We are 7 weeks pregnant...

Baby Stevens is now about half an inch / 1.25 centimetres long, apparently the size of a grape (although our little ticker thing on the left hand side says it's the size of rice and an alternative source says a blueberry!?)

Our little embryo really seems to be growing in leaps and bounds this week/next week. It has distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. It's even started moving, in fits and starts! The liver is churning out large amounts of red blood cells until the bone marrow forms and takes over this role. The eighth week marks the beginning of a very busy developmental stage. Between now and 20 weeks, our baby will be growing rapidly, and body parts that formed in the first few weeks of life (such as the heart and brain) will become more complicated. The teeth and palate are forming, while the ears continue to develop. Its skin is paper thin, and veins are clearly visible.

It was suggested to us that we read the verse from Jeremiah 1:5 over our baby and it's growth: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart...'...

and this one from Psalm 139:13-14...

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well...

When it comes down to it, evolution just doesn't really cover or explain the intricacies or the miracle of birth and we really praise God for that.

What a headache!

I have been sleeping an extraordinary amount - bedtime ranges from 7:30pm - 8:30pm which has amused John, but he's been milking that so he can rest too. Unfortunately, sickness started this week too along with headaches and dizziness. I understand dizziness is caused by all the effects of pregnancy hormones and something to do with blood vessels but I don't really care. It's just a tad annoying when I walk into things that I can clearly see are right in front of me.

There have been funny twinges, aches & pains in my lower stomach and just above the belly button, which was concerning but we have been assured by the lovely midwife that it's perfectly normal and it's just the uterus stretching and making room.

The baby is now the size of a coffee bean: it has a large head and dark spots where the eyes and nostrils are beginning to form. The emerging ears are marked and the arms and legs look like protruding buds. The hands and feet are shaped like paddles, and fingers are beginning to form now. The heart has divided into the right and left chambers and is beating about 150 times a minute - roughly twice the rate of an adult heart...mind-blowing!

A Father Writes ... about names

Here is a list of names that Father feels would be great for our special little newly formed, lentil sized blessing, starting with the boys names:

Rocky
Rock
Hulk
Mick
Steen
Dwight
Wayne
Jason
Kurt
Kirk
Conan

And for girls:

Kylie
Christiana
Britney
Lafonda

Hmm. It seems like it's definitely easier to choose Boys' names than Girls. Some of the boy names would combine well for middle names as well. I like Kirk Kurt -------, and also Conan Rocky -------. How about you?

A Father Writes ... Again

Another post from me, although this one will be quite short.

So far, so good! We had a rather wasted doctor's appointment on Wednesday that was a good excuse to be late for work. Stel has been quite tired in the evenings, but has been waking up so early that she's still had plenty of time to make my lunch!

We've been enjoying praying together for our new life! I've found it easier not telling people than Stella, but it is still difficult when it's what I spend half the time thinking about.

Race for Life

Mummy did the Race for Life today with all her female Stevens family members and friends from church!

We had plenty of laughs and lots of fun as we traipsed through Regents Park dressed as what seemed to be punk fairies - bright pink tutu's cleverly made for us by the lovely Sarah Cloudsdale with bright pink footless tights bought by fab Auntie Sarah.

At the beginning of the race (rather, walkathon for some of us) I found out that our friends, Kerry & Albert are also expecting - that makes four of us gals who will be bringing little ones into the world in the space of four months! This just reminds us of how much God's hand is in this: it's incredible the way it's all worked out. He seriously has a plan in mind and it is unbelievably exciting to know our child has a part in that!

All the guys (namely Daddy, Uncle Steve & Grandad along with other hubbies & daddies) came to cheer us on at the end of the race (and on the way through too - they continued to pop up at every corner we passed!) along with Jonathan & Helen which was a really sweet surprise - we definately appreciated that.

Obviously, hubby of mine made a fabulous picnic and we all sat down together (sweaty but full of beans) and enjoyed each others company.

Bless God for family & friends. Next year, I may not be able to do it having a four month old but I'm pretty sure Team Inspire will have an addition of Grandma Judy, Auntie Elle & Auntie TJ. (tee hee!)

Telling the family part 2...

So we went to John's folks on Friday and announced our pregnancy - they are thrilled! They are already grandparents to Nat, so he also has a little cousin coming along, which will be lovely for all.

We visited Steve & Sarah on Saturday afternoon after a long day at the Mercy Ministries training day so we got to hang out with our big bro' & sis and little nephew. Then gave the bombshell! They kindly provided us with plenty of literature to read up on - John is ploughing his way through 'The Blokes Guide to Pregnancy'. I have to admit to having a sneaky peak and it's quite amusing.

MumS reminded me of a verse in Proverbs, and mentioned how grandchildren are really, just like having children all over again - how much joy they bring!

Proverbs 17:6

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, while the glory of children is their ancestors.

Telling the family...

We told my family we were expecting last night! We have arranged to stay at John's folks tonight and we will tell them at dinner - I sneakily text MumS to ask if they were around in the evening for dinner. She has no idea why, yet - I think...

As we sat down for dinner with the Wallach household, Dad was in wind-up mode and I was slightly on edge. So Dad eventually gave thanks for dinner, then John said, 'now everyone is in a good mood...' the suspense! ... 'Stel's pregnant!'.

