a particularly bad night's sleep I wake to find my husband has gone off to an antiques fair without me ! This is in a bid to get a chest of drawers cheaper than the one we saw in the shop on friday! To be fair I did mention that he should go without me if it didnt look like i was going to wake anytime soon... Now I have the tough job of relaxing with the sunday papers (we didnt have time for them yesterday!) this morning....
For some reason I have agreed to go and see this film this afternoon. Why I wonder? I never manage to persuade S to come to films he isnt too keen on. Oh well he is giving me lots of back massages at the moment so I suppose it is nice for me to be able to do something for him!
A trial post should be appearing soon by S so he can post when there is some news re baby! I now officially have under 7 weeks to go til the due date but we all know that can be a bit of an underestimate so it might be just under 9 weeks... (unless baby doesnt turn round then it will be less than that!). I have to admit I am now starting to dread the nighttimes as sleeping is so difficult these days. The bump is just too big to deal with comfortably and I am really looking forward to meeting baby (having meeting baby dreams most nights these days) but also to simply not being pregnant any more! I know this gets worse over the next few weeks so I promise not to complain every day (unlike to Simon who has to put up with it a lot!). But just so you know that although all seems to be healthy I am now having to force myself to enjoy this part of the pregnancy!
I forgot to blog that we went to see the birthing centre near (ish) us on wednesday. Simon liked it! So if baby ever turns round (still breech i think) and i am allowed a natural labour we intend for it to take place there. It is totally midwife run and so cool! It really does feel like a home from home there-v small- and would help me in my bid against pain relief as they dont offer epidurals (although they do offer pethidine) and so i'd have to take an ambulance somewhere else if i really did need to have one (which i am not ruling out at this stage...). I feel so much more positive about the whole thing now. I just really want baby to turn! Those of you who are so inclined, please pray that it happens soon! Thanks...
NCT breastfeeding class was v v helpful. I feel reasonably well prepared now- as well as i can be this side of the reality actually hitting me i mean.
Wow! What weather we have today.... Fantastic. Except if you are heavily pregnant it could be argued it is possibly a bit too hot but we get these days so rarely I am not going to complain! We did lots of shopping today and are still undecided about a chest of drawers we REALLY want for our bedroom but can ill afford at the moment...
We went to stay at the Henley on Thames Hotel du Vin last night. It was kind of a birthday surprise for Simon as his birthday is 1 week before baby is due so he is unlikely to have a particularly fun time this year! It was amazing. The setting is fantastic and, as usual, the building totally fantastic ( a converted brewery). We were also upgraded to the best room in the hotel! It was a 2-floor suite with an outside bath (on the balcony overlooking the river), a massive inside bath, a huge walk-in shower, a sofa area and 2 lots of plasma tvs with dvd player! We watched some episodes of 24 which we have been enjoying recently and made sure we relaxed on our balcony with a good book in the sunshine. I feel v relaxed now and it was totally wonderful. Breakfast in the sunshine outside in the courtyard area. Quite spoiled rotten we were. Now we are staying at Simon's parents' lovely place in Sussex to enjoy their fantastic garden for a few days' well earned rest....
We went to look round our hospital yesterday but it was full up! There were no delivery suites available and the pool was even busy! So we had a look round but it was totally pointless.... I was quite agitated and thought it was a v regimented atmosphere. Have managed to persuade Simon we can at least go and look at the nhs midwife run birthing centre which is near ish us. Some job to persuade him that i should actually give birth there! although the fact that i am definitely still breech is not encouraging anyway - a natural labour might not be happening anyway for me!
Did lots of cooking yesterday to try out some healthy recipes- i enjoy doing it when i have the time. i am sure when baby arrives my time wont be the same but by then i might be au fait enough that it isnt such a hassle! and found a lovely farm shop that sells almost everything- much better than using a supermarket i reckon...
As we speak the nursery is being created! A new carpet and now the lampshade and border and the cot is being established. How exciting! The carseat fits and we are getting v excited!
NCT class yesterday was brilliant- one couple from last week didnt show up but those that did are v keen to become a support group and they are all great value. We look forward to getting to know them better....
Do people have views on whether the placenta-inducing injection after labour is a good/ bad thing to do? I havent been able to read too much about it and thought someone might have some advice for me! Just seems a bit odd if (and i realise it is a massive IF) you get through labour with no drugs to then be injected straight away afterwards....
