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2004-10-11 - 10.30am��previous entry��next entry
36 weeks, 3 days - nesting!!
Thank you for the lovely guestbook entries about my bump!! :) It�s so much fun being this pregnant � all huge and �ripe with child�!! I read that phrase years ago in a Sheila Kitzinger book and loved it. I always wanted to be �ripe with child� and now I am!! Yay! Thank you Lord!
I think nesting has finally happened to me. I was actually thinking, nah, I�m not likely to get nesty, I�m too lazy! Hehe! But I think it�s happening. Yesterday I wanted to paint the kitchen tiles (there are some that are really scummy and have old paint over the edges anyway). Neil said not to bother, but I HAD to paint them! So I did. Boy are my muscles unfit � just reaching out and painting for 20 minutes gave me really bad shoulder burn! Oh well, at least that�s a bit of work in preparation for holding my baby all the time!
Today I have woken up with the most ENORMOUS feeling of energy and excitement. I don�t know where that�s coming from, but I just woke up and flung the curtains open, rejoiced at the sunny breezy day outside, bounced excitedly on the bed for no particular reason, leapt (none-too-elegantly!) out of bed to answer the phone, and then went for a pee, where I kept having to relax myself enough to pee since I kept doing that thing where you�re so excited you keep tensing your shoulders and doing these tight little squeals of excitement!! Don�t ask me why � I have noooo idea why I feel so excited and energetic! It�s weird! But nice :)
I am so excited today about getting ready for Arthur. I have things to do all day, if my energy levels will permit me. This weekend we got quite a few things done. We had the new kitchen floor fitted on Saturday � hooray!!!! It�s just a cheap sheet of vinyl that looks kind of like wood planking, but it looks soooooo nice in there and so much better than the previous floor. We even pulled up the various layers of old floor coverings, some of which stank so badly that I couldn�t be in that room at all (eww!). Anyway now the kitchen looks lovely :) It�s going to be so easy to clean as well. Then we looked at the living room to see what furniture would need moving to accommodate the birthing pool and me in labour and four other people, and decided that the big chunky armchair needed to go. So we have temporarily moved it into the kitchen � sounds crazy I know! But the table has been pushed over the arms and we�re covering it with a throw to protect it from the cooking smells, etc. It�s so much more spacious in our living room now, and that�s what we need for the birth. Of course, being us, the armchair being moved out has exposed the enormous pile of clutter and dust behind where it used to live! So I have cleared that and now it looks better.
Neil bought a fluorescent light for the kitchen ceiling. There�s an ancient one there but it has never worked. We are getting an electrician in next Monday to remove the old one and fit the new one. It�s a guy we�ve used for all our other electrical jobs so far and he�s really nice, and doesn�t charge a lot. I am STILL trying to reach this cleaner I told you about. She is always on voicemail (probably because she�s cleaning!) but I have left a message and heard nothing from her yet. I am so antsy to get a cleaner in this week. Preferably tomorrow or the next day. Thursday I have my surgery so that wouldn�t work, and I would rather not arrange anything for Friday incase I am needing to rest and recover more than I thought. But the thought of getting to the end of the week without a cleaner having blitzed the house is driving me crazy. It�s like I can�t bear the thought, it makes me want to wring my hands and chew my nails and so on! I am really getting kind of obsessive about the house being ready, so I guess this really is part of the nesting instinct, if the feelings about it are this strong. There is too much heavy-duty cleaning for me to do, or Neil for that matter, and I couldn�t ask any friends or family to do it � trust me, it really is too much! So a cleaner. We need a cleaner. Maybe I�ll have to hit the Yellow Pages? Hmmm.
Neil also bought paint to finish painting the kitchen. There�s only a little bit left to do from when we originally painted it, so that should be easy. We�ve made the kitchen Neil�s task � finish the painting and get some whiteboard cut to fit under the cabinets and fill the gap between them and the new floor. He also bought more shelving pegs and put up the rest of the shelves in the baby wardrobe. So the way is now clear for me to sort and put away the baby clothes, now they are all washed and ready for Arthur to wear! That�s one of today�s jobs for me, and I�m excited about it. Our bedroom floor is a serious mess with all those clothes, and plenty of mine that need to go to a charity shop. So I need to sort those. Because the shelves are raw pine, I have decided to dress them with cute fabric and then fit them in place, so that the clothes lie on a layer of fabric and not the raw wood. It�s much cheaper and quicker than varnishing them. I am going to do that first, after I�ve finished this entry! I am excited about picking out which fabric to use! :)
Yesterday I finally disinfected both the nappy pails and cleaned them up ready for using in a matter of weeks!!! Yikes, it�s so exciting!!! Arthur is really coming! There are less than 3 weeks now till my parents arrive for the birth and to spend time with their new grandson! I am soooooo excited!! (can you tell?!)
