Friday, October 24, 2008 Ria is nearly there.....

Week 39

Nearly there! Have been having quite a few twinges (?) if that’s the right word for them this week, and keep wondering…hmmm is this how it starts?! I can only really describe it as similar to period pains, but they don’t come and go as contractions will, just a dull ache. Have had some funny feelings in my groin (!) and back as well, and I can’t even begin to describe my ridiculous need to go to the toilet at the most inconvenient times, and about every 15 minutes! Usually whilst out dog walking…which is not so bad as at least I’m wearing wellies!

We are really intrigued now to know when she’s going to make an appearance, and I’m really excited about it, my active birth classes have made me feel so much more confident about the birth, that I’m not really dreading it any more, just want to get it out the way so I can cuddle this little wriggler that keeps making herself known with little bum, feet and elbows poking out all over the place.

Jon and I are going into hospital this week with the girl that runs active birth so she can take images of us for her book about Active Birth, she is going to set up a labour room for us and we’ll have a trial run at all the techniques we’ve been practicing in her classes, it should be really good for us as will make it all the more familiar when the time really comes, lets hope we can hold on until then.

I had a stroke of genius with baby girls hammock this week, and have made it into a little fairy grotto with pretty flower lights wrapped around, it looks so cosy and snug and really beautiful, hopefully it will entice her into some peaceful sleeps, and the lights give just enough light to see and feed to without hopefully waking Jon up too much on school nights! Buttons (the cat) is quite intrigued but still hasn’t tried to leap in.

Jon is away with rugby this weekend, playing in Nottingham, luckily he is allowed to drive up behind the players coach so if I need him can summon him home, it’s still about 4 hours away though so hopefully I wont need to. Next weekend he has a home game, which makes things a bit easier, not sure I fancy giving birth by the side of the rugby pitch but I’ll probably still go and watch. I know he can’t wait until I’m at rugby with babe, he always runs over to us at the end of the game, and I know he’ll just love to run over to see little one and give her a big muddy cuddle!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Ria is thinking about cider...

Week 38

Unbelievable that I am writing this blog with still no baby! After all the worries about being engaged so early and baby being so small and being bound to come early and we are officially now considered full term! I really am starting to look it now too, although every time I think I’m massive we see someone who is much bigger or people will be in disbelief at how far gone we are.

It was Jon’s sister's 30th birthday this week so we had a hectic sprint down to Plymouth after my active birth class on Monday, and a swift clothes change in Sainsbury’s toilets (very classy) before meeting them for dinner. Just as we arrived at the pub, they were coming out, and I totally felt like an exhibit at the zoo because about 15 people all walked past, analysing my bump, feeling it and commenting on me / bump! It was awful! I’m not the best at having lots of attention, and my sister-in-law was giggling at the back seeing how uncomfortable I was! Anyway, dinner was lovely and it was great to see everyone, probably won't be down for a family dinner again until little madam arrives!

A week of birthdays! I also had one of my best friends from Uni come down for the evening on her birthday, her boyfriend is a fireman and was working nights so I was given the task of entertaining the birthday girl! We had a good catch up and a lovely meal out, then mooched around Exeter the next day before meeting Jon for lunch. She is an auntie of two and had just been to Disneyland with the little ones for a fun weekend, I can’t wait to do kiddie stuff like that without having a conscience!

No new pregnancy complaints this week, just my back is agony at night, and I so desperately want to lie on my back because it’s the only way I can still move when I wake up! But mountains of pillows and careful positioning I must endure for a little bit longer! Oh and I really can’t wait for my first pint of Magners!

Thursday, June 26, 2008 Ria is back on track...

Week 37

We are back on track to being sorted for our little princess to arrive… we now have a new and far more sensibly sized car for transporting baby and puppy about, and have had our beautiful hammock delivered so she has somewhere to sleep now. The spiral stand is really cool and the hammock looks so cosy, and - despite trying - we have discovered that puss cats can’t jump into the hammock, so no chance of being smothered by a fluffy tail.

I drove up to Bristol this week to see one of my best friends who has just had her baby, Charlie, she and he had quite a traumatic birth and he has been suffering from colic and stress related trauma. But the little fella was a real cutie pie while I was there and was happy and content to snuggle up in a papoose on Katie all the time I was there. I took pup, and have discovered (not surprisingly) that puppies and baby toys, rugs, hats, shoes, jumpers, and most amusingly moses baskets don’t mix! Noodle couldn’t understand why something as snuggly looking as Charlie’s moses basket wasn’t appropriate for her to sleep in! Still our house is more puppy proof so hopefully we can keep everything out of harms way!

