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2006-05-17 - 11.05pm��previous entry��next entry
37 weeks pregnant - TERM at last!!!!
Wow, I can't believe I am sitting here typing that I am full-term and finally at the stage where my baby is ready to be born any time from today! I am 37 weeks pregnant today! Matthew is almost done cooking, and he would do just fine if he was born now. 37 weeks is considered full-term so I am now allowed to have my homebirth if I go into labour tonight even! Which I won't, of course ;) I can't believe I've made it and I'm here and it's really happening! Things are starting to feel more and more "real" all the time at the moment.
I feel like I have LOADS to write about. Arthur just went to sleep and I have pretty much figured it will take me the whole evening to write my diary entry, with a break for dinner. I really have so much to do but it means a lot to me to keep up my diary entries during my pregnancies, as I find them so precious and invaluable later on. So here I am! I am so behind on other online things, particularly emails (again). I'm really sorry!
Okay, let's see. It has felt like a really busy week. My head is in a whirl with all the "getting ready" we're doing and how tired I am all the time. Tired doesn't even remotely describe it though. I feel SO exhausted all the time, I can't even explain it in words really. Arthur is being so good considering I am just not up to doing ANYTHING with him at the moment. Some days we don't go out and I just flop on the sofa and say, "Mummy is too tired" and poor Arthur gets frustrated or upset sometimes, but I just CAN'T do anything about it. I am exhausted right into my bones, not just sleep-deprivation (which I also have in abundance, as always!). I should go to bed way earlier than I do, but then we'd get nothing done at all. Also I don't sleep well when I AM in bed for the night. I wake a couple of times bursting to pee, and I tend to toss and turn a lot anyway because I'm uncomfy. I don't feel safe driving at the moment because I feel like I have taken a sleeping pill or something, I feel so heavy and drowsy in my head and I can't seem to make my eyes focus on the road properly. Today for the first time when I drove the short drive to the supermarket, I noticed that my bump is pressed right up against the steering wheel! Two days ago, it didn't, I had about a centimetre gap, and the steering wheel is at its best position away from my bump so I can't adjust it any further. My legs are too short to move my seat back any further from the pedals too, so if my bump grows any more I don't think I'll be able to drive! Which is bad bad bad news. I need to be able to get about in the car still, with Arthur, for the next couple of weeks at least, or till I have my baby!
Lately I have really noticed my body feels at maximum strain or something. If I get stressed by anything, like a mini argument with Neil over some piffling detail, or something that winds me up or upsets me in any way, I instantly feel really nauseated and clammy and weak and horrible. It doesn't subside till I can calm down about whatever it is that has upset me. It's like my body can't take any extra stress at ALL or it just gets ill. Yesterday evening the same thing happened with just tidying up the living room - okay, finishing building Arthur's toy storage unit, but then tidying up afterwards! I just felt horrible for ages and had to sit really still and not move for a while. At the weekend I came over like that as well without having done anything in particular. I just had an especially tired-out moment and felt really ill with it. I had to stay very still and not speak until it eased up and I felt a bit stronger, which was about 30 minutes. Urgh.
This week I have been having some quite bad headaches, which I haven't noticed before this pregnancy. I got all worried and took my blood pressure one evening when I had a particularly bad one that wouldn't clear up, because I suddenly got scared that my blood pressure might have gone up and caused a headache or something. But it was 125/70 so that was reassuring. The headaches are either in my eye on one side, or just generally in all the bones in my face, and they feel horrid. Painkillers cleared today's headache up but it came back later. I was really reassured to check my diary entries for Arthur's pregnancy somewhere between 37 and 38 weeks and find that I was having those SAME headaches, in the bones of my face!! It's such a relief to find things like that - one of the main reasons I am determined to force some time to update my diary regularly here while I'm pregnant, as the last time I did that, it came in SO handy for this pregnancy! So I am not worrying about the headaches. I guess they're just a nuisance of late pregnancy, maybe to do with fluid retention or something? I don't know.
