies, and we got so many! A fruit basket, different teas and coffees, toothbrushes, slippers, shaving kit!!! All fully taken advantage of and taken home, even though we probably don't need them. (Although they make great additions to my already packed hospital bag). We did have a worry about whether the slippers were ours to take.....obviously the robes were rather a large item, that is definitely stealing, but what of slippers? We debated, and decided to live on the edge and take them anyway!

We got glammed up, as I do at the slightest excuse to do so, and had dinner out in a pretty posh place, the Spice Quarter, which serves freshly made dishes in a buffet style, choosing from Italian, Thai, Chinese and Indian, even the fussiest eater could find food heaven there! An ideal place to take a pregnant woman really. In the end, HID had to ask for the bill while I was in the ladies, he said it was for our own good, before we burst.

As we left the restaurant, we heard gorgeous music drifting towards us from a tent erected in the town square...upon a little investigation we were purchasing tickets to a live jazz concert right on our doorstep! The tent ceiling was draped beautifully in dark cloths and twinkle lights, just as stunning as the city night's sky, but without the light pollution.

On the walk home, HID chivalrously shielded me and baby bump from worse-for-wear hen and stag parties, and back in our room we slipped into our hotel robes and just starred out of the window for ages, I even got brave enough to sit on the window sill. Later, I ran us a bubble bath (using the freebies!) in the gorgeous, glamorous bathroom.

Being in my condition, I have unavoidably gained weight. (Though perhaps I could have avoided gaining quite this much, but I swear the baby craves chocolate!) HID got in first, and I was cautiously dismayed at the amount of water my body displaced as I joined him in the tub. I relaxed back onto him (thus avoiding having to endure taps in my back), gently, aware of my newly ample frame. Eventually, he relaxed into me (he is not a fan of baths, showers, being clean in general, it's like having a teenage boy around) and we soaked. A while later, we gets out, leaving me enjoy the bath on my own. As he turned around to grab a towel, I noticed that his usually delicious bottom had a circular, red mark, spanning both cheeks! I couldn't stifle my giggles, and he blamed it on having my weight pressing down on him for so long. I couldn't hold in my squeals of laughter as he bent down for his freebie slippers and his balls became visible swinging between his legs, he looked like a baboon! I had never seen a more unattractive sight, I told him it was lucky I loved him. I finished my bath giggling to myself, and then climbed into bed next to my romantic baboon....

Grown.