Having decided to have little one in our room for as long as we need to, we haven’t done very much to what will be her nursery, and everyone keeps asking if the nursery is ready, and I’m feeling a bit guilty that we’ve not done it! The room it will be in is our study at the moment, and we want to keep it that way as long as we can before we have to move the computer etc… but I have spoken to a girl I used to teach who is now at Art college and she’s going to come and paint Jungle book mural’s all over the room in the summer, she’s been commissioned before for something similar and it looks fab - as you can see from these pics:





We are really on the home straight now waiting for baby cakes to arrive, and I’m feeling fine at the moment, I had a few emotional stresses a couple of weeks ago, but now am really keen to meet her, I keep wondering what she will look like and when she’s going to make an appearance. Jon is so busy with rugby at the moment that we just hope she can hang on till a day when he’s actually in calling distance and not 6 hours up the motorway!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Ria's getting active...

Week 36

This week began with the excitement of Active Birth Yoga and practising for labour! The classes are absolutely brilliant and well worth the money to go to them. Each class focuses on a different aspect of the labour process, and what you can do actively to keep you and your baby comfortable and make labouring as easy and stress free as possible!

Last week we looked at the latent phase…and practiced massage techniques, chill out yoga positions and smelled different aromatherapy oils that are safe for pregnancy. This week we did the first stage of labour, and went through how to set up your birthing area so it’s not dominated by a bed, but instead how to incorporate the walls, tables, our fit balls, yoga mats and birthing stools (and birthing buddies!) into helping the process. Really good fun, she also had a pool there which we practiced some of the moves in too, and I feel a lot more confident about the whole thing, Jon has a really active role too, so I’ve been giving him lessons after the class, as I’m sure I’ll forget it when it counts, and it’s been good to get the giggling fits over early!

My mum came down for a few days this week with her dog, so we’ve been walking pooches every day and chatting about babies and life and things which has been really lovely, she has also bullied me into packing a bag ready for hospital, even though I was convinced there’ll be no rush…but still best listen to mummy!

We also took Jon’s mum out along with his sister and fiancé to a lovely farm shop near by where they do amazing fish and chips - very nice. When we got back we thought it might be a good time to try out our car seat and buggy in my car… lucky we did as it turns out that no matter how you orientate puppy, car seat, buzz and KA there is no sensible way to transport all at once, so this week is operation swap cars! Nothing like forward planning, oops!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 Ria has a Cornish break...

Week 35

Baby girl is growing! Good news as the midwives were all getting worried about my small bump and had sent Jon into a blind panic about the little one. They’ve been keeping a closer eye on me and my tummy, but have now decided that I don’t need to go in for a growth scan, and that my bump is small because baby’s head has been engaged fully for such a long time.

Although my bump measures a lot smaller than the average, it is growing at the correct rate, so all is well! It still feels massive to me though, and I can’t imagine how frustrated I’d be if it was as big as some peoples! My clothes are pretty much all OK still, I just have to wear long tops that can be stretched down over bump.

My worst thing at the moment is pain in my back and side muscles, going to bed is now a fully structured mission involving careful placement of several pillows, cushions, husband and cat! And then I still wake in the morning unable to move! Jon has bought me a Tens machine to start using now, and it does really help, and is good to get used to before the onslaught of labour pains!

We have had a lovely week together, Jon was playing Rugby in London at the weekend so I drove up to meet old Uni friends and stay with my sister, we all went for a long walk in Richmond Park with the puppies which was fun. And then Jon and I escaped to Cornwall for three days, taking Noodle to stay in a little cottage and play on the beach and generally chill out together, which was great.



We often spend time in Polzeath, which is where we got engaged and is quite a special family place, and it was crazy to think the next time we are there there will probably be another little one in tow other than Noodle pup. Scary but good!

Friday, April 25, 2008 Ria starts maternity leave...

Week 34

Have had a busy week with my first insight into life not being at work! My maternity leave has started and although I was very nervous about filling the days and feeling useful it’s not been too bad! There appears to be a correlation with my emotional state and the weather… I’ve been happily spending hours walking puppy along the river without a care in the world in the sunshine, but not quite such a happy bunny in the rain!

Still, it has meant that I can do lots of classes that I want to at the gym, and am definitely feeling more positive as a result, I’ve been doing yoga, body balance or pilates most days and am quite reassured that I can still do most things relatively easily with only 6 weeks to go that’s good news! The best thing is that I’m also still in my jeans!!! Amazing, I was hoping to get to Christmas and still be able to wear them, but no problems at all, maybe I’ll go all the way!

I started Active Birth Yoga classes on Monday, which are a combination between ante-natal and pregnancy specific yoga, and they are brilliant. The girl that runs them is a midwife in Exeter, but also a trained yoga teacher, and she is training us to using principles of yoga and movement to be able to cope with the birth more easily, and to give birth in positions that are more conducive for both baby and mum.

