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38 weeks..

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So I’m still here.. 38 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I had a pretty rubbish night of irregular but very painful contractions and once again my body almost tricked me into thinking it was time to start planning our trip to the hospital but no. Everything has eased off and other than a very sore belly and well other parts…ahem…I’m fine.

Cravings:

Still ice and teeth brushing but that’s about it. Exciting huh?

Weight/appetite:

I don’t want to eat much anymore. I get really hungry and then as soon as the food is in front of me I feel sick and full almost immediately. I am trying to eat small high calorie snacks as much as possible but still no weight gain in the past 5 weeks. My midwife isn’t concerned as overall I’ve gained enough weight and baby is growing well.

Baby:

At my midwife appointment this week she was concerned about the babys presentation (she thought she was breech) so I was sent for a scan that afternoon. Baby is thankfully still head down and is getting pretty big so that’s one less thing to stress about. She is still pretty active – normally whenever I try to eat which makes me feel rather queasy but I still love the feeling. I have had a couple of occasions now when I can clearly feel the outline of a foot and its a weird feeling. I don’t remember this from last time but I guess Izzy came early so that may be why.

Izzy:

Izzy is good fun at the moment, full of amusing chatter and showing off her dancing skills. We were lucky to be able to take her into the scan with us this week along with my mum and she loved it. She kept repeating “mammys baby” over and over and pointing at the screen. When we got home she was a lot more cuddly with my belly and I wonder if she is almost starting to understand – probably not but it may have helped. She also has started to call the bump “Baby ???” – the name we are considering and it sounds mega cute. We aren’t 100% sure of it yet so I won’t share but yay we finally have a shortlist ( albeit a very very short one).

Isn’t she lovely?

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Rest:

Half the time I feel like I should be getting my rest and the other half I feel like I should be trying to walk this baby out. Most of the time I find it too hard and uncomfortable to rest, unless in the bath and whilst I try to walk more its nearly always too sore to walk for long. I tend to potter about the house more and the constant cleaning up the toy chaos and chasing Izzy about keeps me busy.
We have been eating out more which saves me cooking and is a nice break from being stuck at home and we had another cinema date last night to see Thor which was fun.

Me:

I’m a little less grumpy than I was but I still have my days (sorry) and I’m quite emotional but mostly now I am just really eager to meet our baby and kiss her soft skin.

Bump update:

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Inducing labour:

After all my hospital visits and appointments this pregnancy I’m super keen to avoid being induced-this will happen 2 weeks Monday if I haven’t naturally gone into labour so now that she is term and a good size I’m planning to try all the natural methods of starting things off. So far we tried eating Chicken Madras ( I’m normally a butter chicken girl) and aside from burning my mouth and making me sneeze it didn’t work.. I have also tried pineapple..liquorice and raspberry leaf tea. What do you suggest?

Once again I hope this is my last pregnancy update but I will probably see you here next week 😉

Still can’t believe we made it this far. Well done baby bump.

Thanks for your support so far, its meant such a lot. Now just send me labour vibes please.

Wishing time away…

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After spending a good chunk of this pregnancy expecting baby to arrive early and hoping that she wouldn’t it now feels rather strange that I am almost officially classed as term (37wks on Friday although by my dates I am actually 37 &4 today) and baby is still safely tucked up inside. How amazing is that?

As amazing as it is and believe me I am thrilled that we lasted this long it does now feel like we have even waiting for our baby FOREVER. Every single day I wake thinking will it be today and every twinge is possible labour pain. It’s a nightmare. In theory I am more than happy to wait until baby is ready to arrive as I want her to be as healthy and strong as can be but I am finding it so frustrating. I didn’t feel like this last time at all in fact when my waters went at 37wks just before a trip to the supermarket it was such a shock that I didn’t have time to think of anything.

