#18 I'm a Dad! Amelia Evelyn Lawrence

I'm sorry I've not had time to write up an entry on here for quite some time, but I just wanted to fill anyone in who might still read this. I'm a dad now. Amelia Evelyn Lawrence was born 10th September 2012 and weighed 7lbs 10oz.

She is very beautiful.

Katie did very well during labour, it was all textbook. Everything went perfect, no complications and after a day full of exhaustion she managed to give birth to Amelia naturally.

Amelia was born with a cleft in her soft palate, at the back of her mouth. This leaves a gap into her nasal passage that prevents her from being able to suck properly. It takes a special bottle and plenty of patience to feed Amelia but Katie has become an expert at it already. She will need an operation at around 6 months, but she is taking just as much milk as any baby her age and you wouldn't notice the difference unless you were told about it.

I can't explain the feeling of being a dad, but I can tell you it's my favorite feeling in the world. It's tough, believe me it's tough, being a parent is something else entirely! But the good things definitely outweigh everything else.

I could not be more proud of Katie and how well she is coping!

I have a family now. WE have a family.

#16 39 Weeks and 5 days.

Our baby is due in 2 days. We are looking forward to it now, really. Katie just wants the pregnancy to be over though. 9 months is a LONG time to feel like she feels, and I wish I could cheer her up somehow on those bad days, but we're almost there now, the final dash towards the finish line. But where is the finish line? Can we see it yet? No. We can't. We can't see it because we don't know when the baby will actually come. It's like waiting for Christmas, without know what day christmas will be this year.

December the 25th, It's usually easy to count down the days. September 11th should be the same, but our baby might not (and probably won't) come on that day.
So now we just play the biggest waiting game of our lives.

Anyone got good ideas to pass the time?

Mike ^.^ x

#14 - 37 weeks, 4 days

We're almost there, Katie is full term and she's having a lot of signs that the baby could come any time. It's amazing to think that there's a fully grown baby in Katie's tummy waiting to get out. She's fed up now though, let me just tell you something, being pregnant is hard work. She has been awesome through it all, but she has just had enough. This baby needs to come soon, for Katie's sake!!

Plus, I really really really can't wait to hold my daughter for the first time.

Btw, Katie is not impressed with my taking photos of her when pregnant.

#13 - 35 weeks, 6 days...

14th August 1987. The day I was born.
I'll be 25 tomorrow. A quarter of a century... Where did that even go? Not a clue if I'm honest... It doesnt even feel like it'll be my birthday tomorrow. I'm too excited about the baby now. We're so close. 29 days until she's due.
I'm on the bus to work now. Just figured i'd spend abit of time updating this blog.
We've bought everything we need for the first few months, all there is left to do is wait.
I'm not really great with words at 9am. So most of this is likely to sound like gibberish.

Katie says she think the baby has 'dropped'... Which means she's lower down and getting ready to come out. We see the midwife tomorrow morning and I guess we will be talking through some things with her about the big day. I'm not exactly sure how any of this works but I'm fairly sure thats whats going to happen.

I've been speaking to my dad recently. Ever since I became a teenager there was something that just didnt click between us. I won't go into it here. Katie met my dad and pam (my step mum) the other week and they were really nice to her. They are already grandparents to my nephew Dante, and they do a pretty great job at it. It's comforting to know they are there.

Katie has done so well during her pregnancy, there have been times where she's been in tons of pain but she's got through it. 4 more weeks until the first Lawrence of a new generation is born. That's something pretty special.
I was talking to a friend about how I felt, and I said "You know that feeling you get on Christmas morning as a kid, you wake up and realise 'oh its christmas' and you get that buzz? I get that everyday now. 'I'm goin to be a dad'"
That's why my birthday fails to grip me this year. It's overshadowed by the excitement of the baby coming.

Aslong as baby and mum are healthy... Sod my birthday.

#12 - 31 Weeks

Just want to say a special thank you to the ladies at babyandbump.momtastic.com for your comments on this thread.
And all the other advice we've both been given over the last few months.

Katie is now 31 weeks along as of yesterday. My new shift is going well, 10am - 6pm suits me much better. Katie said she is much happier with me getting home at this time.

