Thursday, December 13, 2007 Kelly bonds with her antenatal group...

Having a baby has suddenly become all very real, as the first mum Susan from our antenatal group has given birth. Congratulations Susan! At the weekend we all caught up over coffee and listened intently to all the labour details and had a really good laugh. We also had a lovely cuddle with the newest addition to our group, Kiaran Charles. Susan was very honest about the big event and made us giggle constantly over every detail. At times we were all a bit nervous but she said it was much better than she had thought so we all took comfort in this. She looked great and for 3 days after labour her stomach was tiny, we were all so jealous.

I have met some fantastic ladies at the local NHS antenatal group and even though we only got together 4 times for antenatal, we all exchanged numbers and have already met twice for coffee. They are all lovely and it is so nice to be going through the experience at the same time with a really nice group of ladies and that our children will all be born within a month or so of each other. It is especially great as all those personal questions you cannot ask anyone else we have been able to ask each other and have a giggle at the same time - oh and we have really enjoyed all the cakes we have eaten so far! I think this will need to stop once we have all given birth, although if we all manage to breastfeed maybe we can allow ourselves some cake once a week as we are burning so many extra calories after all!!!

We were all discussing cravings and I have not really had any but some of the others have had them. Beans on toast with banana in the first trimester seemed the weirdest and then a few of them have been eating and crunching ice. Cécile and myself felt quite boring since we had not experienced any other than having the odd sweet tooth!

Ria is tired, bumpy and dressing up monkeys!

This hasn’t been my healthiest of pregnancy weeks, what I thought was a little snuffly cold has swiftly developed into probably what can be most likened to “man flu”, but re-named “pregnant flu!” I was totally incapable for two days, and slept and slept and slept. Feel much better now, but felt like a real wimp for taking days off school for having a cold. Jon bullied me into staying at home and we had a few “what’s more important” chats that seemed to do the trick.

My mum and sisters came down to visit this weekend, and brought presents a plenty, I think mum is starting to get a little grandmotherly excitement attacking her credit card! She has bought us a set of the reusable nappies from Bambino Mio that we had decided upon, they are so incredibly cute, and we both acted like it was Christmas. It wasn’t long before said nappies were on our very cute stuffed monkey that she bought us as baby's first teddy, who also happens to be sat in the car seat that we’ve bought! Oh dear, is everyone else this sad? My sister looked at us as if we had actually totally lost the plot, but it was quite fun!

The last 7 weeks have flown by and it’s nearly second scan time! We go next Monday, and can’t wait! My bump is still pretty tiny, though did pop out a little at the beginning of this week, my tummy muscles have clearly had enough of trying to disguise it! I am still consciously looking at other pregnant mums and wondering if my bump is big enough, as I really expected to be bigger than this at 5 months, but shouldn’t knock it I suppose! I am a lot more aware of my tummy at school now, but I dress in fitness type clothes all the time, so it’s bound to start showing – I told my year 7 Netball team about baby this week, and they were beside themselves with excitement, which was very cute!

The next 7 weeks of term are going to be a real test, it’s tough enough as it is let alone getting more and more tired and bumpy by the day – all exciting though!

Chocolates for Charlotte!

I had my 34 week scan on Thursday and it was amazing. It was so nice to see my baby again. Craig and Hayden came with me and Hayden was very good and sat watching the screen, I’m not sure if he understood what he was looking it, but he seemed a bit confused when the midwife was putting the gel and scanner on my tummy! The baby is well and the size is fine for my dates. I saw it put its hand up to its mouth so maybe it will suck its thumb like Hayden does!

The hospital I go to will now tell you the sex of the baby so the midwife asked if I wanted to know. But we said no – we have waited this long and it’s nice to have the surprise and something to focus on when I’m having the baby!

My mum looked after Hayden on Sunday for most of the day. He had a great time, and I managed to put my feet up and rest, something I don’t get to do very often these days! She is also going to start picking Hayden up from nursery after work some days so he gets used to her collecting him. As I will be having a Caesarean, I won’t be able to drive or lift Hayden for 6 weeks. So when Craig goes back to work after his paternity leave, he can drop Hayden at nursery in the morning and my mum can pick Hayden up from nursery. Hayden is so well behaved with my mum, but within an hour of coming home he was being cheeky and naughty!

My bump is feeling really tight now and sometimes it gets itchy, it’s stretching to the max! I find myself waddling along with my big bump leading the way! I’m in flat shoes all the time now, and I’m so missing dressing up in heels and normal clothes!


I only have another two weeks left at work, and I am really looking forward to some time off before the baby comes. I am finding it quite uncomfortable sat at my desk, and so at lunchtime I have to rest on my side to relax. Although I am eating healthily, I am also eating so much chocolate. I remember how when I got to this stage of pregnancy with Hayden I ate lots of chocolate, and so it must be something to do with coming to the end of the pregnancy; I just can’t get enough of it!

Kelly gets her Christmas shopping done early!