We started by discussing birthing positions and why it’s easier to give birth standing, squatting or kneeling, due to the position of the pelvis and natures helping hands through gravity, and we discovered that the western habit of giving birth lying down came from Victorian times when the King wanted the best view of his Queen giving birth to the heir! Unbelievable, and goes to show how totally not sensible men can be!

We spent the 2 hours bouncing on gym balls, squatting on little plastic stools, doing yoga poses and practicing our pelvic floor exercises… it was great, and there was lots of getting to know the other girls, with massage, fairy lights and scented candles to chill us, lovely!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Ria is silently panicking...

Week 33

Had a scared emotional blip this week! I think it’s the realisation that baby will be arriving quite soon, and there is not much we can do about it than go with the flow and hope everything turns out OK. But emotional pregnant brain went into silent panic… firstly about the next 7 weeks and being scared about feeling incapable (shoe laces are becoming my worse nightmare!), baby entering the world (please let her slip out…yeah right!), and then the scariest bit what the heck we do with her afterwards! (eek!).

Jon is always very insistent that I tell him how I’m feeling, but I worry that when I say any of this out loud it sounds like I don’t want to be having the baby, which isn’t the case at all, I’m just petrified of the whole life changing responsibility of it all. And not being at work scares me too... I know it’s only supposed to be a job, but when you’re interacting with so many people all day every day, the thought of life being so different and focussed on just one tiny person is quite daunting!

On a more positive note, one of my best friends had her baby this Thursday, she was a week late with him and getting pretty fed up, but all along we were convinced she’d be having a boy and we were right! Charlie Ben has arrived into the world, and although I’ve not been able to speak to Katie yet she’s texted to say it’s great being a mummy, and I felt really proud of her and a lot more encouraged about the whole affair!

I start Active Birth Yoga classes tomorrow and am back off to the midwife on Tuesday to see if baby girl is more on track in terms of size, if not I have to go to have a growth scan as she was worried about the size of me and baby at this stage. Small is beautiful though!

Thursday, April 10, 2008 Ria's baby is heading south!

Week 32

Baby has moved south! I had a midwife appointment on Monday, all was well - blood pressure fine, blood tests back and fine…then the obligatory tummy squeeze and she has engaged already! Eek, with 9 weeks to go that is a bit early, but apparently not ridiculously uncommon in first babies. She also is a little concerned that my bump measurements are a fair bit smaller than they should be so she wants to keep more of an eye on things and I’m going back next week.

This news sent Jon into a blind panic who now is convinced that they baby is going to fly out at any minute, and is also trying to make me eat everything under the sun in an effort to make her / me grow! All very well, but I have totally lost my appetite and if I’m not hungry am not going to force myself to eat… an unknown idea to Jon as he can eat for Britain! Still we’ve only had a slight strop at each other about it, and I’m convinced baby will be helping herself to all nutrients before I get a look in so I doubt not eating enough is the root of our smallness!

The thought of her possibly arriving early has kick started me a little into wondering whether we are actually ready for her imminent arrival!!? The answer would probably be no! I have been flirting quite frequently with eBay for baby clothes bargains, and I’m sure we have enough now, but there is a fair bit more we probably need that I’ve not thought of… unpleasant things for me like maternity pads and nursing bras etc, but how do you know what size your boobs are going to be? I have never been particularly well endowed, and don’t like my pregnancy boobs at the moment, let alone uncomfortable engorged ones…so much to look forward to! Still, we had a tidy up of baby stuff and started organising it into baskets and shelves.



And we have just received a beautiful new baby carrier as a present from Jon’s sister… the only action it’s seen so far is carrying a toy monkey around, but so far pretty comfortable!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008 Ria has her first blip...

Week 31

This week I have had my first pregnancy panic! It was induced (!) by our ante-natal class at the hospital, which was basically a tour of the labour ward, followed by a talk about problem labours and all the things that can go wrong and what is usually done about them. Bizarrely enough it wasn’t actually this bit that scared me but just the whole hospital experience and having a bit of a reality check.

Fortunately I got chatting to another girl who said she too had been absolutely fine about everything, until she started ante-natal classes and had been panicking since! I think it just suddenly dawned upon me the magnitude of what I was about to undertake, the labour, birth and everything afterwards, and I suddenly became very apprehensive, and a bit anti-baby.

