As promised in my previous 'announcement' article, which you can read HERE, I just wanted to share the video that Lisa put together. It features the very first pregnancy test that she did as well as the moment that she told us that we were going to be Daddies!

I must point out that hearing Lisa's raw feelings in the moment when she knew she got the positive result was, and still is, very moving for Marc and me. Many people have commented amazing Lisa is as a person and on how lucky we are to have met Lisa and for her to be carrying our child. Of course, we already knew how wonderful she is and how she feels about being a surrogate. There are no words to describe how grateful and appreciative we are to even know her, let alone everything else. She isn't one for gushing praise because she is always so humble (she is sooooo gonna tell me off for this hahaha), but I am sure you will agree, this video perfectly sums up why she is such a wonderful person and why she will have a very special place in our lives, forever.

Anyways, enjoy the video:

You know that really intense feeling you get when you are really, REALLY need to go to the loo but you know you can’t? Well, I have been experiencing the mental equivalent of that ‘busting’ feeling since Christmas. So much so that I am going to just go ahead and write it down first:

Now that we have had the first scan I beyond excited and over the moon to finally say that Marc and I are indeed going to become Dad & Daddy (or Dada or something else, we still don’t know for sure yet).

Now that I have got that massive bit of news out there I will rewind a little bit and fill you in on everything that has led up to now. I do feel that some kind of apology should fit here. Mainly because I feel like we have been a little bit sneaky in the sense that I haven’t shared where we currently are on our journey. I said back in the middle of October that everything was going well and that we wouldn’t be discussing the specifics of trying to conceive and the like right away. Originally, we were very much of the view that we would not be doing any inseminations until the New Year. At that point, we had pieces of ‘admin’ to do and we didn’t think it would be right to start without everything in place. Lisa was also very much of the view that it may take a little bit longer once we did start trying to conceive. So, because of that, it was decided that we would indeed start the inseminations so that we could get used to the process and get into the routine. Suffice to say, I have amassed a fair amount of knowledge about the female ovulation cycle and it is remarkable how it all works.

So, the fun and joy of inseminations had started which was another reason we have been quite busy. There has certainly been a lot of driving involved but it has been worth every mile that we have driven so far. Aside from the inseminations, it has been wonderful to see Lisa and her family so frequently and continue building upon our match which, in our minds, is so much more than a surrogacy match. It is a very strong friendship. Lisa and Darren are such incredible parents and have such a marvellous family it is wonderful to be around them.

Part of that friendship means sharing wonderful Christmas moments together. On Friday 22nd December Lisa’s youngest daughter had a carol concert at her school and while we couldn’t be there at the concert, little Edith was very much adamant that she wanted to sing for us. In amongst all the craziness, we arranged a facetime call so that she could give a performance. She was wonderful of course but then Lisa mentioned she also needed to discuss something else with us since she had us on facetime. I have no idea what I was expecting the discussion to be but it certainly wasn’t what came next when Lisa put a whiteboard up to the camera:


I think it is safe to say that it was a massive surprise and we had absolutely no idea that Lisa had indeed fallen pregnant and this was almost certainly the most incredible Christmas present we were ever going to get! As I wrote earlier, we were not really expecting to be pregnant any time before Christmas as we were just getting into the routine of the inseminations and the like.

Looking back on it now, we both feel like there was an element of fate about that particular week in which we now know that Lisa fell pregnant because, at the time, it felt like everything was going against us. Originally, we were planned to head down on a Sunday afternoon for the first attempt of the month. Unfortunately, the weather seemed to be dead set against us going anywhere that day with Snow and Ice making the roads treacherous at best. We managed to drive for just over an hour and only get 5 miles down the road when we had to admit defeat and turn back home.

Thankfully the weather gave us a break the following day and so we were going to head down on a Monday evening for the rescheduled attempt. While Marc did manage to get down to Lisa in good time, I managed to get caught up in travel disruption after a lineside fire caused chaos at London Waterloo which then caused me a four-hour journey to meet them down at Lisa’s home. To top the day off, diversions around the M25 on the way home caused us an extra 40 minutes of travel time making it a very long night!

The following day was attempt two as originally planned and thankfully, everything went well travel wise apart from the same diversions on the way home.

The third and final attempt was to take place on Wednesday. This time, Marc went alone during the day as he was off work, again, with a whole lot of traffic to contend with on both legs of the drive.