Have another week off coming up! hurrah... will try to blog but Simon is off too this time so hopefully i'll ahve some company for more of the time! we are planning to look round hte hospital where our baby will be born and a few other engagements as well as DIY and doing some relaxing!
yesterday i spent 6 hours travelling and 5 hours chairing meetings (with about 11 people in them). so i am v tired! today i have 2 meetings and tomorrow another one. i then have a week off (hurrah) and then 2 more weeks to complete everything i am doing and do a handover with the person doing my job when i am on maternity leave. i have to do it all properly as i dont want people thinking badly of me all the time i am off! but it is v hard when you are getting more and more pregnant every day! i am sure it is not supposed to be like this- but why do we have the ability to do the job mentally but physically it gets more and more challenging?! it is a nightmare!
better get on with preparing for today's meetings i suppose!
i have been getting some pretty hard kicks from baby recently - i will be 32 weeks on thursday- sometimes in the ribs so hard it really does hurt and makes me stop what i am doing and grab my side. has anyone else experienced this?
We could see the procession for the state opening of parliament out of our office window this am! V exciting. Sometimes I do love the way we do things in this country. It is just so different from anywhere else and has been done the same way for so many hundreds of years. V cool to me!
Not much more news than that today- off to Birmingham with work tomorrow. I get all the glamorous engagements...
Baby growing at quite apace at the moment- even Simon said he thought i looked bigger yest eve than i had on sunday! Am asking baby's forgiveness today for having a small glass of champagne last night to celebrate simon's new job!
to blog on friday but blogger was down so I couldnt!
well it is all happening. Simon has a new job! We spent the entire weekend (well nearly all of it) preparing a presentation for an (internal) interview he had this morning. They virtually offered him the job on the spot! It is a promotion and should mean less hours so more money for less work cant be a bad thing! And with the timing of the arrival of baby it is all top news. He was so worried and worked himself into a ridiculous state about it but he is clearly the best man for the job. I am delighted for him and very proud!
We went to our first NCT class on saturday. I was a bit nervous as I had put a lot of emphasis on joining for meeting local friends with new babies as a support network post July. All the people are lovely! And one couple is moving into our close in 2 weeks' time! Very friendly and down to earth people and I am very relieved. The class itself was actually quite helpful too- not least in telling Simon why I think the birthing thing has become over-medicalised in the fullness of time in the West - helped him understand where I was coming from a bit. We have another class at the weekend which I am looking forward to now. Not sure if I am going to admit to my plan to put baby into its own room from day 1 though as I dont want to be lambasted for having a controversial view! (And no it isnt driven by Gina Ford but my only thoughts and conclusions btw!)
Probably as hard as ever in my life- hence the lack of postings. quite enjoying it though i am a bit stressed and htere are far too many back-stabbing conversations going on in my office for me to be totally happy. Never mind- less than 4 working weeks until i can stop working! hurrah!
was out on monday night with some friends of simon's - v nice people. they were livinv in the cayman islands but the big storm at the end of last year rather ruined their cosy life there so they are back in london. we were going to go and visit them and everything!
last night saw another yoga class- i guess i am getting better (or the teacher is mroe used to my rubbish way of doing things) as i dont get picked on so much any more! and people are actually chatting there now which is good.
Currently reading Henci Goer's 'The Thinking Woman's guide to a better birth'. Apart from Simon getting pickle on the pages of my lovely new book i am really enjoying reading it! i welcome any more recommendations for pregnancy/ baby books as the more i read, the better informed i will be! thanks for this one Lisa- it is v good as you suggested...
We had 4 extra people for lunch today. So yesterday was spent preparing food and cleaning etc. We also re-arranged our upstairs so we are back in our bedroom (carpet looks great with our furniture!) and the spare room is now the spare room and we can create a nursery at last! Lunch went down well- fruit to start with (creatively cut- v impressive and made sure everyone had some blueberries as well as melon, raspberries and kiwi fruit!) and a fish pie and lots of veg and my special chocolate brownies to finish. V nice if I do say so myself! It was the first time we had invited people who didnt know each other and it seemed to work quite well!
Back to work tomorrow (boo). Going to be v busy tehre so will try to post but i wont have the luxury of the time i had this week to do it every day unfortunately...
As far as I am concerned. They need to learn that they cant just adopt ridiculous right wing principles and ideas and impose them on the nation that has elected a labour government. i hope the fact they were so vulnerable to the lib dems in some places makes them more accountable to the left - wing end of the party...Interesting that Howard has said he will step down already. Some irony in the fact that the press were finally giving a Tory leader some credit for being of some value to their party! An interesting few months/ years will follow. We stayed up til 3 to watch it but it wasnt totally conclusive even then. Simon had to work today so even that late was totally bonkers! I am off for another rest after doing my blog- was up early myself for my kiddicare parcel delivery and the carpet man. Our bedroom really does look pretty tip top now i have to say- looking forward to moving back into it !
