And not only is a friday, but it is the friday before a week off! i think today is probabyl the best day of the week off- the anticipation of not having to come into work for a whole week! I have various things lined up- mostly spending time with people I dont see too often. Simon only has one day off and you can guess what he wants to do with that- yes- DIY! So I am going out with my Mum for the day!
We have these million guests coming for the weekend (there will be 9 of us in total, plus a baby) so I have lots of cooking and Simon has lots of cleaning to do! They are lovely people and i am looking forward to seeing them but the amount of work it generates! And they are all staying over too.... My goodness. Why did we agree to this?!
Having a new carpet laid in our bedroom next week so all the painting has to be done by then! Then only the hall, landing and stairs to go and most of the house is decorated! (well except the bathrooms but they only need a lick of paint as we cant afford to re-do them this side of baby's arrival!).
Weather should be nice so let's hope it stays that way. Baby moving around nicely and seems fine so nothing much new to report there!
Does anyone know of a symptom in pregnancy that involves a kind of numb sensation in the leg? It has felt like I am wearing wet trousers in a certain spot on my leg for about 24 hours. All v v weird. Should I be worried?
Sorry to miss your call last night Maija- look forward to a chat later...
Gotta dash to a meeting but wanted to ask my question as it does seem a bit odd...
I have had possibly my worst day at work ever. And tomorrow will only be worse. but i feel remarkably calm about it. Something i said off the record about someone's professional abilities got put into a note and circulated around whitehall. quite unbelievable. the person concerned read it and was rather miffed, understandably, but has been v generous in rising above it. i feel terrible for even saying it, although in the context of the conversation i felt it was warranted at the time. It is indeed a lesson for me though. not least in how much more gracious some people are than me.
Lots to learn about the baby thing i realise- i do need to get on with that reading!
Went for a drink last night with my friend whose wife is pregnant. it was lovely to spend the entire time talking about babies, knowing the other person wasnt bored or feeling bad for one reason or another. I am v excited about sharing this with such a good friend!
Just found out that a v good friend of mine and his wife are expecting a baby in October (the 30th- so only just in October I suppose!). Maija- you know them (C & C!). Am so excited about it. Very good news indeed. Wont be the same school year as BabyAinsworth but will be v close in age so we hope they can be friends!
Weekend lovely. Spent at the vicar's on friday evening (Simon got a bit drunk as he had had a stressful day with his interview- no idea how it went and he has to wait 2-3 weeks to find out result which is terrible in my view). It was so good to meet loads of other people from church that we hadnt met before. They are such lovely people....Saturday was doing DIY and domestic jobs (and going for my swim!). Sunday we had some friends over for sunday lunch with their little son- will be 1 next month. He slept and ate v well in our house so let's hope it stays that way for our baby! When they had gone I did some relaxing. First time in ages. Was lovely. Read the paper and pottered around doing v little. Thoroughly enjoyable and I feel v rested today as a result!
i had a good day working from home yesterday. though it was hard when the sun was shining so much! had a mini scare when it turned out my midwife wasnt running 1 hr 30 mins late as normal so the fact that i was 5 mins late was actually quite material! baby fine, blood pressure fine, had routine blood tests (dont get results for a wee while), in fact all fine. apart from baby being in breach position. midwife started to mention ceasareans (which when i have 12 weeks to go seems a bit scaremongering) but it has made me realise that i just dont want one ! i have always known it is a distinct possibility if things dont go according to plan but i really want to avoid it if i can! apparently swimming helps- which i am doing twice a week anyway and probably what caused the movement in to the current position! anyone else got any good tips- including dont worry as you have so long to go it will move 16 times a week in the next 12 weeks!
simon had an interview for an itnernal job today. it is a promotion and hterefore very popular so he has convinced himself he didnt get it even though he totally desperately wants it. we want him to move out of his current job before baby arrives as the hours are just so bonkers and he has no control over them currently. he wont find out for 2-3 weeks! crazy. am not too happy with him having to wait that long- do they not realise how much of your soul you put into these things!
anyway i have been calm and strong for him all week and now am feeling v v stressed about lots of things - a v busy weekend being lined up is not helping matters i dont think...
That was the name of a band in the 90s- not sure if it is still going. And it is how I feel today! Worked straight through lunch in meetings from 10-2 so i feel i am owed 10 mins to post a blog! It is either v busy here or v boring. Why cant it be a nice balance more of the time?
