Not only is my morning sickness back with a vegence but today has felt like a never ending day. Amy was up at 6am and ready to go, Steve had an early start so it was breakfast and gone. I felt like I hadn't slept as the need to pee keeps waking me up then at 2am this morning I was convinced that the phone had rung just once so I got up to see who it was and there was a number that had called earlier that day but no number for then so I went back to bed then just an hour later had to pee again.

I took Amy to the park first thing to see if I could get her to run off some energy and I needed some fresh air, I sat in the park and watched her play with her doll and her buggy and realised she is going to love having a little brother or sister. Then it was home for lunch and to finish the housework.

We spent the afternoon at home with Amy playing and then had dinner, as I am writing this I am thinking of going to my bed for a lovely nights sleep the only problem is that it is only 7pm! Amy is tired so I think an early night for her the only problem is that will mean another early start but steve will be here in the morning so I may not have to try to get Amy ready and throw up at the same time (now thats multi tasking!)

Well today was the day we have been waiting for and I'm pleased to say all went well. I (we) are 8 weeks and 4 days pregnant with a due date of 21st November 2008. Baby is fit and well with a good strong heartbeat. I am a little disappointed about the scan pictures as they aren't very clear and Amy was a little confused by them when we tried to explain that they are pictures of the baby however I am going to post the best one.

The little cross which is almost center marks baby's head with its little feet resting on the bottom of the dark void which is the fluid around the baby.

We have been booked in for another scan in four weeks time and hopefully we will get a clearer picture. I am very relieved that my worst fears weren't realised and baby is healthy with a strong heartbeat. I am a little further on then I thought but I feel that is a good thing and means that we will see baby sooner then we thought. Steve was also very relieved and admitted on the way home that he too was dreading there being something wrong but didn't say anything as he didn't want me to worry. The only thing that dawned on us about the due date of 21st November is that it is just 4 weeks before Christmas so when Steve phoned his Mum to let her know how we got on he said we will be going to hers for Christmas she was over the moon!

I don't want to wish a day away but tomorrow is the day of my first scan and I can't wait. I am excited about seeing Bubba but also a little anxious that all is OK.

I am off to Mother and Toddler today so hopefully this will keep me occupied enough to stop thinking about it although I will probably talk about it all day and bore people silly.

I'm still feeling slightly queasy and seem to be wearing my wristbands all day to keep it at bay, I have also had a pulling sensation down low in my tummy, its not painful so I'm not to concerned.

I am hoping to post my scan pictures so watch this space, hopefully by tomorrow evening I will know how far along I am and that all is well.

Hope you all have a great day.

Clare x

I am so tired at the moment that I had to go for a lay down this afternoon while Steve had Amy. Already I feel that my trousers are too tight although I don't think this is physically possible for the few weeks that I am pregnant, if I wear anything that is a little tight it makes me feel queasy, this pregnancy is a lot different from my first.

I am counting the days until my dating scan (just 4 more sleeps!) as I need to know that all is well as I feel I can't really bond until I know.

We have quite a busy weekend coming up (I'm going to be shattered) as Steve has family over from Canada (they're not staying with us) and his sister has a kind of house warming drop in thing going on all day Saturday. Well at least it will make the time go quicker and I will be seeing our beautiful baby before I know it ( I am trying to convince myself)

Finally another break through on the toilet training front, Amy sat and did a poo on the toilet, it took a few tears and lots of reassurance but she went. This came as a great relief (especially to Amy) as she has been waiting for her night time nappy to be put on before she would go and she asked for this this afternoon but I said no and that my big girl had to do a poo on the toilet, she was quite shocked when she went and insisted on taking a look.

Maybe now I won't have to change her several times before bed time and quite frankly being that she is now 3 and a half, her dirty nappies started to look like a grown adult had done something in them plus this was really turning my stomach, we are yet to see if this is going to be an ongoing thing but I am hoping it is, I am also hoping that we maybe able to get her night dry before the new baby arrives in  November.

I have been away for a day and when I returned this morning a few things have changed here on my beloved Minti. I am not fond of change and really find it hard to adapt so my first thought was fear. Now that I have been on for a while (when I should be doing housework) I think I like the changes.

My only criticism is that I would like to be able to donate my Minti Moulah to charity and I have suggested this somewhere, along with a few others. I believe that in the future this may be possible so I have decided to save my moulah for this time when it arrives so please do not think I am tight if you don't receive a gift from me, (I will however be sending compliments as these are free!) I hope that the new Minti Moulah works well and that like with rewards and ranking it is something that will fall into the background so that Minti stays being about good friends and parenting advice and support.

Right lets get back to whats going on for me and my growing family. Steve had a day off yesterday so we took a trip into town on the bus (bus man's holiday for Steve!) Amy loves the bus and gets so excited usually she sits upstairs with her Daddy ( Mummy doesn't like coming down the stairs when the bus is moving!) but we sat right at the back so she could get excited without disturbing too many people. Amy pointed out all the things she knew and was really well behaved. When we got to the shops we had a look round and I brought a pair of trousers with elasticated waist in the hope they will expand with me, already my jeans feel to tight and this makes me feel sick. We also wandered around Mothercare, I know that it is very early on in the pregnancy but I just couldn't help having a little look. There really isn't too much that we need as we kept hold of most of the baby essentials such as a pram, highchair and Buggy.