I still have a really good appetite and seem to be snacking all day long at the moment, even with meals at normal times! I just want to keep on eating. It's another thing I noticed from this stage last pregnancy though, so it must be fine for me. I am catching up on my weight gain from last pregnancy though - although my weight gain is slowing a little from the huge pile-on of the last week or so! I weighed myself this morning (after breakfast though) and was 11 stone 7lbs. That gives me a total weight gain of almost 3 stone! Which is 41lbs. In my older diary entries, I noted that I had gained a total of 45lbs at 38w1d, so I may catch up to that by 38 weeks I guess. I still went on to gain another 9lbs after that though! I just feel HUGE but I'm proud of my weight gain - I know that will sound weird! I need it for milk. I really don't agree with the (mainly Americanised - I hate to say it but it's true) big hype that too much weight isn't good during pregnancy. I am of the belief that weight gain in general is GOOD during pregnancy, with no particular upper limit - unless you have a medical condition to worry about - and in fact I believe that too LITTLE gain isn't really a good thing. I mean, it doesn't matter if you gain little, but more seems to be healthier and more natural if you ask me. The body piles on weight in fat stores for a valid reason, and it's not just an annoying side effect of being pregnant. I would be disappointed if I only gained a little weight during my pregnancies. I hate my enormous thighs right now but I still slap them fondly and think of my milk, hehe! ;)
I have been bidding like a crazy woman on eBay for a selection of NICE, practical clothes that I can wear after the birth. Last time I was so sure the weight would fall off almost instantly and that I'd be down at least one clothes size before I had chance to worry about clothes, etc, but of course it didn't! So I ended up having to buy some really ill-fitting-but-cheap clothes to see me through till I went down a clothes size. I was dreading wearing them again, plus they are probably too warm and wintery for a summer wardrobe, so this time I decided to buy on eBay instead of going to the shops, as it would probably work out cheaper and I would get way nicer clothes than Tesco basics range! Or at least, brands that I know would fit me better than Tesco basics!
So now I have enough clothes in size 14 to be comfy and feel nice in what I'm wearing for as long as it takes for the weight to come off and drop a clothes size. I already have plenty of size 12 clothes as that's pretty much where I stayed until I got pregnant with Matthew - though they were starting to get a bit loose on me. My pre-Arthur clothes size was 10 but I never got back to that! I am not sure if I ever will really, and I was glad of the extra half a stone that I didn't lose after I had Arthur, because I think I was too light to start with, and a little extra weight probably helps me have the energy to look after little ones! :)
I have also won a few breastfeeding tops which I'm excited about! They have arrived in the post over the last couple of days and I like the look of them. It's nice that I get to try them out straight away, as they seem stretchy enough for my bump and I am already breastfeeding a little person so I can try them out properly! I never had breastfeeding tops with Arthur but I think they will make life easier this time around, especially with tandem nursing. It's still easy-peasy to lift up a T-shirt or something though, and tops with poppers across the bust seem a bit fiddly and unnecessary, but I like the ones with two layers and no poppers.
I also got a pack of 2 nursing bras in 34G - the largest size for that particular brand. I figured they will either fit me now - my nursing bras from when Arthur was newborn are a little tight now - or they'll have some room for my milk to come in. So I bought them. I know I still need to be properly fitted, but I can't do that till 38+ weeks really. Anyway, these bras fit me pretty perfectly right now, yikes! I don't know what bras I'm going to buy if I'm an H cup - H!!!!!! Most brands don't go up to that size. Yeurgh.
Okay I took a break for dinner and I'm back. My head really hurts :( But I took painkillers again so hopefully it'll clear up. I have lots still to write before I can go to bed!
Today I had my exciting 37 week midwife appointment!!! My midwife from my last pregnancy (the pro-homebirth, very experienced one) came round with a lovely student. I was so pleased because I haven't seen her since my 39/40 week appt with Arthur, and also she is just SO competent, a really excellent midwife (especially compared with the one I seem to have at the moment!). PLUS I was excited because they were bringing the homebirth pack!
