Collage...

Here is a collage cleverly created by our friends and family at my babyshower! The idea was to match our nursery (which is safari themed and yellow) which it does perfectly. It was so much fun seeing it come together and now it's waiting to be put up in baby's room, above the changing table. My nesting instinct wants it to be done now but I have to be patient. Apparently. It will be done this week though! What a great daddy our little one has.

38 weeks...

With just fifteen days to go 'til our due date, I'm really starting to feel it! I'm feeling really restless, and sleeping is the only thing I want to do because it takes my mind off it! My mum said she was like this in the week leading up to the birth of all three of us - so watch this space...

I am astonished at the amount of serious movement going on still, especially when I go to bed at night. Arms and hands are sticking out all over the place, it's such a precious feeling. It's especially brilliant when John is able to see a whole arm sticking up and out, zipping across my tummy which he saw for the first time today. It has only started doing that in the last few weeks, but it's the weirdest thing and definately looks like something out of Alien. It sometimes looks pretty gross when pregnant ladies hold their bump all the time but I've found myself doing it a fair bit but I can't help it - I will miss the feeling but having the baby in real life will be a trillion times better.

In baby world, about 1/2oz of fat is laid down each day from now on. The baby probably now has a bowel full of meconium (a rather disgusting looking tar-like first nappy!) ready for daddy to tackle. They are also now weighing nearly 7lbs - although this does depend on the sex of the baby as boys are heavier than girls, generally. Saying that, baby Ella weighed 1oz heavier than Nathaniel when she was born so it could well just be a myth or some serious generalising. The placenta is now dying off and not as nutritious but does enough to keep the baby going until D-Day.

Hospital bag packed, nursery is complete...now all we need is baby!

Babyshower...

This morning, while Daddy John was watching cricket with Grandad, Uncle Steve, Nathaniel and Matthew, I was spoiled rotten by my sisters who had arranged a spectacular babyshower for me; Sarah & Elle had worked their socks off thinking up creative things to spend time doing, and both grandma's had cooked and baked up a storm in the kitchen! It was a lovely time, especially as all my extended family were down for Christmas so aunts were there who I only usually see once or twice a year due to an ocean being stuck in the middle!

We had lots of fun, and our little one has been blessed with their very own designer gear, lovingly created by friends and family. It was such a laugh, seeing what everyone had written with some cracking jokes about nappies etc but also some that just plain declared how special our baby was! Which we already knew. Obviously. We were blessed with amazing and thoughtful gifts, some that will last years and years. Above are some photos of the excitement...

Thank you girls for a wonderful time and a unique babyshower!

37 weeks...

We're nearly there!

Thankfully, I've had loads to do over the weekend and last few days so I've been fairly distracted. The days seem to be getting much quicker though, and I can't seem to fit everything in! We're pretty much ready, the hospital bag is packed and ready by the door should little one decide to make an early appearance.

This week, baby is now classed as full-term. Braxton Hicks are coming and going quite a lot too, sometimes quite painful but I think that's normal. The baby's head is engaged 3/5th's - this position clears some much-needed space for the baby's growing legs and ever growing behind! A lot of babies now have a full head of hair, with locks up to 3.5cm long! I'm pretty sure our wonder will have hair, I was quite a hairy baby. We're finding it so hard to wait now, we can feel actual limbs sticking out of my tummy and the baby is still so active. It's such a blessing!

It's a bit scary to know that in just a few weeks, a new life will be here but we are looking forward to nurturing our little one and watching them grow into everything God made them to be!

The final furlong...

So my first day of maternity leave was Thursday. A very productive day all in all, totally clearing out my kitchen cupboards and making sure they were organised, refreshing pot pourri (stick it in a carrier bag, add drops of refresher oil and tie the bag up, leave for an hour then stick it back in the container and your house will smell divine. I read it in Mrs Beeton's Household Tips!)

Anyway, today I've been especially restless, but that is likely because I haven't been allowed out: my lovely hubby, sister-in-law and mother-in-law all banned me today from venturing outside! Due to safety obviously. It made me laugh anyway - always good to feel looked after! The funny thing is, I got loads done today but still feel insanely restless. I can't seem to do anything without feeling 'funny'...at least the freezer is starting to be filled with dinners for January and John and I had a very good (and loud!) sing-a-long to plenty of Christmas songs throughout the day.

While I will be resting, I know I'll need to start filling up my mornings or afternoons with people to see or things to do over the next three weeks (or more) because I seriously may go a bit screwy otherwise. And it's only day two!

Good times...