Otherwise i enjoyed a lovely drive to another supermarket which i think i will use from now on. i really do live quite in the country. the sun was shining and it was wonderful. i felt v blessed to live here! and i spotted a v nice looking pub which i might suggest that we explore at the weekend !
not much more news really apart from simon was invited to the nct AGM but i wasnt! and we have been invited to a newcomers coffee morning which happens to be durin my nextg week off- when simon will be off too. but not sure about the etiquette or sense of bringing him along- will he feel like a fish out of water and will he hinder potential bonding with other new/ imminent mums? any advice gratefully received!
Well i took all the fun and excitement out of voting by doing a postal one. Just makes life a lot easier we reckon. Although i am off all day and could have gone whenever i wanted!
I have been for a swim today and been to the library! So those of you that have recommended me books- i have either ordered them from amazon or the library. I said I would use you guys to hold me accountable to getting round to it this week and i managed it! Tomorrow is the glamorous waiting in for the carpet delivery day and it might not be so easy to escape so as my mother in law was ill (poor thing-she suffered with the same dental issues exactly a year ago before they were due to go on holiday then) and i couldnt spend the day with her as planned i thought i would do sometehing useful and productive with the time!
I have been speaking to plumbers re getting our shower fixed and also making appointments to go to various nurseries for our next week off in case i do decide to go back to work on some form of a part time basis i guess i should have thought about childcare options in advance! one of them sounded wonderful but i mustnt be too predujiced ahead of actually going along- of course the most convenient one sounded the worst. typical....
Brighton Been there today to see a friend of mine. She has two children, boys, aged 10 and 7, so she has been through lots more than me! I kind of started to feel bad as we discussed my pregnancy etc as i realised that 10 yrs ago when she was going through it all and I was at university i showed v little interest as i just had no idea of the world she was living in and all that she was experiencing. She said that lots of her friends are feeling the same- that we probably didnt offer her the support she needed at the time because we werent aware of what her needs would have been. Now of course she is in a fantastic position to offer help/advice/support as she has been through so much herself. Anyway her boys are a credit to her and I had a lovely day by the sea! Shame the weather wasnt any nicer as we couldnt really have our planned picnic on the beach when her boys were at school. Our worlds are very different but it is so good to learn from each other and catch up.I think I last saw her 3 years ago so lots has changed for both of us.....
Day with my mother in law tomorrow which i am looking forward to! More shopping for baby i would think!
Having time off work is lovely! Ok so the traffic jam mum and i sat in when driving my car to be serviced this am wasnt so much fun but i really enjoyed the several hours we spent in mothercare world this afternoon. it had so much there and we got loads of stuff (from toys to bedding to clothes) and lots more ideas for stuff to order online. V impressed with M'care. Fantastic shop!
Our shower has broken and we managed to get 2 plumbers round today for quotes which was amazing as far as i am concerned. the only trouble is we plan to get the bathroom re-done idc and seems a bit of a waste of quite a lot of money to get in re-done!
about having a lap top is that i can bring it home and use it to blog on my week off!! Simon and his dad are upstairs decorating our bedroom and i am currently putting off going for a swim. it is sunny outside so sitting there with a good book is the most tempting thought at the moment....
We had our numerous guests stay at the weekend. i must say it was a complete success!! i made carrot cake (my best friend's recipe and it is simply the best one in the world- no wonder everyone loved it!), chocolate brownies and a chicken casserole. It all went down very well indeed which was good as i had tired myself out doing all the prep! The weather was kind to us so we were able to sit in the garden and go for a walk (the boys managed to go for a walk to a pub and sit in the garden there for a little while!). The little girl Bethan who was brought along by her parents was gorgeous. she is 8 months old and all she seems to do is smile! she didnt wake once in the night and was a delight to us all. i only hope simon and i can produce one as gorgeous as she is!!
Yesterday was spent relaxing really - we were both pooped after all the entertaining! And the DIY cracks on in earnest today. Simon has tomorrow off to try to get the bedroom done- carpet is meant to be fitted on friday but we arent too sure if that is too optimistic or not.
I intend to use my week off to join the local library so i can eventually get and read all the books that are recommended to me by various people...
