Julie- thank you so much for your reply. it has made me feel so much better, i can't even tell you- i actually felt a bit teary as i was reading it. the whole first baby thing is very daunting, and it's even harder for me as my mother, who was the closest person in the world to me, died of cancer 1 month before i fell pregnant. it breaks my heart knowing that she died without ever knowing that she was going to be a grandma. i'm just feeling anxious about how dp is going to cope, as this is his first time through this experience as well. this article made me feel sick to the stomach and increased my anxiety (i've already been having heaps of anxiety throughout my pregnancy over all sorts of different things). i will talk to him about it more, i thought i might wait until we'd done some of our birthing classes, when he sort of had more of an idea about what it is all about iykwim?