Scan, fireworks, birthdays and halloween

It's been a busy week here with my middle child, Morgan, having his 8th birthday and the local fireworks display both on Saturday.  They were really spectacular and well worth braving a cold evening for!  The children really loved them and were in awe of all the amazing colours and sounds.  It was a week earlier than the main display in town but that was intended so that people wouldn't avoid the local one for the main one. There were a couple of small rides there for children and fairground games, plus food stalls so we got some food whilst we were there as well.  It was surprisingly busy for a Saturday evening too!

Morgan had a lovely birthday during the day with lots of balloons, party poppers, banners, party food and cake.  It's been nice to enjoy some days and smile rather than feeling sad.  He loved all his presents and had a really fun time, which is the most important thing.


This is the pumpkin that Liam carved with the children, I think it looks pretty amazing.

Caitlin, Ethan and Morgan all dressed up for trick or treating, they had a lovely time and it was quite a mild evening which made it a lot more enjoyable!

Morgan opening his presents, very excited!

We went to Scarlett's grave and added a lot of new bits and pieces, plus the stones and it looks so much better now.  We spent a lot of time there and it was a sad and emotional day but I'm glad we did it.  I found it quite difficult as I kept thinking of how we shouldn't be doing that but should be playing with her or doing something with her instead.

This is my bump as of around 18 weeks I believe!  It's already grown a lot more now.

Lastly but by no means least we had our 20 week scan, I was so nervous and scared that something would be wrong with our baby but everything went smoothly and there was nothing even slightly wrong.  We were both extremely relieved and I feel a lot more relaxed now, not totally but more than I was at least which is a start.  The sonographer couldn't get a proper decent look but she said she thinks we're having another girl!  I'm so happy about this but really didn't care either way as long as the baby was ok.  I was a little surprised though as I had a strong feeling that it was a boy but I guess I was wrong!  Scan photos soon once I get them onto the pc. she looked very sweet sucking her thumb and wriggling about.  It was lovely to be able to see her.  I had my consultant appointments after the scan which also went well, didn't have too much waiting around either which is good.  I really love everyone at that hospital, they're all so lovely and helpful.

I'm having a doppler scan in a couple of weeks to check the blood flow as I've had pre eclampsia before but  hopefully this will be ok too.  We did have a little scare on Monday when we went in to hospital to have the baby checked as I wasn't feeling much movement and was also having cramps and tightenings but thankfully all was well and they listened in to the baby for quite a while and made sure my blood pressure and everything else was right.  I also had my cervix checked to make sure the contractions weren't doing anything and it was closed which was a relief.  I was ordered to take it easy and rest as they think that was causing it all, I've done so for the past few days since and it's definitely helped.  The staff were absolutely amazing and I couldn't have asked for more from them, so reassuring and very nice. It's like entering some sort of twilight zone where everyone is friendly, understanding and caring.  They told me I can go in whenever I want to be checked out or just listen to the baby, even every day if I need to!  It's good to know and also they were very genuine.  I'm at Hinchingbrooke hospital now after transferring from Addenbrookes and I can honestly say that it's a totally different experience.  I would never go back and have a baby at Addenbrookes.  I simply cannot fault the staff where I am now, they go above and beyond to really make you feel comfortable.