I had my 36 week midwife appointment yesterday: all is brilliant! The baby's head is 3/5th's engaged so at least we know they can't turn now. Cheeky monkey. She also confirmed that I had most definately dropped, which we all knew anyway. I've been getting lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, which really haven't hurt. I'm being told two different things by lots of people, that they're supposed to be painful and then that they're supposed to be pain-less. Mine have definately been painless, although some painful cramping recently which I think was the baby's head descending. I asked the midwife what sort of weight my measurements indicated the baby might be and she reckoned between 8lbs-8.5lbs!

We'll see.

Maternity leave...

Today was my last day at work! I have to admit, it feels quite weird just upping and leaving like that and I'm feeling quite anxious now. I suppose it's because it feels like we're there now, and it's official. You'd think a big, heaving bump would do that but clearly not!

We've been really blessed by my colleagues, they've all been so generous. Yesterday, they even did a little gift presentation for me where John & I received a good few Mothercare vouchers, a very cute babygro and grobag (baby sleeping bag!) and funnily enough, a bottle of 2002 Charles LePrince Brut given by one of the consultants - clearly for us to look at rather than drink!! Many visits with wee one have been requested though I think that will be a baby sling trip rather than a buggy trip as Denmark Hill really isn't buggy friendly. We've been so blessed by friends and family with gifts and things that have barely been used.

We're very grateful.

4 weeks left - or 29 days to go...!

At 36 weeks, we're so ready to meet our little wonder but they're not baked properly yet so still a while to go. They currently gaining about 28g a day and apparently they're roughly 6lbs now. By the end of this week, my pregnancy will be full-term and if baby decided to come a bit early, that would be just fine! Babies between 37 and 42 weeks are considered full-term – a baby born before 37 weeks is premature and after 42 is post-term.

I think I dropped a good few weeks back but only now is our little one's head starting to engage so my body is starting to prepare for labour.

Not at all scary.

Our hospital bag is in the process of being packed, just a few more bits to add and then it's all ready to grab quickly if and when necessary. I am feeling a bit of whale to be honest and will be pleased to shift some of the heaviness in exchange for our gorgeous bundle of joy! The excitement is almost a bit too much.

Tiredness...

I've become increasingly tired over the last week or so, I didn't think I could get more so. About 3pm in the afternoon onwards, I am ready for bed. Currently, I'm waking up every two hours at night which doesn't help but that could well just be my body preparing me! John has slept soundly but I can't get comfy so am forever waking up to pay a visit to the bathroom and just trying to turn over can be such a drama!

Snappiness has also reared it's not so pretty face. I've always been a little bit scared of standing up to people but that hasn't really been an issue this week! For example, the perinatal department at work have a very annoying junior doctor who has just appeared out of nowhere and expects the moon on a stick but as we have nothing to do with them, I'm not allowed to take on any of their work. And he tries talking to me while I'm on the phone to patients, jabbing my arm to try and get my attention. Grrrr. Anyhoo.

Not that any of that is remotely interesting! I think I've done pretty well as so many women say they've been really mean to their hubbies, which is pretty lame. Until tonight, I've been pretty nice at home!

Even more congratulations!...

Goes to our great friends and pregnancy buddies Albert & Kerry on the birth of their gorgeous little daughter, Ella DuToit who was born today, weighing in at a healthy 7bs 2oz! We wish them many, many wonderful family moments and pray huge blessings over them for their start of family life...

Three babies down, two to go, although Leah now has her induction date so the only unknown is us! Eeek! We are getting seriously excited now.

Nesting...

Well, I appear to have been nesting like a crazy woman this weekend and today! This includes cleaning tight corners and windows with ear buds - honestly, it's amazing how handy they are. Try it, it gets all the dust out of the corners of your windows! Somebody planned well when ear buds were invented.

I'm pretty sure our little wonder isn't about to make an appearance just yet but nesting can happen at any point, as I understand it. So John and our little nest should enjoy every minute! It's not so easy cleaning though, even though I love it (yes, I know I'm a bit weird) as I can't move so freely - a) because my oversized tummy gets in the way and b) because my pelvis and back are pretty painful. On Saturday, I got a bit over excited with the tidying and cleaning and couldn't get up in the evening! That'll learn me.

Anyway, I start maternity leave next week so while I will most certainly be getting my sleep in, it'll be nice to just get things done and not think about them all day instead! I'm not one of those people that can lie in for hours, or just lounge around. I know I will probably do that closer to D-Day but it seriously bugs me when I know there are things to do!

So Great...