So the appointment went really well! It was so nice to see Pat again, and she loved seeing Arthur and being amazed at how fast little ones grow and the fact that I'm pregnant again and almost ready to give birth, hehe! She was really pleased to see us :) She was also WONDERFULLY inspiring and reassuring over the impending labour and birth. She read my notes in detail - I remember she did that last time, even if it took her like 15 minutes of just reading my notes and then longer for my birth plan. I like that she takes so much time to go over the fine details of everything, and takes such a keen interest. She never rushes through stuff or brushes past things as though she hasn't got enough time, like the midwife I've had this pregnancy. She seems genuinely eager to read my birth plan in every tiny detail and comment on things, which is lovely! She also took great care to go through my notes and birth plan with the student, telling her about stuff as they came to it, which I like as well, from a student point of view. I always really enjoyed working with midwives who would sit and take time to explain everything to me in detail rather than just basically sit me down and ignore me, hoping I would just observe what I wanted and ask about things in the car later! Anyway, she's fab :) I hope I see her again!
I feel extra special because before they arrived, apparently they had been discussing me! The student is called Fearne and she is at a stage in her midwifery studies where she has a big project to do which requires her to do a case study. Pat said she thought I would be the perfect case study, having my second baby after the first with no complications, and planning what she feels will be a lovely straightforward homebirth. They looked almost uncomfortable asking if I would mind if Fearne attended my homebirth, and asking my permission for her to be involved in my remaining antenatal care. I was so enthusiastic that I think I helped Fearne feel good about it though :) I am REALLY happy for a nice student to get to witness a (hopefully) smooth and lovely homebirth! I was GAGGING for that experience myself when I was a student midwife, and never got it. I saw a lot of other births, but the thing I longed to see the most was a homebirth. I'm delighted to give a student that opportunity, as I know how much it would have meant to me in her shoes. Plus, she seems really nice. I don't feel I would find her personality intrusive during my labour in any way, I just got a good vibe from her as far as that kind of thing goes. I don't want people who rub me up the wrong way around me during my labours, but I don't think she will do that. It's a personality thing I guess. So I'm happy! She wrote her phone number in my notes and took my number as well.
When I go into labour, I have to wait till my waters break or contractions are coming strongly every 5 minutes, whichever comes first, and then ring labour ward at the hospital and tell them I am having a homebirth. The same procedure as last time. They will page the community midwife on call and she'll phone me to see what's happening and assess things from there. She may come straight over, or she may phone back in a bit and ask how things are going again. I need to tell labour ward that a student is working with me so that they'll pass that on to the community midwife and Fearne will get called out too. Fearne will be attending my remaining antenatal appointments which will all be here at home. Next week, Pat said she was so happy with how I'm doing that she doesn't think I need a 38 week appt, and she is on holiday that week. She asked me if I wanted one anyway and I said I wouldn't mind having one, just to check the basic things, etc. So she said she'll probably send Valencia (my less fab midwife) to do that appt, and Fearne will come too, even though she is assigned to Pat for everything else. Hopefully my 39 week appt will be with Pat and Fearne, and then we'll see!
For her case study, Fearne needs to be involved in all my postnatal care (and Matthew's of course!), and she said she would keep in touch with me for a while after that comes to an end as well. I am excited about being a student's case study! I feel special :) It also makes me wistful for midwifery study again. I'll finish it one of these days! Probably not for many years though, when all our children are much older and in secondary school or something. But I always planned to finish my midwifery, as that's the only thing I've ever really wanted to do, as a career anyway.