Today I need to get sewing again. I have to count up the nappies and make sure we have enough of everything. I already know we have enough newborn nappies, but I�m thinking it would be an idea to make one more wrap. Although we do have plenty I think. For Arthur�s newborn nappies and wraps, we have:
* 2 Tots Bots (size 0)
* 1 white sherpa Tots replica made by me (size 0)
* 2 Tots replicas made from a soft pastel bathrobe and fleece inside (size 0)
* 6 unbleached Kissaluvs (size 0)
* 4 white second-hand Kissaluvs (size 0)
* 4 coloured Kissaluvs (size 0)
* 7 homemade contour nappies with fleece inners, made to fit exactly inside a newborn Prorap
* 2 tiny flat fold nappies made by me, one is yellow towelling and the other cream stretch towelling
* 6 newborn prefolds (homemade)
* 3 newborn Proraps
* 1 fleece Redrap from Tots Bots (size 0)
* 1 lavender fleece Redrap replica made by me (size 0)
* 1 Lennon print PUL Redrap replica made by me (size 0)
* One WELL used (tsk!) second-hand turquoise Prorap (newborn size)
* 1 Stacinator so-simple wrap (newborn).
I have Bummis Super Whisper Wraps too, but no XS sizes, only small. And I think those won�t fit him right away so I haven�t included them on the newborn list. But the Proraps are tiiiny, so I think he will grow out of those quickly. The Stacinator looks pretty large for a newborn wrap too, so I�m not sure he�ll fit that at first. I have a half-made Redrap replica, so I think I will finish that, and then that should be PLENTY of wraps for him! I would rather have too many than too few though, incase of blowouts! And I think I have a Tots replica that�s half-made too, so I should finish that. Then I need to count up his nappies and wraps in the next size up, because he�ll be in those before I can blink, and I can�t imagine I�ll have the time or energy by that point to have made more nappies if I suddenly realise he hasn�t got enough. So I need to check how many he�s got now, and make more now if I need to. I think he has plenty of nappies though � many of the cute flannel print nappies I have made are size 1 nappies, so he has plenty of those! Also he has 9 size 1 Kissaluvs I think. And lots of fleece wraps and Bummis SW wraps, so that should be okay.
Today I also need to sew nappy pail liners. You can buy them online but I figured I might as well make them, since I can make them exactly the right size for our nappy pails that way, and I have the PUL fabric just sitting here. So I am going to make four � two for each nappy pail. That way, one is always in the pail, and there�s always a replacement for it when I toss it in the laundry with the dirty nappies. I need to buy tea-tree oil, for putting a few drops in the nappy pail to keep it fresh. I have lavender oil already, if I end up preferring that. I also DESPERATELY need to make more maternity pads! I don�t know how many though. I�m not even sure that I am going to like cloth maternity pads, but I have so many spare scraps of fabric and PUL that it makes sense to sew them into maternity pads. I will just dry-pail them in their own bag and wash them on a cold rinse first to try to shift stains before washing them on hot. But they are made of PUL and the inner is microfleece which resists staining pretty well. Plus who cares if they get all stained really?! Not me. If they are awful when I have finally finished bleeding I will just throw them away. If they are salvageable then I�ll boil-wash them and pack them away for the next pregnancy. But I need to sew some first, otherwise I�m not going to have any! I have made 3 (and 3 very absorbent inserts) so far. I have one pack of dispoable maternity pads as well (not many!). I would quite like to buy some disposable knickers too. And this week I need to get fitted for nursing bras. Or maybe I should do that next week after my surgery? I am desperate to avoid catching any colds this week, since my surgery is on my nose! I didn�t go to church yesterday for that reason, which was a bummer as I was looking forward to it. But I do need to ensure I�m cold-free for Thursday.