Jon was feeling totally helpless not being able to do anything, but it was just an emotional blip I had to go through in order to deal with everything rationally again. I had a couple of blue days at school, where everyone seemed to be asking me about baby and how I was feeling and all I wanted to do was cry! But managed to get through it and am feeling a bit more positive about everything again, just the occasional jealous pang of non-pregnant people… that can bend down and take their boots off without making a big arse of themselves, can enjoy a Saturday night fuelled by cocktails and run as much as they like without feeling like a weeble!

It’s really not so bad, and one down week out of 30 is pretty good going I think, I only have 3 weeks of school left which will really help to boost my energy levels, I can’t wait to spend time in the gym, swimming and walking pup in the 6 weeks before baby girl arrives.

Monday, March 31, 2008 Ria only has ten weeks to go....

Week 30

Eek! Three-quarters of the way there, and the last 10 weeks have zoomed by, I can’t decide if I want the next 10 to go quickly or slowly, my bump is a pretty comfortable size at the moment and I’m getting quite used to it! Ante natal classes are making us realise that we actually are going to have a baby, and the whole birthing process is beginning to get more than a little bit scary!

Obviously it is inevitable that baby one way or another is going to have to come out, it’s just that up to now I’ve not really had to think about that too much, but you are forced into thinking about it when you are brainstorming the pros and cons of various pain relief with 10 other expectant couples! Tomorrow we have a tour of the maternity unit at the hospital, and have a talk about what can happen if not all goes to plan, mostly the classes have been really useful and not at all like the stereotypical images you see on TV of heavily pregnant women propped up against their partners practicing panting!

I saw the mid-wife this week and had blood taken again to check for anti-bodies, I am rhesus negative, but fortunately Jon is as well, otherwise we would have had to decide whether or not to have the anti D injection around about now. I heard baby's heart beat again and it was really loud and strong – the loudest it’s been, she’s becoming really active and keeps poking bits out at my tummy too. In the ante-natal class I saw my belly move for the first time, and I had to suppress my excitement, because pretty much everyone else has probably been having that for ages! I woke up the other night to find something that looked rather bottom-shaped poking out of my side!

I’m starting to get really uncomfortable after sleeping, going to sleep is no problem at all, but I wake up in the morning and all down one side is really aching, no matter how I sleep or on which side, it’s always the same muscles that are stiff – really strange, I’m becoming addicted to baths to soothe it which is very unlike me because I’m not a bath person.

Most of our time is still focussed on our pup at the moment, and I still think it’s good practice for baby. She’s started going out for walks this week, and we have to carry her when she gets tired – we’ve also been weighing her to check she’s growing as she should be, it’s great fun and a lot cheaper than kitting out for a little person!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Ria starts ante-natal classes...

Week 29

We have had an exciting third trimester week this week! Ante-natal has begun! We’re back at school and experiencing what it’s like to have to drop baby off at childcare and still work full time, although our baby has fur and four paws! Noodle, our new puppy, has a puppy sitter whilst I’m still at school, which was a bit worrying at first, but we and she are in the routine and all seems to be going well, as is the practice potty training… we have puppy training pads which she is using really well.

I don’t think baby will be quite as advanced as being able to ask to go outside when she needs a wee at 14 weeks though, but there are lots of similarities, we definitely have been getting less sleep since pup arrived!

We went to our first ante-natal class on Tuesday, we were a bit nervous about it at first, but once everyone had gotten over the nervous silence of first day at school it was good fun and really useful. There are about 10 couples there, and we were definitely the youngest there and by far had the smallest bump despite being only a couple of weeks behind everyone else.

The focus of the session was to get to know everyone and to talk about our experiences of pregnancy so far, high points, low points and then begin to think about what we were expecting from the birth, together with our different options. The midwife leading the session was very pro-home birth or going to a midwife run unit as opposed to hospital. Jon is very keen for the hospital option, which is what we originally said we would do, just so that everything is on hand should we need it.

Exeter have just built a new women’s health centre which is where we’ve been going for scans and it is really nice and not too “hospitally” so I think if we can, we’ll stay at home for as long as possible and then go there. Next week our class is based at the hospital and gives us a tour of the unit so I guess we’ll have a better idea then.

My mum and sisters are coming to visit next weekend, and I’m expecting them to be amazed at the size of my bump, although I still seem quite small compared to other people, it has grown so much since Christmas, Jon goes away for one night to rugby and thinks I’ve grown already. Puppy has doubled in size too, so looks like we’re all expanding at a rapid rate!

Monday, March 17, 2008 Ria is feeling unprepared!

Jon’s mum has now bought us the Natures Sway hammock cradle that we wanted, it’s so snuggly – we set it up hanging from a door way and before long all manner of pretend babies (including the pup) were having a go. Lots of our older relatives have gone overdrive on the knitting front, I’m not sure how many cardigans a baby needs, but I think we have that covered now!