So that's the appointment! Oh but my blood pressure was fine - 120/70, yay! I told Pat I was kind of nervous that it would start to go up again after 38 weeks like it did last time, and she said not to worry about that at all. She said it's not that likely, and it's much more common with first babies anyway. I had leukocytes in my urine again today, but no protein or sugar, etc. Pat asked me if I had had a show, and I said no, because I haven't had anything that I would call a show as such. Over the last two weeks, I have been getting sort of mucus-plugish stuff though, so I thought I should mention that. To me, it's just a normal change in cervical fluid towards the very end of pregnancy. I hear a LOT of women on my June due dates group going on about having had a SHOW - GASP! (with much hype and drama!) with the exact same stuff, but I really think that snot in your pants (sorry guys, but I don't hold back here with detail! ;) ) is NOT a show unless it's humungous or bloody or accompanied by contractions, etc. I especially didn't pay any attention to it given what my ACTUAL show looked like last time round (dramatically different and obvious!)!It seems to be very normal for the late stage of pregnancy, but anyway I mentioned that to Pat and she said that's probably the cause of the leukocytes in my urine. She said it IS bits of my mucus plug, but not exactly a "show", just enough to contaminate a urine sample. Anyway that's good because it's nothing to worry about, and not an infection.
Matthew is still in his nice position for birth. His heartrate sounded too slow to me, but she didn't comment on it being slow. I don't think it could have been more than 120. It barely sounded like 2 beats per second to me. Arthur's was always so much faster, so Matthew's sounds terribly slow and makes me anxious! Anyway she said it was all fine, so that's good. She wrote in my notes that he is 3/5 engaged, exactly as Arthur was at this very appointment in my pregnancy with him! 3/5 is a description of the relation of the baby's head to my pelvic brim - it means different things in the States but this is what it means here. 3/5 means that the midwife can still feel 3/5 of Matthew's head above my pubic bone. So only 2/5 are engaged in my pelvis. He isn't officially "engaged" until he's 2/5, because when only 2/5 of his head can be felt outside of my pelvic brim, that means the widest part of his head is inside my pelvis, and therefore engaged. Deeply engaged is 1/5. But he's definitely getting there, which is good!
I asked her if she could estimate his size, all breathless waiting for her response, as I trust her accuracy so much! I was eager to find out what she thought, as she was spot on with Arthur - though I think that was at 39 weeks or something. To my relief, she feels that Matthew will weigh about 8lbs, and asked what Arthur weighed at birth. I said he was 8lbs 1.5oz and she nodded and said this baby would be about the same - phew! I was getting nervous that he would follow statistics and be heavier than his brother! I can deal with another 8lber, no problem, I've done it once so I can do it again! She did comment that 8lbs is actually quite big for my frame, so I'm just really glad he isn't predicted to be 9lbs or anything! That does put him exactly 2 weeks ahead like I had thought all along too :)
She measured my bump - finally a midwife who measures accurately! - and it's 37cm, spot on for my gestation, and in keeping with the 2-weeks-ahead-but-partly-engaged thing. I bet Valencia measures me small again next week though! Tsk.
I had a big Braxton Hicks while she was feeling my tummy and it hurt quite a lot. They are really getting tight and very uncomfortable now, and I do have to breathe through them sometimes. The tightness makes me feel quite claustrophobic sometimes, like I can't get air, and my stomach feels pressed on, and my bowel and bladder and just EVERYTHING, all at once. I just feel like wriggling and escaping the squeeze, but I can't and then it passes after a minute. It's not actually painfully crampy though, like it will be during labour.
Pat thinks I will cope fine during labour, as I did well last time, she says! She feels very confident of a straightforward labour this time, with no complications or delays. She warned me that once I get to about 5cm it could go very quickly and they may be asking me to pant and slow things down as much as I can to try to prevent tearing. She said I could be delivering like an hour after reaching 5cm even, and that this time, I should have a real urge to push (I never got that last time) and the baby's head could come down very quickly during the pushing stage, so I need to take it slow to avoid tearing. She says I have no greater risk of tearing this time just because I had a 2nd degree tear last time, which is good to hear! I'm not doing any preparation (ie perineal massage, etc). I hear such varied reports of whether it works or not. Most seem to say it helps prevent tearing, but then there are SO many women who don't tear and never prepare with massage that it can't be the be-all and end-all regarding whether you tear or not. Last time she thinks I tore because I delivered side-lying and pushing without urge to push through an epidural. That's a great way to tear apparently! Epidurals generally = greater risk of tearing. This time I do not intend to have one so it should be a different ball game. I have no reason to expect to tear if the birth is controlled and in a position that my body feels like being in at the time.