And then started the waiting game again. I’ve said this before but I will say it again. A fundamental part of surrogacy is patience. You will find yourself wondering after every insemination attempt if that is the one. You will find yourself counting down the days until it is even possible to get a reading from a pregnancy test or if the surrogate has started a period. In turn, because you find yourself counting down the days, they seem to last a little longer. Thankfully, I have managed to maintain the skill of managing expectations and so I was not pinning any hopes on this particular month (nor any beforehand). I would say that is the toughest thing to do during the trying to conceive period. It would be very easy to get carried away and think that once the insemination is completed it is a job done and the baby is on the way. That is absolutely natural, but you have to resist it and try not to get swept up in the excitement. One thing I was definitely able to do was to stay calm and focus on everything as a matter of fact – my reluctance to get carried away probably explains part of the complete shock I felt when Lisa told us that she was pregnant. Of course, I was always hopeful but I was also realistic that just after Christmas we might be told that ‘Aunt Flo’ had come to visit and we would then start the process of planning the next inseminations.

At the point in which Lisa told us she was pregnant, she had already done quite a few pregnancy tests, just to be sure, but she managed to keep it a secret from us for those few days in between her first suspecting and that Friday. I have no idea how she kept it secret but she managed to do so until there had been enough positive tests to be absolutely sure.

We had already made plans to visit the family on Christmas Eve anyway and so we made our way down that Sunday with another pregnancy test and another that gives a read of the number of weeks post ovulation. This may seem a little strange, but surrogate ladies seem to really love a pregnancy test or what as many of them refer to as ‘pee-sticks’. When we arrived Lisa had amassed quite a few positive tests already but wanted to do another so that we could see the little ‘Pregnant’ word come up on the screen before our own eyes.

As you can imagine, from that point on there has been a wave of emotions starting with massive excitement and joy but also shock. For me, it was the most surreal feeling to discover that I am going to be a Dad. Initially, I simply couldn’t believe it. I had seen the irrefutable proof but it was like my brain did not know how to process the information. I have no idea if other couples experience that feeling but it was definitely there for me. It took a couple of days for the news to really sink in. Marc was certainly in shock too, as he kept reminding me every couple of hours after the facetime call and throughout the weekend. However, we headed into what was going to be a very different Christmas because we knew that, all being well, this was likely to be the last Christmas we would enjoy as just the two of us. It was incredibly difficult not to think ahead to Christmas 2018 and how our traditions and routine would be different. Throughout all of Christmas Day, I found my mind wandering to what Christmas Day would be like with a small baby as a central part of our day. Even at this stage, I was trying not to get too carried away and over excited but I couldn’t resist letting my imagination run wild. Each little thought gave me a massive smile which meant that I enjoyed this Christmas so much more and it will forever be etched in my memory as the last Christmas before everything changed in the best way possible.

Once Christmas was out of the way, our attention was then diverted towards the very early planning. We now had a timeline to work to in terms of getting everything ready at home, and we now had the first scan booked in. For peace of mind, we had agreed that Lisa was going to have a scan a little earlier than the usual first scan between 10 and 14 weeks.

On January 11th, we attended the first scan. Of course, many people would not have a scan until the 12-week point but both ourselves and Lisa were very keen to have a scan at the earliest stage possible; 6 weeks.

Now, before I get into the scan I did want to address something that quite a few people have already questioned. Why are we announcing the pregnancy so early? Of course, our families and very close friends had been told prior to this article going live. However, we are very well aware that it is common practice to withhold any kind of announcement until the 12-week scan has been done, for a lot of different reasons too. Of course, there are no set rules about when you can tell people you are pregnant, this is just something that society tells us is the right thing to do. Many people will tell you that once you get to 12 weeks this is where there are less likely to be issues but that is not guaranteed and anything can happen at any time.

As promised, here is the final round-up of what I was listening to throughout 2017!

I'll kick off with the statistics which I am amazed by. Since I started recording everything and calculating all the stats, I have listened to a total of 4,794 songs for a total play count of 12,479 which means the average play count of each song was 2.6 which I am little surprised by, given that the Number 1 song was played 50 times and the Number 20 track was played 27 times. I am kinda intrigued to find out how many songs were only played once, just for reference.


Obviously, I have spoken about the vast majority of these tracks since April 2017 when I started writing about the music I listen to. I thought I would have more to say but there really isn't much more I can add.

It is interesting, although not surprising, that there was only one artist who has appeared more than once in the year-end chart and that is Damien Rice. He has certainly been a frequently played artist this month with the three tracks making up 20.1% of the Top 20 Total Plays and of course, taking the number 1 spot.

The rest of the chart features a pretty good round up of the genres I tend to listen to most with only Film Scores which are notably missing. I do listen to film scores a lot but that tends to only be once through a month so they don't tend to chart. Ironically I have kicked off 2018 listening to score music a bit more where I have been feeling unwell so I expect a few of them to show up on the January 2018 chart perhaps.

Also surprising me was the fact Britney Spears didn't chart! Of all the artists that are in my library, Britney probably has the most tracks when you include her entire discography plus remixes so I would put money on her being in the final Top 20. I guess with so many of her songs, there is a lot more variation when I listen to only her meaning that her songs probably only get listened to once or twice.

So that pretty much sums it up really and all that is left is to show you the final chart for 2017:

Thanks for stopping by and here's to even more music in 2018!