Our weekend in London was great and came at the perfect time. Although I was 33 weeks it was fine walking about and getting the tube and I was not too tired. The highlights were seeing “We Will Rock You” and eating at Fifteen - I was totally spoilt. We will not get the chance to have a weekend away again before the birth so it was really good to get away.

I bought one of those maternity support pillows that can be used for nursing as well last week as I am finding it uncomfortable lying on my side now that my bump is bigger. The pillow helps a lot but as the baby’s head is engaged I constantly need to make trips to the bathroom in the night so my night’s sleep is constantly interrupted. I guess that this is the training for the big event so I had best get used to it! I have also started a trend of waking up at 3am a bit hungry and having a snack of toast or a yoghurt. It’s a good job that Tim is a deep sleeper as he hardly seems to blink at my movements. However, I am sure that this will change at the sound of a baby crying though…

Tim is in the process of completing the nursery and he should have it all painted, floor laid and furniture erected by next weekend. I cannot wait as my nesting instinct has taken over and I just want to sort everything out and put it all away. I will feel much more organised and ready when this is complete. Tim has worked really hard and it’s great to have all the bedrooms nearly finished. I wonder what room he will start next…

I think we have now got all the necessary essentials that we need to get before labour which is a relief. I have also managed to do a bit of Christmas shopping and hope to have that all sorted this weekend. I am due 12th December, so don’t want to be Christmas shopping with a newborn or extremely heavily pregnant. I have bought a few things on line and planned my purchases so I have not had to spend too long in town and it seems to be working. I will have to start wrapping them all soon!! I would not normally have done my shopping by now as think it is nice doing it nearer the time but this year I am going for the safe option.

Ria finds a new use for fleecey gloves...

All quiet on the baby front this week, nothing exciting going on! Not particularly bumpy yet, no movements and been surprisingly emotionally stable, so all good. So much so that I’m getting a bit worried that I don’t feel more strange, but I’m hoping that is normal for this stage!

We have both been off on half term this week which has been fabulous! So nice to spend some time together and to chill out after a really manic half term at school, the only down side is knowing the onslaught up to Christmas is upon us, and a feeling a little apprehensive about getting big and still having to bounce around at school as if nothing odd is going on inside my body!

One amusing baby related incident has been occurring now the weather is getting cold- I say amusing, that is for everyone but me, but my nipples are absolute agony! As soon as I get a teeny bit cold, they go purple, then white and absolutely burn with pain! We spent last week in Cornwall and did quite a lot of walking in the cold, at the worst point I resorted to fleecey gloves in my bra! Not very glamorous but quite effective, and highly amusing to Jon.

After going to the baby show and some incessant bidding on eBay for things, I tried to go easy on the baby talk while we were in Cornwall in an attempt to just enjoy being the two of us, but instead, everywhere we went we saw dogs and puppies, so we pretty much spent the time talking about the four legged addition to the family we are planning on getting after Christmas!

We can’t believe in two weeks time we’ll be half way there and be going to our second scan, it’ll be exciting again to see little one and check everything is OK. We were totally set on finding out the gender of the baby if we could, but so many people have reacted like we shouldn’t that we are having doubts! I think we may find out and keep it a secret as a compromise!

I can’t believe Kelly’s baby has engaged already, she didn’t seem that far ahead of me at first, but that’s brought things into reality a little, she must be so excited and more than a little scared too.

Charlotte's brain is shrinking....

Well I have made some changes over the last week to make room for my growing bump! I have started to use a pillow in bed at night to rest my bump on. I keep finding that my legs get uncomfortable so I am forever tossing and turning. Plus I keep waking up in the night and then can’t get back to sleep as I am thinking about the baby coming and all the changes it will make, and how I will cope looking after the baby and Hayden – there’s so much to think about! Also I am doing things like the ironing sitting down! Sometimes, if I am stood up for too long I can feel really weak, so it’s a good excuse to sit down and get as much rest as possible.

I can feel the baby’s movements so much more definitely now, so when the baby does turn over or move or kick I can feel it all – I think it’s running out of room in there! Craig and I like to sit and watch my tummy as it changes shape and the baby kicks and moves about. Although I am feeling uncomfortable now, I know that I will really miss feeling my baby moving about once he or she is out in the real world! Of course having the baby to cuddle will be even nicer but it is nice to have a companion with me all the time! I’ve noticed the baby wakes up and moves about when I am sat reading and talking to Hayden so I think the baby is already recognising its brother’s voice!

I am trying to stay focussed but I seem to be doing a common pregnancy thing and start a sentence and then forget what I am saying; for example I will say to Craig "Can you put that ‘thing’ in the cupboard?" - and he will look at me like I’m mad and spend a few minutes making suggestions of what the ‘thing’ might be until I can finally get my words out and say what I mean!! I read an article in the paper last week written by a guy who talked about his pregnant wife going out for milk and coming back with some totally unrelated item (and forgetting the milk!). This is apparently because a woman’s brain shrinks in the later stages of pregnancy, which is why she will be so forgetful and say and do such crazy things – well thank goodness I’m not alone!!