We are off to the House of Lords tonight for a reception held by Cancer Research. I think it is because we donate regularly- perhaps more than the average person or perhaps because our surname begins with A- who knows! But looking forward to that. And as I work v v close to there anyway it is extremely convenient! Usually the opportunities I get to go into that building are to do with Simon's political interests/ activities (which have had to stop when in his current post anyway- thank goodness I say!) which clearly I have fundamental issues of principle with so I tend not to go. This is nice and uncontroversial and I am looking forward to it!
We have now bought a car seat for our baby. Not mentioning all the things we havent yet bought- trying to do it gradually by thinking carefully about each thing and whether we need it at all and if so, how posh/new/expensive it should be! Even this one which we decided needed to be brand new and where we were going to spare no expense we ended up getting the old version of the Britax CosyTot isofix seat (from birth- the only isofix from birth i believe!) rather than the new one as we saved nearly 50quid!
Has anyone seen 24? We have started to watch it recently on DVD (borrowed from a friend). It is so addictive! One episode in an evening is v hard to stick to- although we have managed that so far. Very tense and very good. I recommend it!
28 week blood tests with the mid-wife tomorrow (as well as all the normal checks) so I get to work from home. hurrah!
I was jolted into action today from someone wondering where my posts had got to. It is v unlike me. I had just been busy at work and had friday off- spent it with my friend Alex which was lovely- just chatting and not doing v much at all. We intended to go for a long walk but it was raining v hard so we decided the pub was a better option! She teased me with her large glasses of red wine but it is amazing how nice appletise can taste after a few months of drinking it lots! The rest of hte weekend was spent v much doing stuff on the house- simon at diy and me at ironing etc. And making use of the garden and the sunshine to read hte paper you understand! What is the point of having a garden if you dont use it ! Another antenatal class last night. Still no video of the birth but we did get a plastic pelvis, model baby and knitted placenta! It was fascinating actually. My midwife led the class and has been doing the job since 1966 so very little surprises her. she gave us real down to earth advice- main one being to use raspberry leaf capsules (which i had already bought- but not taking yet, dont worry- after a lady at work recommended them). She was v much of the opinion that epidurals are terrible and that we are all young and healthy enough to bear a bit of 'good' pain and that we should just get on with it! We will see whether i manage without one or not when the time comes! I have the rest of this week and next week before a week off, then two more weeks and another week off then two more weeks then i finish! Hurrah!
Is it just me or would you have expected to learn something about how to breastfeed at an NHS breastfeeding class? Instead we were just told how wonderful it was, how difficult it will be and that we should definitely do it. I have already decided to do it! BUt if noone tells me how on earth i am supposed to then will it be possible?!! AHHHH!!!
Went to go and see someone in the afternoon who had her beautiful baby girl Niamh just 4 weeks ago. Her labour lasted just 4 hours and she had just gas and air. How incredible is that- esp as it is her first baby. I feel most sickened inside that she has been through the dreaded experience and i am still on this side of it!
What a lovely weekend! I was out doing some gardening, believe it or not! It was wonderful. Admittedly a bit cold in the evenings but it is only April still! I went swimming and did ironing and cooking and shopping and saw friends! Simon was stripping wallpaper off our bedroom wall (the last bedroom to be decorated!). It was slow progress as there were about 3 layers to remove but he stuck at it and got there in the end. My Dad helped him out a bit and they seemed to make a great team! Mum and i were more concerned aobut the curtains she is making for our dining room and my maternity trousers which are too long and which she is taking up! So very gender-orientated actions but we all enjoyed ourselves! We just feel so grateful that both sets of parents live so near and are so willing to help us. we simply wouldnt have been able to make the progress on our house that we have made without them all. In fact i am feeling pretty blessed in every way at the moment. I guess it is good to appreciate all that you have and I really do right now. I cant help but hope that this doesnt mean things will start to go wrong for us but for now we just have everything we want/ need! Doesnt stop me being grumpy and selfish and complaining sometimes but I do try not to!
Simon is away with work tonight (he had a driver come and collect him at 6.15 this am- and nearly missed the train from Paddington that he was meeting his BIG boss on but all was OK as he caught it in the end!). So I am going to stay with my friend Debbie. Looking forward to it. Day at work to get through first though!