Happy 2018 All!

Many apologies for the lack of new content throughout December. Christmas was a very busy time with a lot going on so I didn't get to write as much as I should have done or would have liked to. It does mean I have quite a few bits to catch up on over the coming weeks though. I hope you all had a wonderful festive season full of celebrations. It does feel a bit weird doing a music chart rundown now that we are making our way through January but for consistencies sake, here is the chart for December;
I remember suspecting that the December chart would come with a fair few Christmas songs and that certainly turned out to be the case.

In terms of the stats, whilst the Total Songs played was down ever so slightly, the total play count was up by just over a quarter meaning a bigger average play count and an increase in the number of plays coming from the Top 20 songs. Oddly, the Top 20 ended up being less of a percentage of the overall play count which I thought was quite unusual but there was a lot of songs with play counts that fell just outside of the Top 20; mainly Christmas stuff.
This month 18 of the songs in the Top 20 where all 'New Entries' with the other 2 being 'Re-Entries'.

The Re-Entries came from Kylie Minogue and her version of 'Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)' from Christmas 2016 - you might remember it from the Boots ad campaign. The other re-entry came from Meatloaf with 'Life Is A Lemon (and I Want My Money Back)'. Yeah, very seasonal I know...

I won't go into all of the Christmas songs because you probably know most of them but I will note a few bits and pieces.

You'll notice that 'Walking In The Air' appears four times with different versions, all but the actual original! 'Walking In The Air' comes from one of my all-time favourite Christmas movies to watch; The Snowman. It was always one of the films that my primary school insisted on showing every year and additionally, we sang it in the choir too so it has a special spot in my heart. You'll also spot that two versions of it are listed with the artist Mark. Yep, that's me. At the time I was recording an album and writing new songs, I also played around with the idea of recording a version of the song. I put together an arrangement of the track but never actually recorded vocals for it. One version simply had a piano playing the vocal melody over the top of the arrangement I had put together. I don't often listen to my own recordings but these two do come out around Christmas simply because I love the song and enjoy the instrumental versions.

Five of the Top 20 also came from the Spice Girls. Although they are not all strictly Christmas songs, my Christmas Playlist also includes a lot of songs that were Christmas number 1. Essentially, I set up a playlist to use when we had friends over for parties and the like and in order to mix it up a bit it includes all Christmas songs, any songs that were the official Christmas Number 1 and any songs I have that were used in the big TV advert campaigns from various companies - ie, the Kylie Minogue one which isn't really a Christmas song.

All three of the Christmas Number 1's that the Spice Girls had hit my chart as well as the two Christmas B-Sides they recorded, 'Sleigh Ride' and 'Christmas Wrapping' from the singles '2 Become 1' and 'Goodbye' respectively.

I was astounded to find out that my absolute favourite Christmas song, 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' from Mariah Carey had never actually hit the Number 1 spot in the official charts and she didn't quite make it here either! Seriously, how has this song never been Number 1? I imagine she isn't too fussed either way as every year it re-charts and makes her a whole bunch more money.

Another version of the same song also made it onto the chart and it comes from Chase Holfelder. Chase is an incredibly talented artist who I follow on YouTube. He has had a fair few videos go viral, particularly when he takes a popular song that is arranged in a Major Key and transforms the song by performing it in a Minor Key. That won't mean a great deal to some people who don't know the difference but if you give it a listen, you will get the gist:


It really does give the song a whole different texture that is for sure. It is dark, brooding and very powerful so naturally, I love it. I almost find it creepy and like it should be in some kind of Christmas horror movie. Chase has a whole bunch of material he has worked on and I definitely recommend going to check him out HERE

If you like your Christmas songs a little different, the number four spot was taken up by Ben Adams (you will remember him from A1 fame) and his alternative Christmas song. This was never actually released but he recorded it at the time I was working with him on recording my own album and he made the track available to download via MySpace - yes, that's how long ago it was! I've always loved the song because of how it makes fun of all the typical Christmas clichés. Perhaps it is a sort of anti-Christmas song but it really is a lot of fun:


This month's Number 1 surprised me a little bit as I didn't realise I had listened to it quite so many times in about a week. Every so often I discover, or in this case, revisit a song that I can't help replaying several times over which has meant that in the month of December, my number 1 isn't even a Christmas song! Still, it is Britney so wahoo! 'Clumsy' is a track from her most recent album.

Unfortunately, I can't actually find a video of the song so you can hear it but I love the track. It would seem that every version of it has either had the audio stripped or doctored so if you want to hear what I think was the strongest track on the latest album you'll have to go find it. Sorry about that :-(

Anyways, that wraps things up for December and for 2017. I will also share my Top 20 for the whole of 2017 in a few days. In the meantime, here is the full Top 20 for December:

Thanks for stopping by and reading xxx