As a band and choir, we're rehearsing for Christmas at church at the moment and practising a song called 'So Great' on the Compassion Art album (see left!). It sounds brilliant and just like the CD!

John's mum introduced us to the album last year and we bought it because we loved what we heard so John & I are quite familiar with the album because we played it so much initially. We were listening to it throughout this year anyway but as we've been practising this song at church recently, we think the baby has remembered it. The movements little one makes while we're singing and playing the song are quite astonishing! It's beautiful to feel and the words are obviously truth, so we're fine with the baby bopping along to it!

35 weeks...

Steaming ahead!

Albert & Kerry were due on 4th December but no sign of the little one just yet. Praying for them though because she must be feeling a bit tense right now!

So currently the "average" baby weighs a little over 5lbs at 35 weeks and is about 15 inches in length, but then again "average" baby can just as commonly weigh 7lbs at this gestational age. Apparently. Goodness! It certainly is feeling like the baby is happily putting away the pounds. People I barely know keep asking if I'm sure it's not twins. Yes. I am positive. Thank you very much. I know I am large.

It is during this last five weeks of pregnancy that our baby will put on most of their weight. In general, babies gain about one-half pound per week in the last month of pregnancy. Predictable patterns of sleep and wakefulness should be occuring right now because my abdominal walls are getting thinner, but to be honest we haven't really noticed this though thinking back, there's a fair bit of sleep going on in the early hours until about 7:30am. As the neurological system develops, the cycles will become more obvious though. Currently, we're just enjoying the fact our little baby is just full of activity and playfulness! Daddy just loves his time with his child already.

Tiny little elbows, feet or head have been protruding quite amazingly from my stomach as the baby stretches and squirms about. It is the cutest; last night, I was awake at some gross hour and felt baby one moving a fair amount so put my hand on my tummy and found a knee zipping back and forth across my tummy! It was just so gorgeous and it just reminded me how hard it was waiting for the arrival.

Lastly, our little wonder is sporting fingernails and toenails and full length, too! Plenty of pressure going on in the pelvic region which sounds like the baby's head beginning to engage. I've been getting more and more Braxton Hicks which is just my body practising for the real thing. And lastly in the preparations for our new arrival, our hospital bag is beginning to be packed, which is quite fun! People keep suggesting things that they found really helpful (including socks - apparently some women complain of cold feet) so it's been really interesting hearing things, because with some ideas you think 'really!? Seriously!?'.

Due date in....

Thirty eight days and counting...!

Praise the Lord!

Our little fabuloso is head down! Here's the story...

Over the last few weeks, I've had what I thought was pregnancy aches and pains. Except the last week or so, I've been finding it quite difficult to get out of bed and to take big steps when walking. Lots of stabbing pains going on in the pelvic and lower back region. Which now turns out to be symphysis pubis dysfunction, which is the last thing you want but it's been such a marvellous pregnancy, I don't mind. Only a few more weeks now! Anyway, so I've been given a hoist which is hilarious although a bit tight.

While we were there, I asked the midwife to check the baby's status in utero! John & I were a bit unsure as to the position after the last appointment, to be honest - we didn't really believe her though we were sure she knew what she was talking about.

So, this new midwife prodded and poked and said the baby was head down...and I squealed with excitement, especially when she asked if I wanted a quick scan to double check. So we quickly scooted over to the other room, out comes the squirty jelly and the doppler and there was our precious little one stretching and yawning away, albeit with a large nose!! And they were head down...

So I don't know if that was answered prayer or the midwife was just wrong (which we always thought she was really) but the great news is the baby is head down and is looking to engage fairly soon!

So exciting...

Midwife appointment...

So I've just got back from the midwife...

The good news is that everything is fabulous: she even said it was a waste of time seeing me as there were never any problems! Baby's heartbeat is wonderful and strong. My midwives have always said 'baby sounds really happy' after they've listened to the heartbeat, and I've always wondered how could they possibly tell!? Anyway, as long as it's strong and healthy, we don't care.

The not so great news is that our little wonder is breech...again. The baby had definately turned as it felt very different from usual and the kicking 'area' had changed very obviously. Except the last day or so I've felt a bit heavier and I started thinking the baby had moved round again. Alas, this was the case! Maybe it's just the fact the baby knows I have an appointment and just does it to wind me up.

The midwife was very reassuring although did say if the baby hasn't turned in a week, she'll send me for a scan to confirm the position and will go from there. It is a little annoying as things were progressing quite nicely thank you very much!

Anyway, I've been given some positions to try out (such as kneeling on all fours and rocking!?!?!) to try and turn the baby and will continue to sit on the ball as it worked so well last time!