Bump Pic 40 Weeks

Well I said I hoped there wouldn't be a 40 week photo, but it seems that Smidget doesn't read the blog. So here I still am! Slightly different angle from the last pic, maybe a bit less scarily huge looking?

Bump Pic 40+1

We've been enjoying what may (hopefully) be our last baby-free weekend for some time. As all too many people seem very keen to tell me that I will never get any time with my husband/friends/ to sleep for the rest of eternity I've had plenty of naps, been out for a very nice lunch with Fred, and a pub roast with a few friends. We also popped in on one of the other NCT couples and their very gorgeous 8 day old son. This last activity has not helped with my impatience one little bit!

So, with the rather scary birth bit somewhere on the horizon, and much as it was nice to get time with Fred/friends/the duvet I'm going to try to avoid the "your doomed" advice and instead hang on to the much more welcome " it's all worth it when you hold your baby" version (bit of a tip there for anyone talking to large and hormone riddled women) I just hope I get to test it out soon.

Stay tuned folks...

Kxxx

40+2

D Date

Well I am supposed to be having a baby today! Not sure that anyone has told the baby that tho.

It's very odd to think that after 40 weeks of waiting I'm finally at the point where Smidget is supposed to be coming out to meet us. Of course most first babies are late and only 5% of babies are born on their due date, so it's unlikely that it actually will be today, but it is still proving to be something of a landmark, and as news of the other babies from the NCT class continues to arrive (there are now only 2 of us left to pop) I'm getting increasingly impatient.

I don't think either Fred or I slept very well last night (well I haven't really slept well in months but this was different). A combination of excitement and trepidation took hold and I was left feeling like it was a cross between the night before a big exam and the night before Christmas. So I'm feeling pretty tired today and hoping to get in a nap before there is any action!

Actually I hope Smidget will hang on until tomorrow as his/her Auntie Charlotte would like a new niece/nephew as a birthday present.

I've not had any big signs that labour may be immanent, a few little dull aches and tightening sensations, but nothing regular or painful, still perhaps it's my body starting to gear itself up. So it's just a waiting game now. I have a midwife appointment scheduled for next Wednesday so if nothing has happened by then we'll be discussing inductions, which I am really not keen on so come on Smidget!

BTW I am now 11 episodes into my West Wing DVD marathon and can confirm that curry does not induce labour.

Kxxx

40+0

Maternity Leave

Day 7 in the Big Belly house - and no sign yet of an eviction....

It's now the Tuesday of my second week of maternity leave, and I'm starting to get to that bored state I mentioned in the last post. So far I have made moussaka, breakfast muffins and several gallons of soup. The freezer is now full and I'll have to find something other than cooking to keep me busy. Ok, to be fair the domestic goddess bit only lasted about two days and after that I moved on to being a lady who lunches, but still, I was a bit productive!

There still doesn't seem to be much sign that Smidget is ready to make a move. I've tried walking as far as I can until my back gets annoyed, in the hope that that might shake him/her down, but I don't think it's done anything. Last night I went out for a curry, and although there was a brief moment of thinking that may have done something, it turned out to be er, just the more predictable outcome of having a curry ('nuff said there I think).

More excitingly, the NCT class babies are coming along thick and fast now! So far five of the eight Mums have had their babies (including one set of twins) and another is hopefully on her way as I type, so that just leaves two of us to go! I think the arrival of the most recent newborn pic in my inbox this morning was the final straw for my patience, I really want to meet Smidget now!

Kxxx
39+4

Bump Pic 38 Weeks

So we are now officially full term, and Smidget could make an appearance at any moment, tho being a first baby he/she is quite likely to be a bit on the late side. At the moment I'm quite happy for him/her to hang on in there for a wee bit longer, I finished work on Friday and feel like a few days of solid lazing about would be pretty welcome right now. Just clearing out my desk was pretty exhausting! I don't really feel particularly pleased or sad or anything about having finished work at this point. Perhaps it hasn't really sunk in yet, the idea that I'm not going to work for a year is pretty strange tho. At least I get 3 months on full pay so I have a little while until I'm a kept woman - now that really will be odd!