Last Thursday my midwife informed me I’m 3/5 engaged and she would be surprised if I made my next appointment and I have to admit I was quite excited. The last few weeks have been so sore and uncomfortable that I was done I guess. However Mother Nature thinks differently and so does my baby apparently. I don’t actually feel like she will be here in the next few days and now I realise it was a good thing. Izzy is really not well..she had a week of us knowing something was brewing and then over the weekend turned into a horrible cold which is now a cough and a wheeze too. We were woken at 5am today by a lovely outpouring of vomit over our freshly changed bedding and right now I’m sat on the sofa with her watching Shrek and having cuddles. If I had been in hospital when she was ill I would have felt terrible and if I’d had a teeny newborn here I would have been so worried about her becoming ill as well so its all for the best.

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My baby girl will arrive when she’s good and ready and I will spend the time waiting with my other (slightly bigger) baby girl, making sure she gets better and has all the attention she needs.

Sorry baby for wanting you here so badly. I guess I just want to see for myself that you are just fine.

Until you are ready I will try to stop being so cranky and moaning about any pain..after all this is my final pregnancy I should …ahem try to enjoy it right?

35 weeks… Woohoo

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So today I am officially 35 weeks by the magical dating scan date. By my dates which are obviously more accurate I am 36 weeks but hey ho either way we are getting close. Within the next month my our baby will (should) be here. That is a slightly surreal feeling. We are more or less prepared in all of the practical ways but we STILL don’t have a name so please feel free to leave all your suggestions in the comment box.

Cravings:

Nothing new this week.. Still loving ice. A lot. I still want to brush my teeth. All the time. The apple thing has returned a little.

Weight:

I haven’t gained any weight the last week or so but my bump looks seriously enormous.

Physical changes

I have Braxton Hicks contractions all day long. They aren’t painful but are incredibly uncomfortable.
Lots of pelvic pressure.. Sore and bruised feeling.
Backache constantly.
Cramps are horrendous at night when I don’t drink a Powerade during the day.
I have little appetite..I guess as the baby is taking up so much room these days.
My milk production is definitely getting in gear and breast pads are no longer optional.

Baby:

We had a scan on Monday and our beautiful girl seems to be doing well and is estimated to be about 5lbs.

Sleep:

Sleep is still pretty rubbish. I wake up more tired than when I go to bed. I remember this from last time and I know I just have to put up with it.

Preparation:

I’ve had a little bit more energy this past week and I’ve been preparing for these first chaotic weeks by making food for the freezer. So far I’ve made: Chicken Curry, Beef Stew and Cottage pie. I know I will appreciate this when I’m bleary eyed and looking after a newborn and toddler.

Izzy:

Izzy is still very loving with my bump but the past few days she is definitely experiencing the terrible twos. Tantrums and testing my patience. Still loving our time together but hope this is a short phase.

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Nothing more exciting to tell you really but here is the baby bump update for this week:

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Looking forward to meeting you baby girl 🙂

Cry me a river ….

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A few days ago my toddler made a mess eating some chocolate cake. Not exactly an unusual scenario one would think. Definitely not one which would usually make you cry for 30 minutes is it?

This week I am in my 34th week of pregnancy and well I’ve cried a bit. By a bit I mean at least once a day and for at least 5 minutes at a time.

One day was particularly bad and I cried most of the day for no reason or for completely irrational reasons.

Reasons I’ve cried this week:

* Toddler making a mess
* Toddler being loving
* OH being in work
* Cramp
* Forgetting to bake
* Being sore
* Forgetting to blog
* Feeling fat
* Worrying I haven’t gained enough weight
* Worrying I’ve gained too much weight
* Thoughtful friends
* Thoughtless friends
* Loving my pantry
* Feeling my baby move
* Watching my toddler hug and chat to my belly
* My lovely man
* The film About Time
* Surprise Surprise
* Tipping food/drinks over the floor

So why am I so hormonal?

Well firstly it’s totally normal. The Third Trimester is full of anxiety,fear and highly emotional.

