The Wriggler

May 19th was a day Julie and I will remember forever; we got to see our little one (The Wriggler) squirming around in the depths of Julie's belly. Yes, we've joined the Baby train, which is probably of little surprise to anyone who knows us. The Wriggler is due to wriggle out sometime around November 30th.

The 12-week scan marks quite a turning point in the pregnancy. After 2 months of keeping a secret at last we can announce to the world that we're going to be parents. Once, that is, the scan has confirmed everything was ok. And so, we nervously clutched hands as the sonographer smeared some blue jelly just below Julie's belly-button. Then she activated the sonograph and we followed the screen.

Expecting the image to be blurry I was amazed that our baby appeared immediately. The little tyke was wriggling so much that it only took seconds to spot all 4 limbs darting around like a boxer warming up. For some reason this relaxed me so much that any fear I had subsided. If The Wriggler can move like that, I thought to myself, then these other measurements (checking for the risk of chromosomal disorders) will be a walk in the park. And so they were: at this stage the baby looks as healthy as it can.

Well, I say the measurements were a walk in the park, but actually, The Wriggler moved around so much that the sonographer spent a long time trying to nudge it into position to measure. This "nudging" involved pounding the ultrasound device into Julie's tummy. It looked uncomfortable, but apparently wasn't.

The whole scan process impressed me a lot. The speed of the image, and it's clarity were far better than I was expecting. The relief knowing that our baby looks healthy, combined with amazement at the ultrasound technology meant I completely forgot to become overwhelmed with emotion. I was just chuffed.

So that is Good. 2 weeks to the World Cup is also Good. But now probably isn't the time for that. Watch this space for more!

I'm collecting my new Mountain Bike tomorrow. This is quite exciting (not as exciting as The Wriggler, I should point out, but is the most exciting thing happening in the next 2 weeks). I thought I should have 1 final treat before the inevitable middle age years of financial constraint that are surely about to start. Actually, it's an unbelievable deal I'm getting. My employers are in the Bike to Work scheme, which means they buy the bike (ostensibly to ride to work, but this is not policed (I intend to ride it to work, honest 'guv)) and then lease it back to me for 12 months before selling it to me at a nominal fee. As they buy it, the bike is free of VAT, and the lease cost comes out of my pay before Tax and National Insurance, meaning of the £1000 bike voucher they provide, I'll only pay back about £500. The bike itself if £1100, so I have to pay the £100 difference.

But then things got better: The bike shop have been unable to get the Scott Scale 50 I was after. And so they've decided to upgrade me to a Scott Scale 40 at no extra cost. How good is that? The bike is worth £1500, and I'm getting it for about £600.

So life is looking good. I'll be back in a few weeks time to share some World Cup thoughts, but in the meantime, wriggle on.