So today I�m sewing nappy pail liners, the last few nappies for Arthur�s collection, and maternity pads. And covering the shelves with fabric, and sorting and putting his clothes away. Then there will be room to set up the Moses basket in our bedroom. We are going to store his travel system in our car so that it doesn�t take up room in the house, and I need to move this computer (or Neil does later!) upstairs so it�s not in the way for the birth! I hope I will feel up to updating in my diary to let you know how labour is progressing when it finally happens. I know I will reach a point where I can�t do that anymore, when contractions are strong enough to make it impossible to do anything else but focus on them. But I do hope to keep you guys updated in early labour, for as long as I can! I don�t know how soon I will be able to tell you that Arthur is here, but I promise I will do so (or get someone else to do so!) at the earliest possible opportunity.
The list of things that need doing is getting steadily worked through and crossed off, which is great!! I was getting antsy about that before. Here�s what�s left on it:
* Finish painting kitchen
* Sort and put away baby clothes
* Finish making baby announcement cards
* Fit car seat in the second car (now that we are stuck with one!)
* Do clearout of clothes for charity shop
* Finalise birth plan and discuss with midwife
* Buy birth pool
* Get all homebirth accessories
* Pack hospital bag
* Wash remaining newborn nappies and wraps
* Set up Moses basket in bedroom
* Buy Christmas presents
* Buy and write Christmas cards
* Sort out a bulb for my childhood nightlight! :)
* Get fitted for and buy nursing bras
* Make maternity pads
* Continue stocking freezer with easy meals for after the birth
* Register at new doctor�s surgery
* Make nappy pail liners
* Hire TENS machine
* Hire cleaner to blitz house!
* Buy 100 stamps, camera batteries, and bedguard for co-sleeping.
Phew! That is the updated list. It looks longer than I thought now I have written it all out! But it�s much shorter than it was, believe me! Some of those things can�t be done just yet. I can�t get homebirth supplies or order the birth pool till 37 weeks, because the midwife won�t give me the list of stuff till my 37 week appointment, and we decided not to buy the birth pool till I reach term, since I can�t have a homebirth if I go into labour before then anyway. And it arrives 3 days after ordering so that should be okay. I have done my clothes clearout for charity, but Neil needs to do his before we can cart the whole lot down to a charity shop. Some of the items on the list can�t be done before something else is done, like the bedroom things � I need to put Arthur�s clothes away before I can set up the Moses basket. But we�re getting there! I will be sooooo happy when the whole list is checked off.
My good friends from school, Katy and Lisa, came round to see me on Saturday. It was so good to see them! They were fascinated by my bump and asked me 10 billion questions about how it feels to be pregnant. They asked to feel my bump and when I said yes, they actually knelt down on the floor and put their hands on my tummy, hehe! They are so funny :) I love this kind of attention, because I just LOVE being pregnant! I only have a few more weeks to lap it up so I�m making the most of it! ;) They said I am the most huge pregnant person they�ve ever met (!) and were so excited for me and Neil. They cooed over Arthur�s cute little clothes and marvelled over his cloth nappies. It was such a nice visit. Arthur got very wiggly just before they left and I was so thrilled to be able to let them feel him moving about. I bared my belly and they watched his feet pushing around and sticking out, and even touched his hard little heels. They just seemed to think it was the most miraculous thing they�d ever set eyes (and hands!) on! Visitors who have never really seen pregnancy before are just the nicest thing! :) They are always so amazed and appreciative of the miracle taking place inside me. And you know how I love to have Arthur appreciated! :) They wanted to know his name but I tell everyone it�s a secret till he�s born, so they have to wait! I�m so glad we kept something to announce for the first time when he�s born. It�s more special that way. I don�t mind everyone knowing he�s a boy though. So far, everyone I�ve told has said, �Reeally?! I was sure you would have a girl!!� So hmmm�. I hope the scan was right!! But actually of course it was, his bits were soooo clear. I absolutely can�t imagine him being anyone but Arthur now, so I think it would be kind of a shock if he popped out as a girl!
Anyway I want to get on with my tasks for the day, so I will stop for now. I�ll update again soon though!!! :)
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