I went to see Kelly recently with Jon’s sister, she is looking so well, and seems to be really happy. Libby looked tiny, I had a cuddle and felt very scared! I feel really under-prepared to have a baby as a I really don’t know much about them, and would be much happier if a puppy came out – I know what to do with them! It does worry me a bit, and I’ve spoken to mum about it, but she assures me that it’s so different when it’s your own, and I can understand that totally.

I also went up to see my good friend Katie who was one of my bridesmaids and is also expecting. Her bump is due in a month, and typically of her and James her husband they are halfway through renovating and moving into a new house. At the moment it is like a building site, with leaking roof, no kitchen, no floors and a very dusty and concerned Katie in the middle of the mess! I don’t think they’ll be ready for baby, and will have to stay put in their current house for a little bit longer, at least that’s not something we have to worry about. Next weekend I’m going up to London to see my mum and sister and I think we’ll have a little visit to Ikea and start investigating a few things!

Thursday, February 28, 2008 Ria has a new arrival...

Week 26

Something exciting has happened in our lives! We have a new arrival, 3 months before expected…although this one has four legs and not two, a little black nose and lovely soft fur! We collected our puppy on Friday and she is the cutest little thing, she is a Sprocker – a springer and cocker cross from a working kennels, and we have called her Noodle. Similarities to baby care are emerging already… she cried all last night, wants cuddles all the time and rolls around in her poo! All good practice though!





Lots of people think we are bonkers for getting a puppy when babe is due soon, but it’s the only time we’ll be able to get a pooch, while I’m off work, and by getting her early hopefully she’ll at least be house trained by the time baby arrives… we’ll see! My mum is convinced that we she’ll be getting a call to come and puppy sit, but I’m sure we’ll be fine. I can’t wait till pup is big enough to go out for walks, and it’ll be such a great incentive go out everyday with baby. Buttons the puss cat is less enamoured but it should be good fun!



Pregnancy wise…we are now six months, many of the other blog mums have had their babies and time is flying by unbelievably quickly. I am so glad to have survived the term at school, but am incredibly shattered now, am not sure how it’s going to be from here on but baby has to come first and I will just have to be sensible about how much I’m doing at school. I feel fine still, a bit achy down my sides but no real big complaints, except for really nasty cramp in my calves in the middle of the night that keeps making me yelp!

I had a midwife appointment on Monday, and saw a different lady for the third time, but she was lovely and had a really good chat about school and how things were progressing, bump is starting to look more bumpy although I still feel quite small in comparison to everyone else!

Thursday, February 14, 2008 Another new addition for Ria....

Week 25

Kelly has had her baby! That really makes me realise how quickly time flies, as when we started writing the blogs Kelly didn’t seem that far ahead of me but now Libby has arrived and the clock is ticking! Kelly is a friend of Jon’s sister - who actually had her wedding blessing this Saturday just gone, the day after Kelly gave birth – and she came to the church! It was amazing to see her and she looked fantastic.

The wedding was great fun, we’d had our busiest week of the year at school with our annual gym and dance show, with day and evening performances for six days, it went really well but I was so tired! Fortunately I had a burst of energy for the wedding and had a great day. Lizzy looked absolutely beautiful and Jon did a great job doing the speech for her. So many people were so lovely about the baby and excited to see me and bump, also couldn’t believe how ickle the bump was despite being nearly six months. I bought a gorgeous wrap around top from Isabella Oliver to wear which I loved and felt nicely pregnant all day which was great!

Our other excitement of the week is that we are collecting another new addition to our rapidly growing family on Friday – we had always planned to get a puppy when I went on maternity leave, but we have found a perfect one that is ready now. Jon had decided that the earlier we get pup the better as it would make things easier when baby arrives. So we have arranged for a puppy sitter whilst I am still at school and we are picking pup up on Friday. She is a Sprocker, which is a springer and cocker cross, a little girl who is very much the runt of the litter and desperately needs lots of love and attention, I can’t wait! She is so tiny and would fit in your hand. My mum thinks it’ll be good practice to put her in the baby sling - we’ll see!

Monday, February 4, 2008 Ria is ballooning...

Week 24

This week I have started to balloon outwards! Fortunately at this stage it’s all forwards, but literally on a daily basis I am expanding, waking up in the morning to see the damage. Everyone I meet is suddenly very interested in my front and particularly my profile; it’s funny because you catch people when you make eye contact with them, taking a quick peek at your middle before talking to you! That must be what it’s like to have a good cleavage…people can’t help but look (I wouldn’t know!).

All this growing is pretty uncomfortable, I keep getting pains up in my diaphragm, almost like someone is squeezing me very tightly around the middle just below the ribs, and you want to breathe out to release it but you can’t. Lying down seems to be the most comfortable release at present.

