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2004-10-01 - 6.48pm��previous entry��next entry
35 weeks!! - due NEXT MONTH!!!
I�m 35 weeks pregnant!!! Five weeks to go!! And it�s October today � aaaargh!!! I can�t believe it�s October. Arthur could quite conceivably be born in October. And in any case, now I can say, �My baby is due next month� � yikes! I had my figures wrong before, because it�s from TODAY that there are 35 days left till my due date, not a couple of days ago like I thought. Reeeally soon though. I don�t think my brain is going to accept this till he�s actually squirming in my arms, and even then I reckon it will take me a good 10-15 minutes to really get it through my head that I have a baby! It�s so strange how I just can�t believe it�s happening all through my pregnancy. I thought that when I saw him on the scan I would believe it, but no. So I thought when I felt him kick I�d believe it. Nope. Then okay, maybe I would believe it when I started showing. Didn�t happen. So I figured by the time I was getting near my due date I would DEFINITELY be believing it!! But I�m not. It�s too surreal, and I just can�t get my head round the fact that I have a real baby in my body and he�s mine � ours, mine and Neil�s � and he�s coming out soon, and we�re going to be parents. Wow. It�s too much. But in a nice way :)
Arthur�s 35 week stats say that (on average) he now weighs 5lb 4oz and is 18.2 inches long. He is growing so fast!! His kidneys and lungs are now fully mature, and his nervous system is nearly there. His liver can now process some waste products too. His hearing is fully developed by this week, and I read that he hears everything around me at around half the volume that I do, because of all his insulation of fluid and my body, etc. But yeah, he can hear loads. That�s so cool! I like the idea that he is aware of everything around me that makes a noise � things that I normally take for granted. I wonder what he makes of all the different sounds? Some of them must be so weird to him, since he can�t know what is causing them.
Babycentre says that his movements are probably slowing down a lot now, as he has hardly any room left to kick and move in there. But Arthur is still just as active. He is definitely more squashed than he was last week and the week before, but he still gives it his all when he�s pushing around and stuff! He thumps with his hands a lot more now, and I feel fewer huge kicks. He does jerk his legs sometimes but mostly he slides his feet across my belly or pushes them out as far as he can, rather than kicking with them. Today he put his foot out of my side completely flat, and I put my fingers on it, and I could feel the full length of the sole of his foot!!! It was so cute. I could feel the ball of his foot and his heel. His foot felt like it was somewhere around 2.5 inches long, from what I could feel, but I don�t know if I was including his toes or not (couldn�t feel them specifically). Things like that do make him seem more real to me, but only for the couple of seconds that I�m connecting with him like that, and then it�s all surreal again. I loved feeling his foot so clearly. He�s getting so big! He is wiggling right now, and has been for about an hour. He isn�t a quiet baby at all, and doesn�t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down as he gets more squashed. Maybe that will come later? Or maybe he isn�t going to slow down?
The noggin in my nose has healed already!! Wow. That was really quick. But unfortunately there is no change at all from before it was cauterized. Maybe it was ever so slightly smaller, but today it seems to be bigger already, and I can�t breathe past it at night, etc. Tsk. I�m keen for Wednesday to roll around so that I can go back to the ENT consultant and have him see that it didn�t make any difference, then maybe he�ll be able to do something to really help it. I don�t know what that is though. It�s too big to stay in my nose like this until the birth, or for even one more week for that matter, as it�s growing all the time. Horrid thing.
