Are you feeling any different today? Any morning sickness yet? Do your boobs feel any bigger? How much longer til our first scan? How big is the baby this week? Can we start telling people yet? Why does every day feel like a year?!
If, like me, you are still in the early weeks of pregnancy, I suspect you too may be suffering from Impatient Dad Syndrome (or IDS as I will now christen it).
My wife and I are now seven weeks (and one day!) into our first pregnancy, and time has never gone more slowly. With the enormity of what we (hopefully) have to come in around 33 weeks’ time, I’m like a kid in the run up to Christmas – I simply cannot wait until the big day.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…one week at a time.
This week I’ve been reliably informed by numerous pregnancy Apps that our baby is the size of a blueberry or, using my Man’s Guide to baby growth during pregnancy, the equivalent of a 5p coin (or a dime for my US followers).
Amazingly the baby is now 10,000 times bigger than at the point of conception, with most of its growth currently focused on the head, as new brain cells form at a rate of 100 per minute.
But from the outside, there’s almost no sign that we’re pregnant at all. There’s no growing bump to rub, no severe morning sickness to speak of (apparently it feels more like a mild hangover right now), and even her breasts are stubbornly staying the same size (I check daily, you know, for science).
Sadistically, as a sufferer of Impatient Dad Syndrome (IDS) I actually find myself willing the morning sickness to strike, as at least that will give us some sign that things are progressing as they should be (I know…bad husband).
On top of all that, we still have another five weeks to wait until even our first scan (at 12 weeks, as is standard in the UK); our first view of what’s actually going on beneath the surface and the point where we can start telling people our good news. I mean, I can’t even share my name with you yet, just in case someone we know stumbles across this blog (but never fear, I won’t remain anonymous forever).
The fear meanwhile has well and truly set in – having done our research into the commonality of miscarriages, which I would urge you to do too, we are now considering whether we should wait even longer before revealing our news to the world – i.e. until after our 20 week ‘anomaly scan’, the one that confirms once and for all whether your baby in waiting will be healthy enough to make it to full term.
But for now, there’s nothing left to do but wait, hope and blog. So to all my fellow ISD sufferers out there, I tip my hat to you…it can’t last forever!
32 weeks and six days to go (or in ISD time, 32 years and six months)
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s blog. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future posts, please let me know in the comments section below.
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It seems to go really slowly, then suddenly you’ve got a few weeks to build and buy everything! Good luck and enjoy the process 🙂
Thank you!!
So refreshing to hear the whole process from a guys perspective. I look forward to following your story…exciting!
PS Best thing you can do for now is run your Missus a lovely bath and give her a nice foot rub 😉
Yes! I knew there was something missing – baths all the way! Thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing your experience so far. It is a really good phase, and the time will fly past. We’ve just had our second son so are in the process of adjusting to having a threenager and new born to juggle. I certainly enjoyed the pregnancy part, but with all the information out there and experiences it can often seem overwhelming. Hope it all goes well.
Look, there’s a simple rule. Your own pregnancies – or your wife’s if we’re being technical – last for two years. Other people’s last three months. And somewhere around 7 months the lovely, sweet girl you married is going to become remarkably bad-tempered. But best of luck – with the baby and with the blog