This weekend I ventured away for the weekend to meet up with my best friends from University, six of us lived together for three years and annually meet up for Raleigh Road Christmas dinner, taking it in turns to host. I’ve only seen a couple of the girls since we found out I was pregnant, and they are oh my goodness all so excited! I am the youngest of the group, but the first to get married, so none of them were surprised, but are so interested about all the gory details. So after many conversations about morning sickness, colostrum, pelvic floor exercises and birthing pools we settled down to a really funny weekend.

These are the friends I feel at total ease with, we could never shock each other and can be completely honest about how we are feeling so it was really nice to totally chill out and catch up together I know they will all be a fantastic support to me and wonderful aunties to our little one. I just need to make sure we see enough of each other that Baby knows them all. When we were at Uni we used to joke about each other people's children… some being ginger, having a lisp, limp, or being generally confused, but now one of us is actually going to have a real one the predictions are much nicer about how good looking and talented she is likely to be! What lovely friends I have!

Monday, January 28, 2008 Ria is researching how to bring up baby...

Things are starting to happen with a bit more ferocity now! My belly has been growing daily, and people are beginning to notice more that I am pregnant, although I’m pretty sure I could still be hiding it if I wanted to, which is good I’m also still in my jeans quite comfortably which is great!

School has been tough this week, I keep finding myself going light-headed in the middle of lessons, particularly if I have to raise my voice or do something suddenly. It’s all well and good being able to rest with your feet up while sat at a desk, not so easy whilst running about teaching gymnastics or basketball! My job was advertised this week at school for maternity leave so lots of people that didn’t already know have suddenly become very interested in my growing tummy. We have a huge number of staff between 200-300 and random people who I have no idea who they are have been congratulating me!

Last week I bought the book called the Continuum Concept, which was written by a doctor who studied the behaviour of an Amazonian tribe for 5 years and used her findings to offer suggestions about how westerners bring up their children. The main theme behind the studies was presented in the Channel 4 series called Bringing up Baby, and advocates carrying baby at all times in the first 6 months in a sling, breastfeeding and baby sleeping in bed with parents, so that baby gets a complete “in arms experience” and is satisfied and nurtured, and then at 6 months is confident and independent to move away from mum / dad when he or she is ready to.

We have been researching the elements behind the theory as a lot of what she says makes sense, and we definitely are planning to carry baby as much as possible, but have not been sold on sleeping in bed with her - am convinced we’d squash each other or little one. So we have decided to get the Moffi Oberon hammock that suspends from a stand that can be by the bed…it looks so cosy I’d quite like to sleep in one!

Baby girl is kicking a lot more now, and there’s no mistaking it, I like the feeling of her wiggling about, reminds me that if I’m tired now, it’s nothing to what it’ll be like in three-and-half-months time!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Ria is out on the town....

It’s Sunday, after an evening out (until 1am) and I’m not exhausted! Miracles do happen! Had a hectic Friday and all day at the Rugby in the rain, and by the time Saturday evening came I was expecting to be giving up early and being at home in bed by 10pm! But had a fab meal out with friends - and several cranberry juices later I was still going strong! We were sat outside with everyone drinking very spangly looking mojitos whilst I was supping on a hot chocolate, and bizarrely enough everyone else was jealous of me!

Baby is definitely making herself known a lot more of late, tummy is looking a lot more pronounced now and on occasions I glance at myself and think I really do look pregnant now! She is also kicking a lot more, especially in the evenings, and when we go to bed. I had our puss cat on my tummy the other day when she was kicking and I’m sure Buttons must have wondered what on earth I’d eaten because my belly was going so bonkers! I also woke up this morning and my tummy was really uneven – one side sticking up a lot more, and it felt really hard, almost like her spine sticking out. Suddenly it’s feeling a lot more like someone is in there!

The next few weeks are likely to be really crazy for us and I’m starting to feel the effects of pregnancy already causing stress! I am trying to teach trampolining without ever stepping on the trampoline, and also sorting out my Cheerleading Squad for a performance and am feeling decidedly less bouncey about it than I should be! It’s crazy to think that we’ll be in the third trimester soon, when it seems so little time ago that we were eagerly awaiting the 12 week window so we could tell people…little one is going to be here before we know it!

Ria's little one is kicking out!

This week we have felt the first flutterby kicks in my tummy, at first I wasn’t sure that it was, but there started to become a pattern to it and eventually I could put my hand on my belly and feel it too! I was beginning to feel that we should have started to feeling kicks by now so was glad that we could, Jon keeps sneaking his hand to my tummy and singing to my belly! She doesn’t kick hardly at all during the day, just in the evening when I finally sit or lie down, apparently when you’re moving around it lulls them to sleep so it’s when you sit still that they wake up. I wonder if that’s the same when little one is in the outside world? Probably!