Is too hard for me! I really do struggle through each class. I have decided to keep it up as it must be doing me some good but I just cant do it! For example when she got everyone doing balancing exercises I was the only on in the room who couldnt lift my leg off the ground for any time at all without falling over- everyone else stood there for at least a minute on one leg with their hands in the air! It must be good for strengthening the leg muscles which would be useful in labour but I cant do it! Anyway there was an amazing programme on channel 4 last night called 'life before birth'. It was totally fascinating. I have never been so absorbed in a TV programme in my life. I guess it is bound to be more interesting if you have a new life inside of you at the time you watch the programme but learning how we all develop must be interesting to everyone! We develop memory inside the womb and all our senses except sight is used in some way - and even the blinking, sucking and swallowing reflexes begin although I guess they arent necessary in there! I found the poem thing annoying at first but gradually got into it and thought it was adding something by the end- too many facts/ figures would have made the programme hard to watch and less interesting I reckon.
The biggest plague/ trauma of my pregnancy has been the nosebleeds. They have interrupted many a night's sleep and yesterday I had one that lasted 1 1/2 hours! I had to walk to a meeting at the other end of Westminster in the rain and contending with my nose bleed. Not much fun! I was feeling pretty sorry for myself by the time I got there! It was a good meeting though and it passed before I had to venture outside again so that was a blessing.
Went for a swim last night. It was good. Except far too busy. And in lanes some people are so selfish! They want to go at their pace no matter what hte cost for everyone else. The problem last night was that half the people were like that! So there were collisions all over the place. Not much fun. I will go earlier next time.
I have been having issues with the iron levels in my blood. Apparently they were v v high before I was pregnant and now 'baby is taking without asking' so i am losing some. I guess being a veggie doesnt really help matters despite my best efforts with spinach etc. I am now taking the iron tablets that my midwife wanted me to have. My doctor thinks my level is perfectly fine and I dont need it but it is below the 'normal' range and 20% lower than the start of my pregnancy and on a downward trend (and I have been feeling v v dizzy and looking v pale) so I am going to take them anyway. So there.
The classes were actually v good. We didnt see the video of a birth i had been promised and there wasnt a knitted placenta in sight! She tried to get us to mingle which I thought was good as people have said that you dont really meet anyone at the NHS classes. There was a lady there from my pregnancy yoga classes who seems really nice but it is hard to know whether a friendship will develop or not! Unlikely as she is quite far advanced in her pregnancy actually so I probably wont see too much more of her - a shame as i really like her. We talked through everything from the very first stages of labour and what it feels like and what can go wrong and what the man can do to help. We did get the baby born but she felt we rushed the last bit too much so we need to go over that again at the next mid-wife class! It is one on breastfeeding next week which isnt at all convenient- at no notice in the middle of hte day when i have meetings to go to for work! but i will try to get there ithink- in my own interests to do so. Why dont they like men going to breastfeeding classes? they need to learn as well dont they so they can help/support/ encourage when it gets tough?
Last night we found a new pub in our area. Actually halfway between where we live and where my best friend is moving to (which is 10 mins away- will be fantastic). It was lovely and looks like it does top grub too which will be wonderful! Although not many more chances to go there i suppose!
I have posted almost every day in the last week but it doesnt seem to have been working. Sorry.
NOthing too exciting to report. I enjoyed a lovely weekend- first aid course for babies and children on saturday (with all my family and part of Simon's too as they feel they will need the training if they are ever babysitting!). Very informative and very good. I thoroughly recommend. I did one for adults recently too. All good citizens should try to I reckon so you can help a stranger/ friend/ family member out if ever necessary. And I walked past an accident on my way to work this am. The ambulance was already there or I might have needed to put my training into action!
The weather was so fantastic we actually did some stuff in our garden! It has been rather neglected but sundays arent a good day for starting to decorate a room so we tidied/ cleaned/ washed the car and did some gardening instead! i love living more in the countryside. Just wonderful.
Got a letter from my health centre on friday saying my antenatal classes start tonight! how rubbish is htat! i already had plans but have had to cancel them. considering i posted my application to join them in november it is pretty bad service. she reckons it arrived on her desk last week. not sure how that could have happened to be honest.
baby is moving constantly at hte moment- quite strong too. my sister-in-law wanted to feel it move at the weekend at that was just the exact moment it chose to go very quiet on me! but it moves really an awful lot. people now asking me how long have i got left at work.considering it is over 2 months i think that will get rahter annoying! am v pleased i didnt tell people any earlier!
roll on those two months! i am getting pretty clucky now and really want to feel my baby in my arms!