With any luck Smidget will stay put for just long enough for me to get really bored, that way I should be feeling keen to get the whole birth bit, not to mention the first few chaotic weeks over and done with.





Bump at 38+2

So, I'm hoping there will be a week 39 bump pic, but perhaps not a week 40, 41 etc. we shouldn't go any further than that anyway as the hospital policy is to induce at 41+5, so by that reckoning Smidget should be on his/her way by August 4th (worth saying tho that inductions can take days, so let's hope it doesn't come to that).

Right, time to go and listen to my birth preparation relaxation CD again - and see if I can manage to stay awake until the end of it this time - I wonder if there is some really important bit at the end I keep missing - at least it proves it must be pretty relaxing!

Kxxx
38+2

FAQs: Heatwave Special!

"How are you coping in the heat?"
Thanks to everyone who's been asking how I'm coping in the current heatwave. I'm doing ok, being at work still may actually be a bonus as the lab has lovely lovely air con! Getting to sleep at night is a bit of a nuisance, but it was anyway. We bought a big fan at the weekend, and I have stocked the freezer with ice pops so I'm ready for it! Personally I blame Wimbledon, After years of rubbish summers it decides to be hot this year and why? They put a roof on centre court - it was inevitable that it would be a hot summer after that!

"How are you doing?"
I'm doing pretty well for this stage of the pregnancy. I have a few little niggles, I can't sleep for very long in one go before something starts aching, Smidget is doing a good job of squashing my lungs making breathing a bit hard work, my back is complaining slightly and my walking speed is embarrassingly slow. Fred can now pigeon step at the same speed that I walk (yeah, very funny dear) and if I try to speed up I get nasty sharp ligament pains, which have been frightening people at work. Heavily pregnant women gasps and grimaces - male scientists look vaguely panicked, he he. But all things considered non of it's more than a nuisance, it's probably no bad thing that I am being forced to slow up a bit and it's all worth it when I feel the little one wriggling about. Hellooo in there!

"Have you got everything ready?"
Until very recently the answer to this was no, as all baby purchasing was put on hold while the flat flood was sorted out. However over the last couple of days I think we have bought or ordered almost everything that we really need before the baby turns up. Just waiting on the cot mattress to arrive, god bless the Internet and the lovely receptionists in our building who must spend half their day signing for baby stuff for us! No doubt there will still be something we've forgotten and a last minute panic at some point!

"Are you still at work?"
Yes, but only 6 days left! I'm not working Wednesdays now, so my last day is a week on Friday.

"Are you getting excited?"
oh yes very! I want to meet this little person now, I'll be glad to have the birth bit over and done with too (Tho not until I finish work please Smidget - waters breaking in the lab would be a wee bit embarrassing)!

Kxxx
36+5

Bump Pic 36 Weeks

Well the bump is coming on a-pace, proof below! This was taken this morning, hence the Bracknell face lift hairstyle, oh my it's too hot for long hair!


Bump 36+5

I'm now only 2 days away from the 37 week mark, the point at which Smidget will be classed as full term. Horrah! amongst other things this means that if he/she decided to put in an appearance I'd be able to use the low risk midwife unit at the hospital, which is a whole lot nicer than the medical unit and would mean Fred could stay with me the whole time and we could all go home together after just a few hours, rather than me being shipped off to a ward with a new born while Fred is kicked out to, er smoke a cigar or something.

So in theory Smidget could be here pretty soon, tho as it's a first baby there is a good chance he/she will be fashionably late. That said two of the NCT Mums have just had their babies this week, both about 12 days early! This has sent me into a very mixed world of excitement and panic! I want to meet this baby, I want the birth over and done with and I'm hot, heavy and uncomfortable, but ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - there is really no way out of this now! lol!

Kxxx
36+5