At the doctors this week we discovered that Jon’s blood group is also O negative, so our baby will definitely be rhesus negative like us, so we don’t need to worry about antibodies and having blood treatments which is good. Now that we have had the second scan, we’re just waiting for little one to get bigger and bigger, she is about 21cm long at the moment, and growing a cm a week. My tummy is starting to show, I keep catching the kids at school checking out my belly which is very amusing to me, especially when I catch them and they get embarrassed. I still can’t believe five months have gone already, I really thought I’d be bigger by now, but am not knocking it at the moment.

Jon’s sister is having a wedding blessing in 3 weeks time, and I’ve bought a lovely wrap top from Isabella Oliver that snuggles around bump and shows it off nicely, am hoping that I’ll still fit into the skirt I plan to wear by then!

Since finding out that Mung Bean is a girl, we have started calling her by the name we want to give her. It does make it seem a lot more real, especially now that she’s kicking, but they can never be totally sure when it comes to girls, so we best not get too attached to the name, or we could have a very embarrassed little boy in 4 months time!

Friday, January 4, 2008 Ria is having a girl!

Mung Bean is a girl!!! We’ve just got back from our 20 week scan, and little one is more than likely a little girl, it would have been very exciting either way but I am secretly quite pleased! I feel as though a girl is best first time around, just because I understand them a bit better! Jon was absolutely convinced baby was a boy, and although he’s not disappointed I know he wants a boy at some stage so the pressure will be on next time!

We had a GP appointment before the scan today, so I have been well prodded and poked, but we’ve heard and seen the little heart beating and all seems well. The ultrasound was a bit tricky as baby was upside down and wedged really low in my pelvis so the lady couldn’t get to measure the head or heart at first. We were sent out into the waiting room in the hope baby would wiggle around into the right position, we thought me being upside down might help, so I sneaked into the ladies and did a shoulder stand for 5 minutes! It seemed to work as on the second go baby had flipped right over!

We saw fingers, toes and everything in between and everything was as it should be so that’s all good. I have been a bit worried that I’m not big enough, as although I have a little bit of a tummy everyone else seems to be a lot bigger at this stage, but she assured me that I was fine and my abdominal muscles were just doing a good job at keeping everything tucked in still!

Our e-Bay scouting for buggies has also paid off, our brand new Quinny Buzz arrived this week, we won the auction for it at £150 less than they cost in the shops and it’s perfect so really chuffed with ourselves. Currently the stuffed monkey my mum bought us has been test driving it round the house, and seems quite content. I’m sure it’s not normal behaviour to dress stuff toys up in reusable nappies and strap them into prams but it all made sense at the time!

Thursday, December 13, 2007 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!

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.

Monday, November 26, 2007 Ria is now on her "second semester"...

I received a card from my sister this week saying happy second “semester”! A little misguided but very sweet of her, and it's true the second semester / trimester is shaping up to be a bit happier than the first one. Sickness is completely gone, and although I’m very tired that I’m sure is more to do with work than baby, so hopefully half term will provide necessary opportunity to sleep and prepare for the next onslaught until Christmas.

All in all we’ve had a successful weekend, Jon kicked the winning penalty for his team's second win of the season on Saturday and we then rushed up to London to take my mum to the Baby Show at Earls Court. We arrived nervous and excited and quickly became overwhelmed! Our main aim was to go and decide upon a buggy / car seat option, which we achieved after several test drives and chats to various people. We are hoping as much as possible to be able to carry baby in a sling, and minimise the use of a buggy, and we managed to buy ourselves said sling and have been practising wearing it already (how sad!). Having decided on the buggy we want we will now be scouring e-Bay at regular intervals hoping to find one!

Other important decisions we made were about nappies - we are very keen to use re-useable nappies and were impressed with how efficient and economical they seemed, and also how surprisingly cute, so we were sold on those too! Surprisingly we managed to escape without spending too much money, although we made up for that starting our Christmas shopping on the next day.

I am really starting to feel bumpier now, although the majority of people say they still can’t notice, I’m pleased that so far I don’t seem to have put on any weight elsewhere, but plenty of time for that! The last couple of weeks I think motherhood has really started to sink in and I’m getting excited. The baby show made me a feel a bit daunted for a while, what with all the decisions we have to make, but at the same time I want to stop planning for it and get the next 5 months out of the way!

I am conscious I don't want to get too obsessed with baby stuff, and try to enjoy life with Jon while it’s just the two of us, after all we are going to have the next 18 years at least worrying about someone else, maybe for the moment we should focus on taking care of each other!