She is getting quite snappy lately, annoyed at me for the slightest things. Taking up too much space in bed, (More than 1/3 of the bed is too much.) and other stupid stuff. Everyone keeps saying it's just the hormones and I know it is so I just deal with it and try my best to never argue back. It's difficult because I'm quite argumentative and stubborn... I've just learned to do whatever I'm told right now, it's just easier than arguing with a pregnant woman!

Just 6 weeks until she is full term and 9 weeks until her due date. The baby could come anytime from 6 weeks though!

We pretty much got everything bought now, Katie just wants to get a new mattress for the Moses Basket but other than that we pretty much have everything.

Katie's mum bought us a new TV recently, a 40'' 1080p HDTV for the living room. It's awesome!!

That along with our new phones & the computer will probably be the last things we get ourselves for quite some time.

DayZ

For you gamers out there, check out this game: - http://dayzmod.com/

It's a Horror Survival/Sandbox/First Person Shooter and it's AMAZING.

The general idea is that you need to scavenge supplies to survive, on a massive map that takes a long time to navigate and traverse on foot.  http://dayzmap.info/ 

You need to eat, drink and stay warm to survive. Doing so takes a combination of making food by fires, drinking water or canned drinks that can be found in houses, tents or barns.

But the loot spawning points are also hot spots for Zombies. They patrol through houses, fields and gardens around cities and villages. Making noise, or being too visible allows zombies to detect and chase you. They run about the same pace as you do, and when they run they alert other zombies to your presence too. Shooting also alerts zombies to your presence, so being trigger happy on this game is the last thing you should be.

Another threat to you on this game is coming into contact with other players. They are potentially more dangerous than the zombies because they can (and will) kill you for your supplies. I've died this way numerous times. Players often shoot me and take whatever I've been carrying.

The best, and worst thing about this game is the fact that upon death you lose everything and spawn at the coast with nothing but a torch, a bandage & a box of painkillers. To die in this game is considered game over, 'permadeath' has given this game a spin away from regular FPS shooters. You have no rank to achieve, no perks to unlock, just one mission: Survive.

It is inevitable that one day you will die and lose everything. It creates a tense, decision making experience that has made DayZ one of the most important things to happen to First Person Shooters in recent history.

Games developers will be watching closely to see how the community respond to DayZ, because for what is essentially a mod to a pretty poor game, DayZ has (for me) been the BEST game of 2012 by far, Perhaps even this decade.

Crossbow!

Me, Gav, Garry & Rob on DayZ

Rob, Mel & Garry on DayZ

#11 - 28 Weeks

I was offered a new shift at work yesterday and I snapped it up! I will be working 10am - 6pm instead of 1pm - 9pm, on a new team instead of Level 3, which is going to give me so much more time to see Katie and our little baby when she's born.I can't get over how happy I am about that. My life just took a massive turn towards drastic improvement. I did have to push managers to get it in the end, but what's done is done and I've secured something I certainly needed.


We have most of the essentials for our baby now, Car seat, Pram, Cot, Moses Basket.. And SO many baby clothes! (Granted 80% of which are pink, which is something I wanted to avoid.. What if they were wrong and she's a BOY?! ><;)


I'm getting excited and scared at the same time. I can't believe how close I am to holding our first born child for the first time. Baby will be here in just a couple of months! Eep!


There are many things I'm looking forward to in the next few months. Watching England play football has been good, they're still in the Euro's at this point and play Italy on Sunday! Good luck England!!


I think my message got through to everyone because now, Katie has been spending more time with my family, Sarah, My mum, My cousins and grandparents and auntie. I think it's been a massive lift for her really, being able to feel part of the family. 


Katie does far too much round this house and when I tell her I'll do something she just says "No cause you'll do it wrong" ...Blah ¬_¬. She has started to do less, which is good, but she doesn't listen when I tell her she's doing too much. Now that I've got my new shift I plan on doing a lot more house work when I get home.


