March 28, 2005

30 Odd Foots of Newspaper


When the nice lady, pumpling, writes you an email, saying that she's writing an article for the Herald Sun, and that she wants to talk to you about your Pumpkin Diary, and about pregnancy blogs in general, well then, you say yes!

When the nice woman also says that she'd like to send a photographer around to take your photo, and that photographer just happens to be the gentleman who takes society snaps for Lillian Frank, well then, you smile, and nod graciously, and accept.

Then, pumpkin, you set to work frantically cleaning the house.

Love you.

nb: the article text is as follows:


When Preston couple Bill and Eve Dennis found out she was pregnant last year, they wanted to tell the world.

So my did.

Bill Dennis, 31, announced the news on an internet journal called "Pumpkin Diary", before the couple had even told their parents.

For the past seven months, the father to be has noted the highs and lows of the pregnancy, and counted down the May due date.

The web log - or blog - can be read around the world.

"The benefits of sharing our pregnancy far outweigh any risks" he said.

The diary entries are addressed to his baby - whom he calls Pumpkin - and he hopes his son or daughter will read it.

He says writing it down means he won't forget the details.

"When we first found out that we were pregnant, I asked my parents about the experiences they'd had.", he said.

"They looked a bit distant and said 'I can't remember, it was 30 years ago'."

The Pumpkin Diary is read by Dennis' relatives in Britain and the US, and anyone who stumbles across the website.

In the US, a trend in pregnancy blogs has meant hundreds of strangers have shared first-child fears to tips on breastfeeding.

One US blogger recorded her attempts to get pregnant with IVF last year. She realised her blog's reach when a nurse at the hospital recognised her after reading it.

In Melbourne, thousands of bloggers are registered. They discuss everything from studying philosophy to Olympics training and rorting the transport system.

6 comments:

Your Mum said...

I think the journo was making a veiled reference to me in the closing line - "Rorting Melbourne's public transport system".
I feel honoured to be tacked on the end of such a worthy article.

Consider thyselves blogrolled :).

Your Mum said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bente said...

I read the article, it was good. The site idea is cute. I often talk about my 15 month old daughter on my blog. Goodluck with everything!

Anonymous said...

The edition of the paper that I saw had a different end paragraph with a quote. No mention of rorting. Did they get cold feet?

Adam 1.0

Anonymous said...

Hi
I am the midwife who was on duty last night. You are both doing a great job. I thought perhaps it was your 10th child ... you were such a competant and supportive dad.
Keep up the good work. Its lovely to see such an involved father.
Take care
Gail

Anonymous said...

I am so glad I came across your site as we live in East Gippsland and you are the first Aussie blog I have come across. I'm sorry that I missed your article. Check out our site if you like www.markwyld.blogspot.com
take care
Bec