The day we found out we were going to be parents.

When we realised we wanted a baby:

I somehow think this blog needs to start, not with the day we found out that we are going to be parents, but from when we realised that this is indeed something we truly want.

I had to have an emergency appendectomy in Nepal in early March 2010, you may ask what this has got to do with anything, but for several reasons it meant that I stopped taking my pill. My body felt really out of sync that first month after the operation and when my period did not appear when it was supposed to I was fearful that it meant I was pregnant.  Six days later when it still had not appeared I was sure that it was not just me being paranoid but that I really was pregnant and I told Scott.

Although we had been talking about wanting children in the future some time I felt rather apprehensive as this was not at all planned. However, the both of us realised that it did indeed make us happy, that it felt right and that growing up to the task seemed possible, even desirable. By the time I took a pregnancy test and it came back negative we had so gotten used to the idea of this new, small family we thought we were about to have that it was a disappointment to the both of us to “loose” it. 

That is how we came about planning for this baby
we now knew we wanted so much: 

With my time in a Nepali hospital fresh in our minds we did decide that we would like for our child to be born somewhere else, if possible. As we spend half the year from October till April in Pokhara, Nepal we figured that July would be the first time we could try again. Calculating that it may take a few months to succeed, this way we could have a full season in Nepal before going back to Europe and having the baby here.

I was slightly fearful that we wanted this child so much that it would simply never happen, but we got lucky first time. You were conceived on the 9th of July in Tvedestrand in Norway. 

Monday 26th July

 The day we found out we were going to be parents: 

As we had been trying for this baby I am carrying, I found myself overanalyzing every possible, little change in my body while we were waiting for the day when we would know for certain, but I had been suspecting that I was pregnant for a few days before we took the first pregnancy test. It started with my breasts growing about a cup size a short week after we conceived and they were really sore, persistently so, and the soreness did not subside the day before I would normally expect my period, like clockwork. Friday I got car sick and light headed - and I simply never get carsick.

So Saturday came around, but no period by 2pm, and no period by 6pm...I was however scared of hoping too soon. But Sunday came and went and I knew now. Monday morning I bought two pregnancy tests in Berga, but suddenly I felt slightly apprehensive about taking one...what if it was too soon and the test would show up negative? Should I wait for the following morning? Should I simply go and take it now? I was kindly persuaded to go and take one now, then wait with the second test for the morning after... just in case.

The moment we found out!

They say it takes 2 minutes, but mine showed two clear lines already after a few seconds. I did however wait in the bathroom for the required 2 minutes and a bit, just to make sure that those two wonderful lines did not somehow disappear right in front of my eyes. Scott was somehow convinced that I was pregnant too, but although the test only did confirm what we hoped, it was so great to have it confirmed. I got the best hug I have ever had and the feeling of having given him the best news in the world!

This baby should know that it is so wanted and has been so incredibly loved for every second of its existence. Ever since we knew I have just felt this warmth and light emanate from my belly. Abover is a picture of us with the test - right after we had told everyone else in the house! We are not very good at keeping secrets and our family and close friends were told the happy news that same afternoon...then we went for a swim in the lake.

Scott says:

"At first, I wasn't sure about this Blog malarkey, when Anita started writing her bit about her boobs getting bigger and stuff I thought it was all getting a bit personal. But then when she finished, I read it and had second thoughts, I thought how nice it would be to have a record of our thoughts and the changes that we'll go through up 'til the birth of our first child together, something for us to look back on in years to come and our son or daughter can read, cringe, mock or laugh about when they're old enough. Also, since we are overseas and live away from our families and some of our oldest friends we thought it would be nice for them to keep up to date with what's happening in our new world.

So once Anita has written her part, I''ll add my two-penneth worth, it'll be titled "Scott says" 

I can't recall the day that I wasn't scared of the prospect of having kids, although it was sometime around my mid thirties. I knew that I wanted to be a dad before my 40th birthday, well I'm 38 now, I'll be 39 when the baby is born so just in the nick of time.

Anita and I have both made choices that enable us to live happy and healthy lives doing things that we love to do everyday. We try not to get dragged down with normal everyday problems such as mortgage payments, job security, the worsening UK weather, the price of petrol etc etc. We try to live in beautiful parts of the world where the climate is mostly warm and the people are friendly, being outdoors is important to us. I never wanted family life to be a struggle, I always wanted to raise a child or children into a world that I was happy to be in, to share in the lifestyle that we live and enjoy so much.

Anita, being a typical Scandinavian had it all worked out, I mean, we had discussed and agreed on dates but what I wasn't aware of was how accurate the timing had to be. So early one morning at the summer house in Tvedestrand, Norway I was summoned to the bedroom, I was due to leave for Spain at mid-day, I wouldn't see Anita for at least another week. It was either now or wait another month. Anita was very insistent!

I was over the moon when we found out that Anita was pregnant, I was secretly impressed with myself and the performance of my little swimmers. I'm not the strongest swimmer but I was a fairly good athlete back in the day, maybe it was my tenacity and determination to always be the winner. Either that or Anita's desire to be a mum was so strong that the Viking in her just sucked 'em all up. Just like the morning of the conception, they really didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. Some people are just meant to be mums and Anita is one of them.

I feel a little redundant at this stage, my morning duties have now been downgraded to tea making and cereal in bed. So I've decided to grow a mustache, that's what Dads do, right?

They say that life begins at 40, my new one will begin at 39 1/4."