My life is panning out pretty awesome. I know Katie is feeling low sometimes so I kinda feel bad for saying I've never been as happy as I feel right now. I'm on a roll! I just hope I'm the one to keep Katie smiling too. I don't really understand women's feelings and hormones and all that... Of course I don't! But... I'll always try to cheer her up where I can.


WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

#10 - Hot Weather!

The weather these past few days has been absoloutely amazing. Shame Katie doesn't enjoy it, especially with her being pregnant it's just made her uncomfortable in this heat.

We ordered the pram. So yes, the last big buy is done. Oh, there's plenty of other things to buy yet, but we have about 3 months until the baby is here.

Katie is 25 weeks exactly, tomorrow. Will post a picture up soon!

We went to see the movie "What to expect when you're expecting." this weekend, it wasn't bad but it was definately aimed at pregnant women and fathers to be so I guess I fit into that category. Eek.

I've been enjoying the hot weather though, but it's gonna disappear tomorrow.
No doubt Katie will be happy at that, hehe.

106 days to go. *gulp*

#9 - Note

Got myself that new phone I previously mentioned. It's pretty freaking awesome I wont lie!! I love it.
Katie is ok after her fall the other day but she's doing so much round the house she's making herself ill.
Shes gotta start taking it easy!

Will add more later. Much Super Mario World to be played on my phone.

#8 - Tumbler

Katie had a fall this morning, I was at work and she was rushing around at home trying to get ready for work when she fell down the last half of stairs and landed on her side. Ouch. She was having pains so I told her to contact the midwife and sent my mum round.

Apparently she's okay, she went to see the midwife who checked the babies heartbeat and everything is okay, but she was abit worried. She took the day off work today, I told her to rest and apparently so did the midwife. She keeps apologising and saying we're "losing money" when she's has days off...

But she's WORKING, and most pregnant women I've known didn't or aren't... I don't expect her to work or anything, the fact that she does just makes things easier. I feel like I've guilted her into having to work or something.

Just glad she's okay, she needs to be more careful and stop running up & down those stairs!!

Figured I should write about it here.

Rest Katie. - Mike

#7 - 22 Weeks. 18 to go!

We're over half way there, infact, in 15 weeks she'll be classed as full-term and she could pop at any time. Just so you know, 15 weeks might sound like alot, IT REALLY IS NOT.
I'd just like to add that Katie is working 37.5 hours a week, (more hours than me) full time in a very stressful call centre environment. Aswell as doing washing, tidying and all that stuff that I'm rubbish at but I keep trying. I have no idea how she manages it, she has to be superwoman. Her belly has grown a fair bit in the past couple of weeks, here's a picture taken just last night.

We've had fun over the last few weeks, we went to see the used, we had a house party, spent some time friends with Chris & Claire, went to see Marvel's Avengers Assemble movie, (as pictured above- It's absoloutely awesome by the way) got Katie a new phone and we went to see my friends John & Cindy at their snake shop in sheffield(shameless advertisment) - who I know actively read this blog! Don't forget to comment guys!

Sony Xperia S - Katie's new phone

Samsung Galaxy Note

Katie got herself a new phone, Sony Xperia S, and she hasn't really put it down since she got it. It's a nice phone, the screen is pretty good quality HD and all that jazz. It uses the Android OS which is something I really like about it. Blogger.com (yes, this website) has it's own android app which allows blogging on the go! Heh heh... I'm looking at getting the Samsung Galaxy Note, it's pretty big but it looks very good. It also runs the android OS. I'll be updating this thing directly from my phone, Hurrah!

I know over the next few months... (or years) (...or decades even...) everything is going to be ...baby, baby, baby... (not the justin beiber song) ...so we've got new phones and we've got a new PC to treat ourselves before the plunge into parenthood.

At work today I've been looking at websites that give tips for men taking the leap into parenthood, I've been looking at products and reviews on Amazon and I'm considering buying a few things next month towards the baby. To name just one of the things I'll definately consider getting, the Baby Bjorn carrier... Because pushing a pram isn't always necessarily worth doing if I'm just nipping out for a few minutes to the shop.

Baby Bjorn Original Baby Carrier



All this forward planning is NOT MY STYLE but I guess I better get used to it.Also, for now we've decided not to get another dog. We will look at getting one when the baby is grown up abit, that way I will have more time to train it and get Misa used to it.