And everyone looked, then asked if I really was, then squealed with excitement. It was lovely. TJ is looking forward tremendously to being an aunt, Elle is devastated that she will be at university when I give birth - but, God has it all covered. Mum is pleased she can finally put the travel cot to use and Dad is loving winding me up with the pregnancy side effects thing.

We have also asked Sarah & Steve if they are free tomorrow afternoon so we can pop round - I wonder why!

Eventually, we will be able to tell every one of our family and friends - but for now, while our baby is still growing strong we'll try to keep schtum. However hard that is!

Cold Turkey...

I have been drinking decaffeinated coffee as I do like my hot drinks and it was easy to do because it was at work - but I have been holding off on the tea as I kept forgetting to buy decaff! Today I finally bought a pack of 40 PG Tips. I figured as long as it was a branded one instead of Sainsbury's own, it might taste better. So I rushed back to work gasping for a cuppa:

It was revolting and has put me right off tea.

However, I did go and buy 6 litres of Evian as I was told the level of chlorine in the water in our area is quite high - I have always been fairly gullible. This is obviously overly-contributing to the frequent toilet trips.

What joys already!

Did you know if you say 'gullible' very quickly, it sounds like 'yellow'?

John Writes ...

I'm still a little bit shocked by this news. It's been very difficult to concentrate on anything else since hearing about it!

I do know that this is a tremendous thing for us, and we are so grateful to God. I spoke in church this week and mentioned that new life is from God, and while this is a surprise for us, we know that this is not an accident. God has knitted this new thing together in Stel's womb.

We await with a bit of anxiety and a lot of excitement the things that lie before us. In particular, I hope to utilise these final 8 months of proper, uninterrupted sleep to the max!

From the word 'GO'...

...it seemed I would be having one of 'those' pregnancies.

When my mum was expecting all three of us girls, she suffered badly with sickness the whole 9 months - I'm praying it won't be that long! I haven't yet experienced the sickness but certainly the nausea. I have decided I shall patent that and call it all-day sickness. What a pain! Bus travelling is proving to be a test but praise God for Go Ahead crackers.

I realised I started symptoms virtually straightaway:

1) Extreme tiredness: well, I wouldn't go far as extreme yet but definately very tired. On Bank Holiday Monday, I was in bed by 8:30pm! I have also found that from about 3:00pm onwards, I start feeling exhausted. And I can't very well have a nice big mug of coffee anymore - thankfully, I have a very talkative colleague.

2) Frequent trips to the toilet: however undignified, it happens and far too frequently for my liking. Eighteen times in one day is my record so far. I think that is only a beginning and later pregnancy thing though - apparently, it happens in the beginnings of pregnancy because it's something to do with the kidneys/womb/something else?

3) Headaches: I haven't always been prone to headaches, so I'm unsure why they have come on so suddenly, every day at this point. It seems to be one of those headaches that is just there - makes you feel a bit icky too. However, I have heard that these do disappear in the next few weeks so that would be just marvellous if they do!

These seem to be the only symptoms I have so far. Watch this space! What an eventful journey so far.

Under Construction...

Our child is now called a blastocyst. How lovely.

We have been looking up the baby's weekly development and finding it hard to not skip a few weeks - 'just to see' what the experience and the growth will be!

Apparently Baby Blastocyst has divided into two parts. For you academics out there or those remotely interested in the human body, the first part is forming the placenta and the second part will become the embryo. The two layers that make up the amniotic bag of waters are newly formed, and the very beginning of the connecting stalk - which will become the umbilical cord - has appeared. Until the placenta is fully functioning, the yolk sac, now present, will feed our baby.

It's so amazing, the thought of a tiny ball of cells growing into a real human being. Every time I think of our baby and the growth spurts it will be taking on, God's Majesty just blows me away:

Psalm 139:13

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb"

Isn't that incredible?

Our Big Fat Positive...

We are having a baby!

When my sister-in-law, Sarah was expecting Nathaniel, she created a blog to keep friends and family updated with all their exciting news and eventually to follow Nat's first year of his life. The idea was to publish the blog into a book for Nat's first birthday - so, because I thought it was a brilliant plan, and I love to talk, I'm pretty sure she won't mind me plagiarising her idea! Being family and all that. Except, this blog will just be about the pregnancy and updates on our baby's development...

It was Tuesday 5th May 2009: I had been feeling 'off' since Sunday evening/Monday so on the way back from work on Tuesday, I bought a twin-pack pregnancy test.

When the line came up on the screen, I started laughing because I couldn't actually believe it!
It was such a bizarre but brilliant feeling - I'm still struggling to take it in.

I didn't mention anything to hublington as we had Youth Drop-In - imagine trying to stay normal after a surprise like that! When we had finished, John asked how I was feeling and I just laughed, which obviously clicked something in his head - he immediately asked if I was pregnant then laughed out loud himself when I said yes!

The funny thing is, I had planned out exactly how I was going to tell John he was going to be a daddy and it didn't work that way at all. In our plan for 2009, trying for a baby was quite close to the end of the year and we had it planned with so many romantic ideas. Then God stepped in and said, 'I'm sorry, who's plans are actually more important?!'. It's been quite interesting remembering that. He has given us free will and gives us the space to make our own choices, but He also instructs new life and creates everything. Absolutely everything! And He has created our child to fulfill His purposes. How exciting is that?!?

Now, a fun-filled, emotion-filled 8 months left....watch this space.