I asked my twitter followers about it and these are some of the responses I had:

* Cried when boyfriend couldn’t decide what he wanted for dinner
* Cried because my freezer was too full
* Cried because OH didn’t put enough cheese on my nachos.
* Cried because daughter had nappy rash

Others said they had irrational fears or major anxiety. It seems its not just our physical bodies going through turmoil at this stage.

Anyway after shedding a lot of tears watching absolutely beautiful film About Time last night today I feel brighter and I haven’t cried once. Woohoo.

Now if someone could stop kicking me between the legs repeatedly all night long that would be great.. I mean someone must be doing that right. Ouch.

Here is a bump pic for all you bump lovers:

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33 Week Update. Feeling positive.

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You will be happy to know that this is a positive blog post about pregnancy.

I’m 33 weeks. It’s getting closer to the big day. I’m really starting to get excited. I’m not worried about actually giving birth at all. This may change but at the moment I’m just looking forward to the experience. I know it’s going to hurt like hell. It did last time and its far from easy but there are two huge bonuses at the end:

1. I will have my baby in my arms.

2. Pregnancy will be over. Forever. Yay.

Weight:

I have gained enough weight for this stage in my pregnancy ( smack bang in the middle of the average weight gain range) yet I actually don’t feel fat. I may look it but I don’t feel it. My belly is of course huge but the rest of me seems ok ..ish at the moment. In fact I somehow managed to accidentally wear size 10 non maternity leggings the other day.. Oops. They felt rather uncomfortable by the end of the day.

Lovely dress I bought from Seraphine for a wedding:

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Sleep:

Sleep is elusive. I want to sleep but I can’t. Between the crazy dreams, toilet trips and general niggles and pains I rarely get more than about 4 hours. I am getting used to the tiredness but it is frustrating when I know I need my energy for when baby arrives. I am starting to reintroduce my daily nap which I stopped for the past fortnight as felt I didn’t need it.

Baby:

We saw the baby again on Monday. We had a scan followed by a consultant appointment. All seems well at the moment which is just fabulous news and feeling less stressed about how she is doing is definitely contributing to my current positive mood. The scan was incredible. My last scan with Izzy was at 20 weeks so seeing my baby looking well like a proper baby is a bit mad. We had a 30minute scan as they asked us if we minded also being scanned by a trainee student after the sonographer had finished. To thank us they gave us 4 photos and I thought I would share one with you as it’s so clear:

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She is head down and has had a growth spurt since our last scan which is great. I just can’t wait to meet her now.

Strep B:

As I already know I have Strep B we have been told that we have to get to hospital as soon as contractions become in any way regular or if my waters break I need to go in immediately in order for the antibiotics to start working and to stop the baby getting the infection. This does make me panic slightly and I predict there may be some false alarm hospital visits in a few weeks. Better to be safe though and I am lucky that I know that I have it. You can read more about Strep B here

Cravings:

These haven’t changed much since last week really but my ice craving has increased massively. It turns out my iron levels are low which could explain that. I am now on an iron liquid supplement twice a day which is pleasant.. Hmmm. Anyway back to the ice. The staff in my local Asda think I’m crazy after a recent ice craving conversation and I have discovered I can recreate a slush puppy using my Vitamix to crush the ice and them adding soda stream cola syrup afterwards. Far from healthy but oh so good. Apples are still popular with me but I don’t feel the need to eat more than 1 a day anymore.

Cooking:

I am loving being back in the kitchen more. I have a new pantry – which I love and today my brilliant Dad is painting the whole room for me so it means I can’t spend anytime in there cooking but I will have a lovely fresh looking kitchen soon enough. In the past week I have made:

Slow cooker beef stew, brownies, tiffin, lazy pasta and Butter chicken curry. Yum.

Later on I plan to make bread and if I continue to feel well next week I plan to make lasagne, curry,stew and pies for the freezer ready for those first crazy weeks.