We had a lovely healthy lunch out and then got the bus home and I was pooped but we still had food shopping to get so we went to our local supermarket, Amy was really good there too and asked to go to the toilet. Now I don't want to tempt fate but she was dry all day so I am hoping we have cracked it! Amy's lack of knowing when she wanted to go and the continuous accidents at home (Only!) was worrying me no end and the fact that she has just got  a place at pre school starting in September was putting the pressure on but I am hoping that she has managed to recognize the feeling and it should be plain sailing from now on.

First all thank you for all your advice and replies to my Q&A, I think I tried most of them. Yesterday was a partially bad day for feeling sick so I eventually went to my local chemist in the supermarket and asked if they was anything that would help to relieve it, the assistant asked the pharmacist who was extremely helpful and suggested Seabands, which is an elasticated band (looks a bit like a sweatband) that has a little button on one side and a bump of plastic on the other, you wear it on your wrist with the button facing out and the bump pressing against your wrist, it works like acupuncture and it really does work. I wore it all day yesterday and I felt better I even wore it to bed so that when I woke it I wouldn't forget to put it on and low and behold I feel fine, there was a few moments when I had to take it off in the shower and getting my face wet made me heave but apart from that my morning sickness has gone, and its all down to a little elasticated band and a piece of plastic. I am going to see if Seaband have a website and post a link here and in Pregnant in 2008 group.

http://www.sea-band.com/UK/uk_seaband.htm

How lazy am I? Stevie got up with Amy and left me in bed, I have been very tired actually make that exhausted and haven't had a chance to catch up so Steve got Amy her breakfast and bathed her, then did the washing and tidied up, he only got me out of bed because he had to go to work. I married a true star, he has been a lot more supportive this time round and seems to be more interested in what is going on. I think the first pregnancy with Amy was a bit of a shock and neither of us knew what to expect, this time we are a lot more prepared and kind of know what will come next (although there is bound to be some surprises). I feel I am a lot more prepared when it comes to labour this time I think I will more in charge rather then being told what I should do (well at least I hope so).

As I have very little to do today, I am going to take it easy and spend some quality time with Amy she is calling now so I'll call back later.

I would like to add a ticker to my homepage but I'm not 100% sure how to do it and whether it will countdown, I don't wish to put it in the blog section but in the Me and My Family part, Can anyone Help!???

I have created a new group for those of us who are pregnant in 2008. Hopefully this will stop me boring people in my blog about my new pregnancy so if you are pregnant and would like to join us then please come along to:http:

http://www.minti.com/groups/50952/Pregnant-in-2008/

I am going to take Nells advice and do what I think is right, so I would like to shout from the rooftops:

I AM PREGNANT!!!!!

That feels better!

 I was wondering whether there was a group for us pregnant Minti's? I still want to share all my ups and downs in my blog but I would also like to talk to Mummy's -to-be who are due around the same time as me (at the moment this is somewhere around late November!) Can you help?

OK I have been trying to write this blog for the last couple of days but keep being called away so I will try again - I went to the midwife and as I thought I have to go for a dating scan. As I think I am just in my 5th week , the midwife made an appointment for a scan for 2 weeks time on the 15th April so that I would definitely be over 6 weeks apparently this will make the scan clearer and easier to date!

I went to Mother and Toddlers on Monday and told most of my friends our news and was quite taken aback by some peoples attitude, apparently it is too early to be telling people! (Funny as I thought who I tell and when was my decision) As I see it anything could happen at anytime during a pregnancy and I know this from a friend who lost a baby at 20 weeks, so whether I tell people now or when I am 12 weeks (which is the right thing to do!) doesn't  make any difference, I was also quite heavily criticised for telling Amy I was pregnant, now I feel she has the most right to know as it is probably going to impact on her the most and to be honest she was already aware that there was something going on as I have awful morning sickness and I had to visit the doctors to see the midwife and she asked if I was sick, so to stop her worrying I told her that I was pregnant which meant that we were going to have a baby she kind of understood but I made the mistake of telling her we were going to see the Midwife who is the "babies nurse" and after we left she asked where the baby was, I think she thought we were picking the baby up from the "babies nurse".

As I said before my morning sickness is awful and is at its worse first thing in the morning and then last thing at night, I never had this when I was pregnant with Amy but I think its because I was working then so must have dismissed the signs for tiredness from a long shift and feeling queasy as being a bit under the weather as we didn't find out I was pregnant with Amy until I was 8 weeks then the dating scan made me 7 weeks. I also keep having a dream about the scan, I lay on the bed and they scan my tummy and they can't find anything! I'm hoping this is just because of anxiety rather then a sign.

The midwife asked us about screening during pregnancy (triple test) and whether we thought we would like to have it done, we didn't have the test done when we had Amy as we thought she was going to be our 1 and only and at the time we didn't think that any disability would make a difference to us but now that we already have a child I am reconsidering although I am totally against abortion, I am starting to think that I have a family to consider and maybe this should come before my own beliefs after talking to Steve about it I think we are at the point of not wanting them but we need to talk more.

Steve has been fantastic and because he has just had the last 5 days off he has been very attentive and has been really great around the house, doing the washing, housework etc and cooking for us, I have explained that I am just pregnant and am still able to do these things but he said I should rest as he had been reading up on early pregnancy and I can get very tired  so I should rest, what a star he is no wonder I love him so much.

Well I best get on, I really don't have too much to do now and because I do tend to get a bit tired in the afternoon my sister is taking Amy this afternoon so I can rest. You know right now I feel really blessed.

Hope you all have a great day.

Clare xxx