What else from my appt? This is getting long and drawn-out, sorry! I just want to record it all! I'm so excited!!! The homebirth pack is here, sitting downstairs in a box, all sterile and waiting to be used to deliver my new baby boy!! Such a brain-boggling thought! Here's the list of what it contains, taped to the top of the box and each item checked off by the midwife:
* One delivery pack
* One suture pack (for stitching me if required)
* Sterile gloves (2 pairs each of 3 different sizes)
* Lotion
* Inco pads x 6
* Sanitary towels x 6
* 2 large rubbish bags
* White paper bag to leave in home (not sure what this is for!)
* Cord clamp
* Mucus extractor
* Plastic sheet
* Plastic aprons (white/green)
* Baby pack and tape measure
* Non-sterile disposable gloves x 2 pairs
I have just realised how unprepared I am on the other things needed for the homebirth! Just because I know they are in the house does not mean they are actually ready and on-hand if I go into labour! Most of them were put away after Arthur was born and I really need to dig them all out from their hiding places and put them together in an easily-accessible place. I particularly want the old sheets and plastic sheeting available the INSTANT I feel I need it! I am also going to change my bedsheets tomorrow and lay a big sheet of spare PUL fabric (waterproof-but-breatheable stuff that I use for making nappy wraps) under the new sheet, just in case my waters break while I'm in bed. Our big bed and Arthur's both have waterproof mattress protectors on, but the spare bed that I currently sleep on in the spare room is unprotected and I guess my waters breaking could spell the end for the mattress otherwise! My waters didn't break till well into my labour last time though, but you never know.
Everything is all about planning for labour and birth now. It's like it has stepped up a gear even from a couple of weeks ago, where everything was about planning and preparing for Matthew to actually BE here, but now the intense focus is on the labour and all that needs to be in place for that. It's all I can think about sometimes. My body is getting more sensitive and I can tell it's changing and gearing up for birth. A lot of the time I get this sensation like I don't want anyone to touch me at all, even Arthur. I keep finding myself feeling all "touched-out" when he's climbing over me or breastfeeding, and the urge is SO strong to push him away. I just feel like I want space, physically. Ironically, he is choosing to breastfeed more than ever before right now, and annoyingly also choosing to climb on my bump a lot too! It's a really strange feeling, I can't describe it. It's so strong that it almost makes me want to pull my own skin off, I can't bear the physical contact at all sometimes.
My ligaments and joints are really soft now too. Tonight when I was lying on my side, tummy to tummy with Arthur and breastfeeding him to sleep, I squeezed my knees together to try and get some relief from stupid restless leg syndrome, and had the most unpleasant sensation! It felt exactly like the broad bone at the back of my pelvis was actually bending like it was soft! The more I squeezed with my knees, the more my hips seemed to pull that bone forward into a curvy shape and the hip joints started to feel loose and under too much pressure - yeurgh! It didn't feel right at all! Also the other evening I was kneeling on the carpet to finish building Arthur's toy storage unit, and I leaned just that bit too far forward, and was instantly doubled up with pain in my knees, as it felt like I had literally folded my knees so hard that my knee cap started to open up on the front with the pressure! Ew! Every joint in my body feels so loose. I know that's Relaxin doing its marvellous job for getting Matthew through my pelvis at the birth, but I am not crazy about the eww-y effects on my other, LESS essential joints and ligaments!