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Izzy:

Izzy is bonding more and more with my bump and loves to look at the scan photos. My bump gets kisses all the time and she will dance with my bump too. I can’t wait to see them together. I know there will be some jealousy and resentment at times but I do hope they are close. She had her 2 year assessment with the health visitor last week and passed with flying colours. She continues to surprise us with her funny sentences and the things she seems to know without us telling her. She still has the occasional tantrum but they are mostly short lived…for now.

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Work:

I am officially on annual leave now followed immediately by my maternity leave commencing and it feels really good to know that I don’t have to worry about being well enough to go to work. Kinda crazy to know I will be off work until next October! Thoroughly enjoying the extra time I get to spend with my girl before baby two arrives.

Names

We finally have 1 or 2 names that we like. Still not sure if they are the right ones but we are getting somewhere at last.

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Anyway that is enough rambling from me. Thanks for reading 🙂

Making a list..checking it twice.

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This may sound crazy to you.. it does even to me actually. I’ve pretty much completed my Christmas shopping. I am so disorganised normally that I generally still feel panicky on Christmas Eve but this year I knew that with a relatively small newborn ish baby at that time I needed to be prepared. Baby 2 is due on Nov 15th..so if I go overdue ( which currently seems VERY unlikely) she could be just a few weeks old on Christmas day.

So I began planning..and shopping a few months back. I have a LOT of people to buy for. Aside from my little family ( OH, Iz and new baby) I have a lot of siblings and their partners..12 nieces and nephews, my OH’s family and extended family and friends. Arrrrggh.

I decided to make things easier on myself.

For 8 of my nieces and nephews I have bought cinema vouchers. They take up a teeny amount of space in my Christmas chest and I know they can all go together one day and have a fun day out.

For the younger remaining ones I have small gifts which I’ve picked up on sale and the older one I have some cool smellies.

For inlaws and extended family I’ve stocked up at the local Bookers on booze and picked up special food items at Food festivals earlier in the year. I had every intention of making hampers again but I can’t see it happening.

Iz gets a lot of presents from extended family so I’m taking advantage of the fact that she is too young to nag for a big present and giving her lots of little things such a sticker books and fun crafty things to keep her occupied when I’m feeding baby 2. I also had lots of cool things from Britmums goodie bags which I’ve hoarded way. We do plan to buy her a bike/trike in the January sales.

Baby 2 has some snuggly toy items and that’s about it.

Friends and my older siblings will have wine/chocs and be grateful for it.

My younger siblings have some cool fat face stuff which I got on sale..agessss ago and the older ones have some fab cocktail mixes etc which I bought when reduced a while back.

My OH has yet to choose his gift so he will either have money or things I can buy online. Simple.

I’ve even started stocking up on Christmas snacks and chocs.. Unfortunately unlike the wine I can eat these now so the stock is depleting but Asda/Morrisons will always be around.

Have you done all your shopping?

Look out.. Huge hormonal pregnant lady coming through.

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After all the crap this pregnancy has thrown at me the last thing in the world I thought I would be concerned by was a flyaway comment made by a hairdresser about the size of my bump. But concerned, offended, emotional I am. Stupid huh?

Actually it’s really stupid. I’m not fat I’m growing a HUMAN being. Do you realise how astounding that is? I’m actually growing an entire new person in my belly.. A space which used to get too crowded after a large takeaway now has the task of growing my child. If my stomach looks big that’s because there is someONE in it. Not a few extra cakes or a case of beer but SOMEONE.

Yes I know the baby is in my uterus, not my stomach. My uterus which is now approximately 1000 times the size it was pre pregnancy and sitting just under my boobs.

It amazes me that other women especially other mums can be so tactless. When has a woman ever liked her weight gain being discussed? I hate that at least 3 of my friends have discussed post pregnancy weight loss with me and my child hasn’t arrived yet. I hate that I started googling belly bands after hearing that Kim K is using one to aid her weight loss. I hate that I am seriously wondering how soon after baby arrives will I be able to start the 30 day shred?

