Setting up the Nursery

When Clare moved into my bachelor pad and started making changes for the better, one of the first rooms to go was my study.  I had housed my PC, office stuff and movie memorabilia in this room, but as it was now to become a couples household it was time to clear out the junk.

The room has had multiple transformations since.  Box room, washing room, back to a boy's room, back to a box room.  We live in a two bedroom apartment, but realistically, only one bedroom is functional.

When we found out about Spud, we started the process of transforming the unused area into a nursery.  After our tragedy the room slowly deteriorated into a box/storage room once again and the nursery furniture went into storage.

As you can probably imagine, the drive to set this room up as a nursery once more was something we knew had to be done, but were reluctant to start for fear of never actually filling it.

At the end of December 2015, we were in to the third trimester and more confident about the future of the room.  Not knowing if Baby Sparkles would have a preference to Blue or Pink, choosing the colour of the room is not the easiest.  We tried variations of greens, greys and yellows, finally settling on Lemon Sorbet.  Neutral enough, but also colorful to bring brightness to the room.

Next was our trip to Ikea for storage, wardrobes and the compulsory random impulse buy (normally candles, but on this occasion it was a wooden spoon).  A great friend of mine detests the winding trails of Ikea and starts to palpitate at the mere mention of the Swedish firm, but Clare and I are a fan of bookshelves called Billy and tables called Sven.  Being on strict bed rest, Clare insisted on supervising our excursion, so we acquired a suitable mode of transport for her and roamed the flat pack heavens for our furniture of choice.

My Ma had saved the original family Moses basket that had been a safe haven for my brother, myself, my niece and my nephew over the years, and it had been saved for one more member of the clan.  Re-designed with our new choice of bedding, there was enough fabric left over to make a little feeding cushion and curtains for our nursery.  Clare's mum had made us a "nappy cake" which was linked to our Lemon Sorbet design and incorporated Clare's original nappy pin, christening cake stork and wedding flower.  It was a shame to dismantle so we left it pride of place on our newly constructed cabinet for a few weeks to admire.

With everything now set up, we just needed final touches going in to personalise it, maybe a little Star Wars somewhere, a little Lego, you know, the things that make a room just perfect.

Now we just need a little person to join us to call it their own

28 Week Scan

I'm forever blowing bubbles

It had been just over three weeks since we had been in Bolton Hospital, a personal best for the both of us during the pregnancy.

Clare and I had both felt the baby kicking and wriggling around (obviously Clare more than me) and on the night before the scan, Clare was having a little relax in the bath watching little tiny movements on her belly bump.  It is truly magic.

We always feel a little nervous before scans because of our previous history, however, the comfort of knowing that our scan today would be performed by no other than the lovely Lynne, put our minds at rest.

Baby Sparkles had grown and changed so much since we last saw, and was performing for us as well.  Sticking toes in the mouth and blowing bubbles.

My mum came with us as she is off to Australia in a couple of weeks and may miss the birth of Sparkles.  If we would have told her that we were expecting before they had booked they would have changed their mind.  We could not deny them this experience.  Seeing how happy this little munchkin made Nanna Davies was a really proud moment.

We now have a wheelchair for Clare, so I am able to take her out of the house, which has become a little prison for her at the moment.  Also, we are nipping to Ikea this week to purchase the nursery wardrobes and such, things are becoming so much more real in the new year our family unit will be expanding.