#BlogBumpClub - 39 weeks

This pregnancy has been very different to my first, mainly because we've had a little person around already. I am the youngest child in my family so didn't experience my mum being pregnant, but I can imagine it must be a really strange thing for the older siblings, and throughout this pregnancy we have been mindful of how Wiss might be feeling.


Wiss has been brilliant on the whole, and although we've had a few questions like "why do we have to have a new baby?", he's been very caring, loving, proud and inquisitive! We have always been very honest with Wiss about things, and generally I'm of the belief that if he is able to ask the question then he deserves to have an answer (obviously we tailor the information or language to suit his age, but I have been amazed at how some quite big subjects just get taken on board).

We told Wiss that I was pregnant at about 17/18 weeks. Previous pregnancies had not ended well so we wanted to make sure everything was as certain as it could be before sharing the news. I also think that 40 (ish) weeks is such a long time for everyone involved, but especially for a 4 year old, that it helped to wait. And what he did he say when we told him there was a baby in my tummy? "No there's not!" Shortly followed by "I'm so excited!"

We were prepared for some big questions to be asked, but actually they came much later. To start with Wiss asked things like "when did the baby get in your tummy?" and "when will the baby come out". Our friend had a baby delivered by cesarean because it was breech, and Wiss seemed happy to take this as an answer to "how does the baby come out?" Only a few weeks ago he asked me "if the baby is the right way round, and you don't need to cut it out, how does the baby come out?" Here it was! The big question!

I told him that normally a baby comes out of the lady's foof* and waited for his response. He rolled his eyes and said "why does everything come out of a foof or a bottom??!" I was not expecting that, but he's got a point!

We are huge fans of Okido Magazine and a few months ago I stumbled across a very early copy in a charity shop. It just so happened to be an issue that dealt with reproduction, pregnancy and babies! Okido always deals with the topics informatively but also in a really fun way - there's a sperm race game at the end of this copy and a recipe for buns in the oven! But from this Wiss and I talked about sperm (Wiss calls them 'sworms') and eggs, and how the baby grows inside the mama.

image from Okido magazine, issue 12 2010

Often these conversations are very short, but then more questions will pop up weeks later, so it's obvious Wiss has been thinking about these things quite deeply. He asked how our lesbian friends had had their baby, "an egg and an egg doesn't work does it?", and if a child could have two mamas did some have two papas? Kid's brains are fascinating!

We have discussed possible names with Wiss too, and vaguely entertained the idea that we could use one of his suggestions. But seeing as these have been things like: Gary, John, Paddington, Blackbird Spot, Monster Hill or most often than not, Lewis (his name!) we will be making the decisions ourselves!

Photos: copyright Venture Photography

So now there's not much longer to wait, and Wiss will be a big brother within a few weeks. He has delegated the jobs for us all: I'm in charge of feeding the baby, Papa is in charge of poos & wees (brilliant!) and Wiss is charge of playing with the baby and keeping the cat happy. I'm really excited about this new chapter in our family life and I am sure that whoever this baby turns out to be, it's going to have an ace big brother looking out for it!

*yes, I know! It's a ridiculous name for a vagina but I was put on the spot a long time ago and it just sort of stuck!