I know that when my baby arrives I will forget most of this. My days will be taken up with her and Izzy and an exercise routine will be the least of my worries but I hate that it has come to this at all.

One comment. That’s all.

Next time you make a comment about someone’s weight..whether they are pregnant or not. Think to yourself do they need to hear this? Tell them they look wonderful or glowing. Not that their bump is too big or even too small.

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Another week..another worry

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The last few days have again been difficult. My little monkey of a baby has decided to give me severe back pain, contractions and various other issues meaning I had to be admitted to hospital and have been given a steroid injection with one more to follow tomorrow to prepare her lungs in case she makes an early exit. Please don’t little girl, you are so small and just a few more weeks will make things so much easier for you when you arrive.

After a positive growth scan last week I did feel that maybe things were improving and that she would settle down a bit but it looks like the last trimester will be just as difficult as the first two. Hey ho I guess now it really is the final run and I just have to concentrate on staying relaxed, positive and heathy for my girl. I also really need to finish up on preparations for her arrival.

Spending nights in hospital when you have a toddler is so hard, I missed her, my OH and ..my pregnancy pillow more than I could tell you. Hopefully that will be the last stay until baby 2 arrives.

I still have no mattress for the Moses basket,no car seat and did I mention that we still don’t have ANY ideas for names ..as in any at all. Oops.

It will figure itself out.

I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all of your support both on here and on twitter – it means so much to me and really cheers me up so thanks very very much.

And as I know you all love a foodie pic.. Here is what I dined on last night:

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Return of the nap

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According to my dating scan I am 29 weeks today, according to my dates I’m more like 30 but either way I am into my third trimester and don’t I know it.

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The daytime nap that I haven’t really had since the first trimester has had to return. I’m pretty useless at napping, I find it hard to sleep during the day but the last few days I have had to have some 10 minute snoozes here and there or I can’t function. Typically nighttime sleep is getting a lot more difficult with the cramps, discomfort and running for a wee in the early hours. I am so thankful for my maternity pillow from Theraline which I’ve been reviewing for a few months – I actually don’t know how I managed without it last time.

Ankle swelling, heartburn, pelvic pressure and general aches are in abundance but manageable.
Earlier in the week we had a growth scan which showed that the baby is doing well at the moment so yay for some good news.

I seem to have a lot on my mind at all times right now, not surprisingly I guess.

I worry that we aren’t fully prepared for the baby arriving, we haven’t bought a tandem buggy or a car seat yet but all her clothes are washed and ironed ( priorities right?)

I want to cook a lot of meals ready to freeze but I’m just too tired.

I think I’m going to really miss the one on one time with Izzy when the baby comes but then I feel guilty for feeling that way after all we want this baby so much obviously. It’s just that we are so close at the moment and I worry she will resent the time away from her that the baby will demand – any tips on dealing with this gratefully accepted.

Nesting has kicked in and I really HATE my house being untidy. With a toddler this is hard but as long as it clean and tidy when I go to bed I feel a bit better about things. There are at least 3 big jobs that need to be done before the baby comes: the kitchen needs to be repainted, the bathroom needs a complete overhaul 🙁 and the chimney needs to be removed and our bedroom repainted due to a leak. If these things get done I will be more relaxed.

The countdown is on, the final 10 weeks ( or 7ish if we go by the fact that Izzy was early).

One thing I really don’t worry about is actually giving birth, although I distinctly remember just how painful it was last time this time it marks the end of pregnancy for me so I can’t wait for it. I do however worry about getting to the hospital in time for my Strep B antibiotics to kick in – they need 4 hours in my system to prevent it being passed onto the baby so I imagine my local labour ward may hear from me a lot in the last few weeks with every twinge being a possible labour warning!

All the worries aside we really can’t wait to meet our girl. I will be much happier when she is here so I can check on her and know all is really ok.

Me and my girls:

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Coming up soon ..preparing the hospital bag! What did you put in yours?