Counting Down....

Counting Down...

It feels like a lot longer than 12 weeks since I started this blog and introduced you to The X Man - Our Journey With HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome).  So much has happened for us in 12 weeks.  The good news is that when all things are considered Mum, Mr Two and I are doing ok.  We have moved into the preparing stage and are starting to get things ready for the impending arrival of X Man.

Counting Down to Maternity Leave

Not long to go now!  Already Mum's transition has started, including a reduction in work load as her duties are reallocated, as well as a relocation of desk so that Mum's replacement can transition into the team.  For Mum, this is a strange feeling.  With Mr Two, Mum's employment situation was different and there was no need for any 'reallocating' or 'transitioning' and therefore none of the emotion that has come with this experience.  It is a different feeling to going on leave for a week or even resigning from a job. But even through all this emotion Mum is also very excited that this milestone is rapidly approaching.

For me, this milestone is when I know that things are really real.  While Mum has still been working things have pretty much stayed routine.  When Mum goes on maternity leave, then I will know that on any day at any time within the next 5 weeks our little X Man will come into our world and into our lives, and our real journey will begin.

Counting Down Appointments

One Day of Appointments Left!

After today, we have one more day of appointments to go before birth.  We had an appointment today with our midwife, just a general checkup today, nothing major.  X Man measured nicely and his heart was beating strongly.

It is very strange... every time X Man hears his own heart beat he goes crazy and starts running around.  Drives the midwife mad chasing him to be able to get a good listen, and drives Mum bonkers as he bounces off all the walls.  It is almost as if he knows that there is something wrong with his heart and he is trying to run away from it.  Very strange...

Counting Down to Birth

When will X Man be born???

Officially 1st August.  If this little boy is anything like his big brother, he will be early.  I still think (guess) 21st July.  We don't want him to come too early though, we need him to continue to grow and get strong ready for his impending fight.

Preparing

Mum and I are starting to really get moving on getting everything ready and prepared for X Man's arrival.  Things like Mum's hospital bag ready for when she goes into labour, as well as little bits and pieces for X Man.  We were given a great suggestion to print and laminate photos of ourselves so that when we are not there X Man can look at us and get used to seeing Mummy, Daddy and Big Bro.  We are preparing books to take to read to him, and we are going to also make some recordings of us reading books that can be played to X Man so he can hear our voices while we are not there with him.  This may also be helpful for the nursing staff to help settle him if he is unsettled while we are not there.  We have even started cooking some extra meals so that we can defrost and reheat them on nights where we get home from the hospital and we are both too buggered to cook (I am pretty sure there will be a few of these...).

We have been very lucky to have received so much good advice on how to prepare for X Man's arrival and extended stay in hospital.  We are sure that we have not thought of everything and are more than happy for you to leave your suggestions in the comments section below.