I am getting a lot of very sharp pains low down in my pelvis at the moment, mainly just today and yesterday, when I walk about. They feel like needles more than knives, and it just hurts a lot to walk about with this hefty boy riding on my poor soft bladder and cervix! Today and last night I have been feeling pretty crampy, almost like period crampy. I think that is very normal as things stretch and stuff towards the end, but Neil is nervous because that was the pre-labour thing for me. I had like 24 hours feeling constantly like I actually HAD my period, reeeally crampy like on the first day of my period, and then regular contractions 10 minutes apart for a whole night, followed by finally getting to established labour the next day. But I don't feel like this is pre-labour. I'm just crampy!
Matthew's movements are so painful to me now. He continues to make such strong movements, and jabs where he can, though most of his movements are getting more squirmy and pushy than kicky. He hurts me enough to take my breath away with his sudden jabs out to my hip and stuff though. The worst owchy stuff is with his head. I feel it turning and grinding, and I can even tell if he's lifting his chin or turning his head to the side! The grinding pain against my cervix and bladder is like white hot prickling needles, and I just want to writhe to get away from the feeling, but I can't! I just have to wait till he stops moving his head! Often he pushes his feet and his bum out at the same time as moving his head, and the combination is just soooo sore. He always gets super wriggly about 10 minutes after I eat dinner in the evening, and Neil and I get some nice opportunities to spend a bit of time with just us and Matthew, watching my tummy heave and roll! He still gets lots of hiccups, which is good.
Arthur loves to blow raspberries on my tummy at the moment! He does it over and over and over. Sometimes Matthew doesn't make any response and other times he wriggles like crazy! It must be pretty noisy for Matthew when Arthur does that! He especially likes to blow raspberries on my flat tummy button :) Which is the thinnest part of my tummy and thus probably the noisiest place for him to do it, as far as Matthew is concerned! He doesn't have a clue about Matthew, I don't think. We haven't done a lot to try and prepare him though. He just seems too little to have any idea what we're on about. I do tell him there's a baby in Mummy's tummy and that Matthew is in there, but I wonder what good there is in saying stuff like that! He really doesn't seem to understand - he's only just got the hang of the word "tummy" in relation to my tummy and his tummy, and "tummy button" as well! Another person with a name, inside that tummy, is surely a bit much to take on?! I want to read the new baby books and the homebirth book that I got for him a lot more over the coming weeks. I haven't read them much with him so far, because he hasn't seemed interested in them as stories and doesn't pay attention after the first page or so. One time he was absolutely transfixed by the homebirth book, the whole way through it! But then not anymore. So I think I'll start reading them with him, now that it's more of an appropriate time in my pregnancy and he's a bit older. Other than that, Matthew will just have to be a big surprise when he pops out and we'll have to take things as they come! I hope tandem nursing will ease the transition for Arthur though.
Today we went to Asda and I let Arthur walk instead of putting him in the trolley. It was a fairly rare outing, given how tired I've been, and I thought he'd prefer to walk! He did seem to enjoy it, and we didn't actually get much so it didn't tire me out too much. While we were there, we were just wandering down an aisle when a lady suddenly stopped in front of me and said (in aghast tone), "Are you having twins?!" I cheerfully answered no, and told her it was just one big boy! She said she just had twins and she wasn't as big as I am - how nice of her to point this out! ;) She said she only gained a stone and a half with her twins. I smiled politely and said how that was good-going for twins (what else do you say to that?!). Then she turned round and yelled to a woman pushing a trolley with twin babies in it RIGHT at the other end of the aisle, "Look at the size of her!!" gesturing at me!!! The cheek! Her friend called back, "Aw, don't be so mean!" and the lady turned back to me and wished me good luck (without much warmth). Fortunately I don't get insulted easily when it comes to people noticing my pregnant state, because I just LOVE being pregnant and getting noticed for it SOOOO much that I am too busy being happy that I look pregnant, hehe! But still, she was kind of rude.
