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By Gareth, January 30, 2008 20:43

We have now reached week 18.

Things seem to be getting easier for Gemma, with the morning sickness finally easing sufficiently. There are still some days where she feels sick, but these are now not the norm, thankfully.

The bump is growing quickly now, the baby is currently undergoing a growth spurt. As the baby continues to grow Gemma is now feeling the baby moving around inside her. I can’t really imagine what it would feel like, but Gemma likens it to something like wind! I guess that would be a weird sensation. It shouldn’t be too long before we’ll be able to feel the baby moving and kicking from the outside.

Next Monday is our next ultrasound scan, and also an antenatal appointment. This will be when we find out whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Hopefully. It will be just our luck that the baby decides not to reveal the vital part of the anatomy that would reveal its little secret.

Also during the scan, various measurements and observations will be made to determine whether everything is ok with our baby. I’m sure that everything will be.

I’ll put up a post once we’ve got back, so until the next update………

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By Gareth, January 23, 2008 08:26

In a previous post I told you that I was in the midst of deciding whether to find out the sex of our baby.

Now I can reveal my decision…

I’ve decided that I want to find out.

I told Gemma the decision the other night, and she was pleased. Gemma has always wanted to find out, even with Ellie she wanted to know, but I was quite insistent that I wanted it to be a surprise. But times and people’s ideas change so I’ve come to the decision that this time we’ll find out.

Gemma is slightly sceptical as to whether or not I’ll change my mind again, so I’ve put it down in writing so that there is no way I’ll change my mind.

At least we can then stop referring to the baby as “It” and call it “He” or “She”.

Finding out the sex will give us the opportunity to focus on names for the baby. We are quite sure on boy’s names, but we still have a few possibilities if it is a girl. So if the baby is a boy it would save a lot of discussion. All to be revealed at a later date.

Just over a week to go now, and I looking forward to finding out.

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By Gareth, January 22, 2008 20:19

After reading my friend Sam’s latest post about Tiscali and the bad customer service that he received from them, I thought I’d write a little about my experience with them.

In May last year, after being with Tiscali Broadband for a few years, I switched to TalkTalk for their broadband and calls package, as it would be saving us some money each month.

Before I switched provider, I had been impressed with Tiscali. Whenever we had moved house they had re-routed our connection on time.

So, thinking that everything was hunky-dory in the world, I was surprised to receive a phone call from a debt collection agency. They informed me that Tiscali had passed on a debt for unpaid broadband fees from May to July, which was impossible as I had changed provider in May. This was the first that I had heard of it, and so I rang Tiscali Customer Service, and after spending some time on hold I finally spoke to someone regarding this.

Speaking to them I told them that I had never received any letters or correspondence regarding the owing of monies,and that I had changed provider in May. After some discussion they said that they would send out invoices etc relating to the debt so I could take a look at them.

I left it there to wait for the invoices to arrive. After a couple of days I rang them again to say that I’d not received anything from themselves. They assured me that they had sent them out. So, I gave them another couple of days to see if it was just a delay in the post.

After another couple of days I phoned them again. They have been sent, was the answer. I was not impressed, and after a few words it turned out that they had sent everything to an old address. This wasn’t just the previous address that they had on record, oh no, this was the address before that. It was no wonder that I hadn’t got any letters!

In the meantime I received another letter from the debt agency saying that if the account was not settled within 7 days then they would be taking me to court.

So I phoned Tiscali again, and eventually, after numerous phone calls, I got them to write off the debt, £29.98 in fact, as they realised that they shouldn’t have been trying to take the money.

That was so nice of them!

My experience with Tiscali is not one that I would like to go through again. They never do anything that they say they are going to do. I’m still waiting for the invoices even now, and a letter to say that everything is sorted out. Knowing them, it has gone to my old address.

My advice, avoid Tiscali at all costs!!!

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By Gareth, January 17, 2008 10:44

It is now the 16th week of Gemma’s pregnancy.

The “morning” sickness seems to be now easing on some days. Gemma is still having some bad days, but these are a now becoming less and less, which will be a relief to her. Fingers crossed in the next couple of weeks it will have subsided completely.

We went to see the midwife yesterday so they could take some blood for the “Triple Test”.

The Triple Test is a screening test for Down’s Syndrome and also spina bifida. The test measures certain chemicals in the blood and using these results a level of risk is calculated. The risk is given as high or low risk, this is dependant on the levels of the markers in the blood and also the mother’s age. More information can be found here.

It has been a pretty quiet week, pregnancy wise.

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By Gareth, January 16, 2008 20:35

You don’t see it very often but when you do, its something that makes my blood boil!

What I saw today is still making me angry, even now, a few hours later as I am writing this.

As I came out of work this afternoon, and was waiting to cross the road to get into my car, my attention was caught by a car waiting at the junction. The first thing that caught my eye was the colour. It was a bright orange Ford Fiesta ST, not a subtle colour by any means.

The next thing I saw has made me angry. Sitting in the front passenger seat was a small boy, who I would guess was probably about 5 years old. Nothing too bad in that you might think. But if I tell you that the boy was perched on the edge of the seat, and not even wearing any sort of seatbelt or in a car seat, you can understand my anger.

What the hell was his mother thinking? Why would someone be so stupid, and reckless? Doesn’t this woman care about her son?

So many questions for her to answer. It’s times like that, that you wish that a police car was passing at the time.

Why would a parent let their child sit in the front seat, without restraints? I just don’t understand.

I really hope that she never does that again. Next time could be bad!

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By Gareth, January 15, 2008 10:06

Max

Yesterday was a sad day in the Jones’ household.

I received a phone call from the local rescue centre saying that they had a space available for our dog, Max. We had spent a few months trying to find him some alternative accommodation, as he was getting too much for us to deal with. In a way it was a huge relief to get the phone call.

Max is a really friendly dog, and is great with everyone. It is just at times, due to his size, that he can get a bit excited. Recently though he has been trying to get dominant with Gemma recently. This is not a good situation, given Gemma’s current condition. It has been causing her quite a lot of stress. We’ve also not been able to give him the attention that he deserves. We are all feeling a bit sad about it, but it is the best thing not just for Max, but also for us.

I dropped him off at the centre yesterday afternoon, and he seemed quite happy. He was having a big fuss made of him, something that he really enjoys, and seemed willing to go into his pen.

We do hope that he finds himself a good home, one that spend the time with him that we were not able to provide. He has age on his side which will be an attraction to anyone looking.

Good luck Max. I hope you find a good home soon.

Sorry.