Also, I did get that new gaming PC. We got it on finance so I'll be paying it off over the next 2 years. Diablo 3 is out next week, what a coincidence! I will be documenting my gameplay in a similar blog, the link is at the bottom of this page.

On a final note, I recently heard some terrible news at work. A collegue of mine was involved in an Motorbike collision and has been paralyzed from the waist down, her back was broken and she is very lucky to be alive. I just wanted to take a moment to tell Kirsty Grainger that everyone at work misses her lots, we all hope you recover as best you can Kirsty and everyone is thinking about you. Everyone keeps asking around to find out how you are! We all say it's not the same without you here.

'til next time people! - Mike

Don't forget to check out my New Diablo 3 Blog - miked3.blogspot.com

#6 - 20 Weeks. Ultrasound Scan. It's a girl!!

We went to the hospital today for Katie's 20 week ultrasound scan.

 

Our very healthy baby Girl, 20 weeks today! - 24/04/12 - Click for full size!

I am pleased to say that there is a big and healthy baby girl resting inside of Katie as we speak. I am so happy I can't even begin to explain. We even saw the baby yawn while it was on the screen and it made me yawn too! How odd is that? The woman who did the scan told us that it's never 100% and we can't be completely sure that she's a girl, but the odds are in her favour.

We had an excellent time in London over the weekend, I even got to see the Dinosaur bones in the National History Museum, which is something I've always wanted to do. It was awesome.

I met lots of katie's family and apparently they all liked me, which was great. We're just feeling better about everything after having a little break. As we were talking about getting another dog, I've had words with a friend about making the back yard husky proof to see how much it would cost.

Misa was so excited to see katie, they just don't leave eachothers side for long! It was abit hard on them both.

But anyway: I don't want to steal our baby's thunder, so I'll say it here again just to make sure you got it:

It's a girl!!

#5 - Was that a KICK!?

I put my hand on Katie's tummy last night expecting once again to feel absoloutely nothing, and i felt the slightest little flicker of movement in there and I know she felt it at the same time because her eyes widened just as I felt it. So I felt my baby move for the first time last night, which certainly is something. It took my breath away!

I usually work 1pm - 9pm, but today I'm doing 9am - 5pm so I can pack things tonight for London. Katie is dead excited to take me sight-seeing and "show me off" to her family. I can't wait to go because it's going to make her really happy, & I get to have a break from work!

This is going to be good for the both of us.

We've been looking into getting another Dog one day & we're looking into the possibility of adopting a Siberian Husky. An animal like that takes alot of looking after, but that does not phase me whatsoever, they are beautiful, smart & can make the best of pets.

Thanks to all the people at www.sibespace.co.uk for all their help. I would say to anyone who was looking into getting a Husky, to visit this website first. Join the forum, ask many many questions, read up and learn about the breed before jumping into getting one just because they are beautiful. A husky is a massive responsibility, they demand alot of attention and respect. Don't just jump into it, too many people make that mistake. I hope I'm not one of those people and that in getting one I never regret it. Only time will tell, we're just planning for the future.


Thanks for reading! - Mike

#4 - 19 Weeks

As of this morning Katie is officially 19 weeks! 1 week to go until her next ultrasound scan. Then we'll be able to find out wether it's a boy or a girl, & check to make sure everythings okay. Little has happened since my last blog except Katie has gone back to work after feeling ill, but we soon have a week off which will benefit is both. We're going to see Katie's family and friends in London.

I had a terrible dream last night that Katie had been seeing someone behind my back, and in my dream I went to punch this someone and I'd actually lashed out at Katie in my sleep and hit her in the arm. I felt so guilty!! But I was asleep and it's not like I did it on purpose, but I still felt crap about it. Katie made me feel better about it because she knows I was asleep. That's never happened before though. Maybe I should sleep in a straight jacket or something!?

Anyway... I had too much sleep last night and it's left me feeling ill. I guess "too much sleep" is a term I won't be using in a few months time though. Better enjoy it while I can.