I have been continuing to wash Arthur�s tiny little clothes!! It�s so much fun! I love seeing them strewn about the house. There is a row of the tiniest baby socks on my bathroom radiator. They have blue stripes and teddy bears on them. I get so mushy every time I go in the bathroom! Arthur has way way way too many clothes in newborn size!! But they�re all so cute, and they none of them cost me much so I don�t mind. Maybe he won�t get to wear them all, or maybe he�ll wear them all once or something, but it doesn�t matter. It just means we have a ton of cute things to choose from when we dress him, and he is our first child and we plan to have several more, so I�m sure they will all come into good use eventually! I haven�t counted them, but trust me, there are lots! He has 2 sleeping bags in size 0-6 months, incase we end up preferring that to normal blankets and things. Not sure about that yet, but I wanted the option, and they are both second hand (looking like new) so they were very cheap at eBay. He has four hooded baby towels. I don�t know how many popper vests � maybe 2 dozen in tiny baby size and the same in newborn size? Some have long sleeves and some have short sleeves. He has a pile of T-shirts (which are probably less useful than the vests, but they have cute slogans on them!). He has several pairs of soft trousers, like jogging bottoms (it really bugs me that they are called that though, I mean, which newborn baby is going out for a jog?!!). He has several pairs of baby dungarees, one is denim and the others are various neutral colours and corduroy. He has snowsuits in tiny baby size, newborn size, and 0-3 months. Actually he also has a snowsuit in 3-6 months (since he should be growing into that size before the cold weather is over), and a winter jacket in size 9-12 months too!! Yup, I�m a crazy obsessive preparing-person! I just can�t help it when I see great bargains. Plus he will use them.
Um, I can�t think what else he has. Baby socks. A couple of pairs of soft baby booties. Looooads of soft velour all-in-one outfits (not sleepsuits). And I don�t know, a good 7 or 8 cotton sleepsuits in tiny baby size, and about the same in newborn size. I really do think he�ll fit the tiny baby size for a couple of weeks at least. If he�s the size I�m expecting him to be, the newborn stuff will be too big on him for a couple of weeks, and I�d rather have things that fit him nicely for each stage that he�s at. I just need to wash his bedding and the fleece nappies now, and then I think we�re done!!
Today I have started to take up the tiles on the kitchen floor. We haven�t picked a new floor yet, but I�m hoping Neil will agree to do that this weekend. The old tiles need to come up before a new floor can go down though, because they are peeling and chipped and would not make a good under-layer. So today I pulled up 3 of them, which wasn�t easy, but it was great because it gave me 10 minutes of time on my hands and knees! This is recommended from 35 weeks onwards (apparently) to help the baby be in an anterior position (as opposed to posterior � his back to my back) for labour. Yesterday was the first day I noticed he was TOTALLY posterior. My tummy was all egg-shaped with all his limbs out the front, and man did I get pummeled all over!! Also there was a painful pinching sensation on my bladder the whole time, which gave me sharp shooting pains there when he moved his head. So I knew he was facing a whole new direction that day! But today when I woke he was back to his favourite position, on my left side with his limbs out on my right. I�m going to follow the suggestions for keeping him anterior anyway, because it can�t hurt. I really really really don�t want a posterior baby for labour. It will most likely mean an extremely long and extremely painful back labour, and he will have to turn before he�s born, and both of us could get very tired and possibly distressed, and maybe need to transfer to hospital if it all gets too much. So I want him to be in a good anterior position if possible! Anyway, spending 10 minutes twice a day on your hands and knees is one of the recommended things to do. So I am going to get that if I take up a few kitchen floor tiles each day, which is good! Another thing is I am supposed to sit upright or lean forward, or sit with my knees lower than my hips. I�m supposed to avoid reclining completely, as that tips the baby into a posterior position. But I just do not see how I�m going to do this! I am soooo uncomfy most of the time now, even in my most comfortable position I am uncomfy. It goes right to painful if I sit leaning forward or upright, and I seem to need to recline and rest a lot of the time. I can�t get my breath much these days, and it�s way worse when I�m leaning over my bump, or even just sitting upright. My back aches a lot if I don�t lean back when I sit down, so yeah, I don�t know how I�m going to avoid swinging my boy round onto his back if that�s the case!
I need to pump up my birth ball some more. It�s a bit soft at the moment, but still great for bouncing on!