It was beautifully balanced by a trip to Tesco earlier this week though. When I was wearily loading bags of shopping into the back of the car, a lady passed me and smiled REALLY friendly, and said, "Good luck!" like she was all excited for me - a total stranger! It made me feel all happy and excited :) So that was nice. I am so pregnant. It's going to get me noticed in one way or another when I'm out and about, lol!
Well this entry is way long enough and it's getting late so I want to go to bed. I think we are much nearer being ready this week. We did some serious furniture shuffling and DIY to the downstairs in preparation for the midwife appointment today, and lots of cleaning and decluttering too, so the downstairs is almost ready for labour, birth, and life with two little ones! Yay! Arthur has a fabbarooney toy storage unit, made by Mummy :) The furniture in the living room is rearranged so that it's at its best for the homebirth, and gives the most space and least clutter, which is wonderful. We have a new gate/room-divider thingy across the front of the stairs to prevent Arthur going up them, and that's a relief too. I decluttered the surfaces in the living room, which is good for the homebirth as we'll need to completely clear two surfaces for the midwives to lay out their equipment and have a space for putting Matthew if he needs resuscitating, etc. We discussed which surfaces in our room would be best to use for that purpose at the appt today. Also the kitchen is hygienic at LAST and much less cluttered. A charity is coming to pick up our too-big armchair and an old TV set that's in the way, on May 30th, and that will give us even more space. We just need to build some shelves over the tumble dryer to house a cloth nappy collection for TWO little boys! I am excited about that :)
Upstairs is now the main focus, as it's nowhere NEAR ready. I don't plan to use the upstairs much, if at all, during my homebirth. Maybe I'll get in the bath, but probably not. I'll be up and down to the loo, but I plan to be in the living room the whole time really, depending on the time of day and thus where Arthur needs to be. I guess if he's downstairs with his toys and I feel I want more space and peace then I might retreat to a bedroom for a while. But in any case, the upstairs is totally not ready enough for us to "do" life with two little ones. I just won a dressing table at eBay - we've been watching for the best deal for MONTHS as we really need one to replace the computer desk (which is HUGE and takes up way too much space, and we need to downsize if we're going to be okay with feeling like we have enough space in our bedrooms). We need to completely change the layout of the small bedroom, store away some of the furniture, and build lots of shelving in there too. The new dressing table should arrive in 7-10 days so we need it all ready by then. In our main bedroom, we need to seriously declutter and get rid of loads of clothes. And probably store away a chest of drawers, which means seriously reorganising our clothes storage, urgh! But it needs doing. And I need to get the full-length mirror mounted on the wall in the landing, and make a latch for the laundry cupboard. And that's about it, I think. But plenty to keep us busy!
Also on my to-do list pretty urgently is to finish packing my hospital bag. It is almost completely packed downstairs near the front door. I have all but a few things in my labour bag. I just need to buy non-perishable snacks, and pack a change of clothes for Neil and stuff like that. For my postnatal bag, I still need to finish sorting Matthew's clothes before I can pack the things for him, and I need to pre-wash his nappies that have been stored for ages before I can pack those. I need to pick a going-home outfit for me, and buy nursing bras when I'm far along enough to go out and get properly fitted (next week I think). Then it's all done!
On top of all that, I REALLY need to sew some things! I hope I get time, but I guess it's not the end of the world if I don't. I have made a lot of cloth postpartum pads, and I bought a couple of packs of disposable ones this week too. Matthew and Arthur have lots of nappies so I won't be short of those.
Okay it's getting too late - I must go to bed!! I'll try to update again soon, and of course I'll update briefly the moment there's any exciting news! :) I can't believe I'm almost there at last! Wow.
Recent entries.....
Babies 7 and 8! :) - 2016-01-10
Babies 6 and 7! - 2013-02-17
Baby #5 !! - 2010-04-03
Nearly 3 months postpartum! - 2009-10-05
6 weeks old already! - 2009-08-25