Waiting...

So another week of maternity leave has flown by! I met three of the girls from my NCT group on Monday. One of them has had her baby and she talked incessantly about the birth and the early weeks. She just doesn't stop talking generally and her anxiety about adjusting to being a Mum was obvious. After an hour and a half of listening to her I was utterly exhausted and had to make my excuses! On Tuesday morning the health visitor came to see me. She turned up two hours earlier than expected and I was still in my pyjamas, but I figured that the next time she comes to see me I'll probably still be in my pyjamas anyway! D is a little anti-health visitors and I must admit that I felt her questionning about our lives and medical history was a little intrusive. But I believe that they have our best interests at heart and this particular health visitor does seem very lovely and supportive and that's how I have to view the visits. I saw the midwife for my 38 week visit in the afternoon and that went smoothly. All is still fine. My blood pressure has risen very slightly but it's still low, the babies heart rate is still good and her growth is still on track so no concerns. On Wednesday I went to see an old work colleague for coffee and on Friday met a couple of old work colleagues for lunch. In between I've been carrying on the list of cleaning, minor DIY and napping! D has been on half term break since Thursday and so we've been getting some practical things done together (taking stuff to the tip, figuring out the car seat, shopping, etc). For the last few days I've been feeling pretty low and grumpy. I just put it down to hormones but when it wasn't going away I started getting worried that this was the start of some kind of pre/post natal depression. Everyone has been saying 'oh, you must be so excited' but I've just been feeling a bit flat and anxious and overwhelmed. I was beginning to get a bit worried about not feeling how I should when the baby arrives. Anyway, I had a chat with D about it and he asked his sister if she had felt the same. She was very supportive and reassured me that I'll snap out of it and it's all to be expected. I feel a lot better today! :) We're about to go to the cinema - this could well be the last visit for a while!!

Countdown time

I've been on maternity leave for a full week now and it's been a pretty surreal time. It's starting to dawn on me that I'm now off work for a whole year and the reason is because a baby is going to arrive in our lives within a matter of weeks! It took a few days to wind down from work and I actually woke up at 3:30am on Monday! I've been trying to get the balance right between ticking things off my 'to do' list and getting some rest. Other than the usual back pain waking me in the night, I'm starting to sleep a bit better and for longer. But I'm getting tired a lot more quickly so bouts of cleaning don't last that long! I've been meeting with friends most days and some of them have kids so there has been lots of pregnancy and kid talk. I must admit that I'm concerned about my life becoming all about kids and being in the company of people who are happy for that to be the sole topic of conversation. Who knows, maybe I'll feel differently once we have our own child, but so far throughout the pregnancy I've become easily bored when people assume that it's what I want to talk about all the time! I had to have some more blood taken this week to check my iron levels and they have decided that I need an iron supplement. I'm not sure that I should be taking my magnesium supplement alongside it as apparently magnesium effects iron absorption. But I need the magnesium for my back and don't want to stop taking it. My iron levels are only borderline anyway so I'm not too concerned. So I've been doing some cleaning and getting on top of some other things (birthday cards and gifts, finances, shopping, plans for D's birthday party in December). I'm very conscious though that other things will follow behind that need to be done (ie, more cleaning, more shopping) and that there is only so much that I can do to get ready! I double checked my hospital bag last night and other than throwing in a few last minute items I think I'm ready to go. In reality I don't think this baby is going to come early. I think she's more likely to be a bit late in which case we still have a couple of weeks to go. D will be on half-term break from the middle of next week until the due date so we should have the opportunity to relax together. I have plans to see some of the girls from our NCT group tomorrow and the health visitor is coming to see me on Tuesday to explain what will happen with their visits after the birth. I also have another midwife appointment and plans to meet a couple of friends this week, so plenty to keep me occupied.

Two more days...

...of work that is. I'm so ready to finish! I'm handing over my work to the person covering my maternity leave this week and I'm getting in a panic as we are clearly not going to have time to cover everything. But why do I care? Next week I won't be giving it a second thought. Can't wait to be focusing all my attention on our little one instead. I really hope she stays put for a couple more weeks at least so that I can finish up the things that I want to do at home and rest a little bit. I saw the midwife for our 36 week check on Tuesday. All is well. Growth is good, heartbeat is good, my blood pressure is still low. My platelets have gone up so the low risk birth unit should still be an option for us. And we had our last scan today. Again, all is looking great. Her head is down and she's getting nice and low. We got a nice pic of her - she's definitely got D's nose! I'm not sleeping well - as is the norm these days. Recently I've been waking up with an achey back and having to do yoga stretches on the bed in the early hours to be able to get back to sleep! I certainly seem to be very well used to having broken sleep now and I feel OK for it most of the time. But I know it's nothing compared to what I'll be experiencing soon! My bump seems to be significantly bigger lately. If I catch sight of my reflection I barely recognise myself. My work colleagues threw a little surprise baby shower for me when I got back from the scan. Tea and cake and gifts, bunting and balloons. So sweet of them. They are great colleagues. They've been so supportive through all of the fertility treatment and so excited for us through the pregnancy :) One of the girls from the NCT group gave birth today. A gorgeous little boy. Another of the girls has been induced today so we're waiting for more news from her. Seeing things happening for them makes it all feel very close indeed now! So exciting. So terrifying. So amazing!

Chillin

Feeling a lot more relaxed... My cold is clearing and helping me think more clearly, I had a productive weekend getting things ready for the baby, I've made good progress with tying things up at work, I made contact with the friend who didn't come to the baby shower and we're making plans to catch up soon. Things are just generally a little calmer. My last set of blood results came back and my platelets have gone up again so giving birth in the midwife-led unit is still an option, and my iron levels are still borderline but my doctor isn't planning to do anything about it. Although he does want me to have some more blood tests: B12, folate and something else. I have a midwife appointment next Tuesday, our final growth scan on Wednesday and then I finish work on Friday! All being well, I'll be able to spend some time with my feet up as well as ticking a few things off my list such as stocking the freezer and cleaning the house! Looking forward to the weeks ahead! The baby had a crazy day yesterday. She wiggled and squirmed all day long, it was nuts. I think she may have shifted position slightly. I think she is still head down (hopefully) but maybe every so slightly lower?