The day I found out I was pregnant, I started a blog, then called Diary of a First Pregnancy, writing weekly letters to my unborn ‘Button’. Today, of course, the blog is called Diary of a First Child, and Button is known as Ameli. I loved writing that blog, even through the dark days with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, bleeding, and living in constant fear of a miscarraige. I loved having somewhere to put down my thoughts, and still love the thought of Ameli one day reading it.
I know that for me, that first letter, culminating in a private letter while I was in labour and still recorded every month on the anniversary of her birthday, was an incredibly bonding experience. I never had the ‘I feel nothing’ moment some mothers feel when they first hold their babies. I fell in love with her at my very first scan (at three weeks, due to the bleeding) and when I saw a real little person in there at 13 weeks, I fell hard – in love, that is. I cried like you cry when you see someone you’ve longed for at the airport. Elation, relief and pure, pure love.
Which, I guess, is why this weeks’ Friday Favourite appeals to me. Daddy blogger Yuri from Urbanvox and his partner Hayley from Simply Hayley are expecting their first child – although they have three others between them – and Yuri recently started writing to Jelly Tot every week.
Here’s an excerpt from the latest one:
I think it’s absolutely lovely to see a daddy getting involved with his unborn child, and I am sure that one day it’ll mean so much to the little Jelly Tot too.