Towards the end of a very tough and very taxing 2020, we had some very good news in the form of a little blue and white stick covered in pee. Nothing quite prepares you for confirmation that there’s a baby on the way; it’s slightly surreal (and I should say, exciting) to know that you are going to be introducing a little life to the world in just over nine months’ time. A mixture of euphoria, anticipation, fear, realisation, and a whole spectrum of other emotions all hit you at once. Life will never be the same again…
With the first trimester you really are getting the introduction to life carrying a baby. While I’m not carrying it myself, as a husband my life and routines have become inextricably linked with Katie’s. When she gets tired, I stop too. When she needs to be sick in the middle of the night, I get up too. It’s quite a strange existence; you feel slightly helpless as you’re not really doing that much. The first trimester is almost more about being there, on standby, to make sure you can do everything and anything you can when you are most needed.
I think the biggest shift is from a daily to a weekly way of “working” towards that new end goal of the due date. Given the current climate there’s really not much to define time, but you soon begin to countdown each week and excitedly watch the baby develop via the myriad of apps that are now available on your iPhone. One week it’s the size of a grape, the following week it’s the size of a strawberry. You still haven’t had the first scan to properly confirm the pregnancy, so you follow a bit more on faith rather than facts.
You also begin to really appreciate the good days; Katie had a pretty rough few weeks in the first trimester where energy levels were low and the morning sickness was in full effect. Any outdoor walk was an achievement and we were anxiously on standby each day in preparation for hopefully being able to finally get out of the house. It almost becomes a blessing that there’s no real office or no real commitments to attend to. I genuinely don’t know how women are able to go to work during a pregnancy, especially during these tougher times.
I would say that Week 12 is where things really begin to feel real. Nothing quite prepares you for that introduction to the baby via ultrasound. It’s absolutely incredible to see all the tiny organs wriggling around; seemingly in a world of its own and completely unaware of anything going on in the outside world. It’s the first time you get to see the baby and, while you only really confirm its existence and health, your mind begins to wonder just what that tiny little fetus will grow up to be. There is definitely a sense of relief when it gets the all clear and a sense of excitement when you see the tiny little hands wave back at you from the ultrasound monitor above the bed.
Now we are nearly at the halfway mark, the next major landmark is the 20-week scan, where we will find out if it’s a little boy or a little girl. Just another piece in the pregnancy puzzle!
