The child? It grows...

The title of this thread is a private joke between one of my best friends and I, but forgive me a little self-indulgence today. I feel content, light - and even a little cheeky. It's a quote from my favourite play - the Crucible by Arthur Miller, spoken between the play's protagonist John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth. My friend played the part of Elizabeth in a production we were involved in as teenagers while I huffed and puffed in the background as the determined but ignorant lawyer Danforth - for some reason we found it hugely entertaining and I'm not sure she ever managed to say the line without a smile gracing her lips.

I feel good. I've had a blissful week off work relaxing at home - helped by the fact my days off weren't annual leave but time back from the extra hours I've been working lately - and I am feeling really at peace with myself. It's the happiest place for me to be - but sometimes I don't realise how far I've drifted from that inner epicentre until I have a chance to catch my breath. I've also had days on end spent in the company of the Boy... I won't gush (much) but it has been good for my soul to be in his presence and arms, and suffice to stay it still makes me pinch myself that even after more than five years I walk beside a man I fall more in love with every day.

But - I digress. The theme of the thread is my growing child, or more pertinently my growing belly. I love it. Feeling Baby Beans move around inside me is the most exciting feeling I have ever experienced, and the huge, pure rush of love I feel when I think about what is happening underneath my layers of flesh and bone is just immense.

Like many expectant parents we've begun to document our baby before it arrives, with a weekly 'belly shot'. And I continue my self-indulgence by posting them below - from 16 weeks to 25 weeks... With three months still to go I'm not sure I'll fit in the camera lense by the end of this journey!