#3 - Thoughts on Prams and Money

So my sister has offered us the option to buy her pram for a reduced price, (or stroller to you non-english readers) but she claims it's too heavy for her. Katie is smaller than my sister in height and frame in general so I suspect it won't exactly be too easy on her either. I think I'd rather buy one of my own... I've thought about what I'd like to do for the baby, if I can buy something out of the money I've earned for the baby then I think it I'd like to buy a Pram. I want one that's strong but light! But man they do cost alot of money. I also have no idea where to start looking, what makes a good pram? I don't know. Where's the best place to get one? What features should this thing have? I've never even thought about this up until now... It's never before crossed my mind. HELP!

...And suddenly all the things we're going to need to buy start flooding into my head. Though we do have some essentials. We have the cot (crib) and a baby bath... There's alot of stuff we'll need that we don't have. (A CAR would be good too.. I need to pass my driving test, that's something else on my list.)

• A Car Seat
• Baby Monitor
• Clothes, Coats, Hats, Mittens, Shoes
• Bibs
• Towels, Flannels, Muslin Squares etc.
• Bed Sheets
• Blankets
• Changing Mat
• Nappies
• Creams
• Lotions
• Cuddly Toys
• A Brand New Gaming PC
• And about five hundred other things...

Oh dear... Bye bye monthly wage. Hello life as a dad! Should I take up my sisters offer?

Another thing I'm going to have to research into is Child Tax Credits and Child Benefits etc. I have no idea what I will be given or what I will get towards our income... I know it won't be much, but it'll help.

Katie keeps telling me she can feel the baby moving alot now and keeps grabbing my hand and putting it there but I can't feel anything. She's only 19 weeks, I assume that's far too early for anyone on the outside to feel anything. ...But what do I know?

#2 - Eighteen Weeks & Two Days.

The Bump!

Just a quick update showing Katie's bump at 18 weeks and two days. We've been talking about names and we both think Amelia is looking like the best name for a girl, but obviously there's alot of time for minds to change.

Still can't come up with one for a boy though! Oh well, we have alot of time yet.. .I guess. It's all going very fast though.

We've also been discussing the possibility of getting another dog. The idea being that alot of people say having two dogs is better on the first dog when a baby comes. Yes, dogs are alot of work and it'll be alot of work ontop of having a baby, but we both think that it would benefit Misa, and the household, in the long run. We were considering trying to get a 6-12 month old German Shepard that is already house trained, good with children and other pets. This way, Misa would have a friend when we aren't around and will have some company.

It's not a decision we'll make lightly and not something we'll rush into without thinking it through properly. But it's not something we'll just turn away, yes it will be difficult, but it will definitely have its benefits.

Anyway, I'm just rambling on. If you have anything to say about it feel free to leave it in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

- Mike

#1 - An Introduction with Names

First of all, I am not a dad yet, but by september I will be!

Katie Bump & Misa

 
My name is Michael, I live in South Yorkshire, England, with my girlfriend Katie and our dog Misa. We are expecting a baby! It was a surprise, but a very welcome one.

I decided to create a blog to write down all of my thoughts, document our progress and keep some people up to date with things happening now and in the near future. I will try to add a bump picture every week from now on to track how much she is growing, & I will write about things we buy and things we do to prepare for the baby.

...I also have NO idea what I'm doing.

The main baby related thing today has been names. So far we have settled on either Amelia or Alice for a girl, but we can't quite grasp a boys name. Andrew is my middle name and the name of Katie's late father, so we have agreed to give him the same middle name as me, Andrew, if he is a boy. The other name that we are tossing up in the air is Logan but I'm not too convinced that it'll fit. (Katie is also indecisive, she can't settle on, or agree to a boys name at all!)

We have a very busy few weeks ahead of us, the end of April is pretty much full! We have a lot planned, I just hope Katie doesn't get too exhausted from it all. Still, it will be nice to have a week off work. I haven't had a week off since November.

Coming up:

• Trip to London 19th - 23rd April
• Katie's Birthday 22nd April
• Second Ultrasound Scan 24th April
• The Used Gig - Manchester 25th April (Katie's Birthday Present)
• House Party 28th April