Neil has started back at university � he is in his final year (aaargh!) of his MSc degree, which he studies for part time whilst working full time. Yup. That is not going to be easy with a new baby. But hey ho. He has his dissertation to write this year, plus a lot of research projects and other written assignments. He has a field trip on November 12th, which is a Saturday. Great. I could be giving birth that day! And his first big assignment is due in on November 14th. The week Arthur is due is a study week for Neil, to work like crazy on his assignment, and he now has a full day of lectures every Thursday, which incidentally he is required to make up for at work by adding 2 hours to each working day all week, every week. I am kind of worried about how much strain he�s coming under. He thinks it�ll be fine, but I think he has absolutely noooo idea how hard it�s going to be just having a new baby, forget having work and study to do as well. He seems really na�ve about it, which worries me, since it will hit him hard if he�s not expecting it. It bugs me that he seems to not be able to see the logic of this too, even when I point it out. *sigh* I have just asked him to talk to his lecturers, and he says he thinks it will be okay for him to have some time out around when the baby is born. I hope I�m not being selfish when I say this, but he has 2 weeks of paternity leave from work, due to start when I give birth. I want him to take complete leave of everything for those two weeks, and that includes study. So I need him to talk to his lecturers about the fact that we have a baby coming, and that I need him to be able to leave his study for 2 weeks after the birth, since he is having that time off from work too. I hope that isn�t selfish. But I don�t think it is. Paternity leave is really for new dads to get to know their new babies, and even more so, to support their knackered and hormonal wives. I know it will drive me crazy or turn me into a sobbing mess if I�m sleep deprived, hugely hormonal, barely managing the huge adjustment to parenthood, and Arthur is finally sleeping peacefully, so Neil immediately sees that as the perfect opportunity to study for that assignment that�s due soon. I think that realistically, I am going to NEED him big time. I�ll need him to help me with Arthur. I�ll need him to spend time with Arthur, just seeing him bond and be a daddy. I�ll need him to help me with staying sane and just to feel like we�re sharing the experience together. I�ll need him to look after me when I feel overwhelmed. It�s not that I�m expecting too much of him, I just know I will have some big needs in the first couple of weeks of motherhood (I know he�ll have his too), and I will need his 100% support and time during that period. I think HE will need the time too � it would be enormously stressful to have a new baby, very little sleep, a needy hormonal wife, and to have study hanging over you in the back of your mind all the time. He doesn�t need that. I don�t need that. Arthur doesn�t need that. I really want him to realise that he needs to get the all-clear for 2 weeks free from his study commitments if possible, and an extension on that assignment. Anyway those are just my thoughts about that. I hope Neil will be okay with all this pressure he�ll be under.
Hmmm, what else do I have to say today? I think I am slightly less hungry than I used to be. I still pack a good breakfast away, but I�m considerably more picky about lunch, and although I�m hungry for dinner, I can�t manage as much at once, and I�ve stopped rifling through the cupboards for dessert an hour or so after dinner! I just don�t need it or something. Or maybe it�s just that I�m so full of baby that I can�t fit so much food in? But it�s more than that I think, because the appetite isn�t there. I do get heartburn sometimes, but it�s not bad, and I hardly ever have to take anything for it, even less than last trimester. The breathlessness is definitely getting worse, but oh well. I am just huge now, and Arthur is really big in there so I am squashed and full! It will all go away when he�s born so that�s okay. My breasts are still leaking colostrum. I am still getting a few days without any leakage and then several days in a row where I leak on everything � it seems to go in a pattern like that. I think I am leaking greater quantities now too. I sometimes make quite a big wet patch on my nightie! It�s usually one side at a time, and only occasionally leaking from both sides at once. I like it though, it�s just so amazing that my body is making food that will sustain and completely nourish a human being. Amazing. Except colostrum is sometimes yellowy and that stains. Tsk. But never mind! I love making baby food :) Why does Word correct the word �colostrum� to �colostrums�?!! Stoopid Word.
I feel like posting a photo of something relevant, but I don�t have anything useful to show you! I will post a photo of the baby announcement cards when I finish them though. I haven�t made any nappies for quite a while now. I really need to make some more maternity pads before I run out of time! Hmmnnmn�. Just over 4 weeks till my parents arrive for the birth and �the new baby�!!! Soooo close now! I�m so glad the weeks are still passing pretty quickly. So many women say that the last trimester drags by unbearably, especially the further on you get, so I was kind of expecting to feel huge and tired and uncomfy AND to have time practically stand still and make me all frustrated! But it keeps being a Friday, and then before I know it, it�s Monday, and then I blink and Friday�s here again! It�s great!! I�m huge and tired and uncomfy, but that�s all part of the privilege of carrying a baby, and time is passing just the same as before, so I�m happy enough! I can�t wait to meet my sweet boy though :)
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