Thursday, November 15, 2007 Time is flying for Ria....

We are fast approaching 4 months and can’t believe how quickly the time is flying. Jon and I are both under pressure at work and the days seem to zip by in a blink - it’s making being pregnant quite stressful, or is it that being pregnant is making school stressful!? We have one week to go until half term, and can’t wait, we are desperate just to spend some time together and try and relax a bit.

We have booked tickets to go to the Baby Show at Earls Court on the first weekend, and we’re taking my mum, hoping to check lots of things out and hopefully make decisions about prams, buggies, slings, nappies and all the other things that are currently a mine field to us baby novices!

I am slowly starting to look more bump-like! To me it is so obvious, but other people still assure me you can’t notice, but suddenly my tummy feels much fuller and tighter. I haven’t gained much weight else where at the moment, something I’m hoping to maintain for a little while longer!

I had my 4 month midwife appointment this week, and got to listen to baby's heart beat – this was nearly as amazing as the scan…it was so quick, and sounded like the sea! After a few bubbles and gurgling noises I thought my belly was rumbling, but apparently that was baby moving!

Next time I will hopefully be de-stressed and chilled looking forward to a week in Cornwall for half term, not sure there’ll be mush surfing going on though, bump doesn’t seem to keen to my laid on any more!

Monday, October 29, 2007 Ria gets emotional...

This last week has been a bit of an emotional one! Have had tears at work and a real feeling of not coping with all the demands at school, Autumn term is a very busy one and I’ve been spending an average of 11 hours a day at school and am shattered!!! Hopefully the second trimester energy buzz will start to take effect, otherwise I may crash and burn quite soon!

Having said that any morning/afternoon/all day sickness has well and truly passed which is making things a lot better, as I’m not feeling too grotty, just looking grotty and emotional! Bump is developing slowly, other people still don’t think there is anything there, but to me it seems to be growing by the day!

We’ve had a lovely weekend, eating out with friends and celebrating Jon’s mum's birthday. We went to a newly opened Giraffe Café in Exeter for brunch on Sunday with friends – topical because Jon is nicknamed Giraffe at Rugby because of his height and so many people have joked about us having made a baby giraffe! They did quite possibly the best banana and blueberry pancakes known to man…worth a visit and good for you!

We are looking forward to a trip up to London in a couple of weeks to go to the Baby Show at Earls Court, something we never thought would attract us but it seems a good idea to look at everything all under one roof and make decisions about prams and other baby expenses! We have seen a few things that interest us, like carrying baby in a sling rather than a pram all the time, that really appeals and seems natural, and we have also found a really snug hammock type cradle which allows baby to lie flat but feel like it’s still suspended in the womb, lovely!

Monday, October 22, 2007 Ria gets "lumpier"!

Time is speeding by and we are hardly noticing, this last week I have started to become “lumpier”, and am having to train myself not to say “fat”. Over the weekend, I’ve caught myself in a couple of mirrors and thought, 'Actually you are starting to look pregnant'!

This is now a good thing - I was getting fed up of feeling poorly and rubbish for no seemingly no reason, but now we’ve seen baby on the scan and the sickness has faded a little, I think I’m getting mentally prepared for my inevitable lumpiness!

We have started to think a little more about what we need to do and all the decisions we have to make. Channel Four have begun a series called “Bringing Up Baby” which we decided to watch: it is following the stories of six couples who are following three contrasting but well-known concepts of how best to bring up their babies. All of this had not even occurred to us yet, and it will be good to be able to watch and see all the highs and lows of the different techniques.

With this in mind, we also had our first adventure in Mothercare! Very early to be buying anything, but we just went for a look. Jon and I are both sure we want a baby sling so that we can carry baby with us as much as possible, but also went to check out strollers, and go gooey over baby clothes and cribs!

Having now told the majority of people it is interesting to see their reactions...most are very intrigued in the state of my belly, I guess I will have to get used to that! Jon’s mum has been very sweet and bought a really cute book of quotes about having babies, and also a pair of stretchy pyjamas! And my sister Lizzy has given me a fantastic book called “Being a Yummy Mummy” - it says things exactly how things are and has made me feel like my experiences are a lot more normal than I thought!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Ria has her first scan...

Wow! First scan time, and very very exciting! This is our little mung bean, looking very real and cute:



The scan was amazing you could see so much detail – little toes and fingers wiggling, we even saw little mouth opening and swallowing.

All of a sudden it seems very real, and less daunting… we’ve both been a bit nervous this morning, laughing and joking as to whether it might have a tail or horns! I was secretly scared there wouldn’t be anything there, which is crazy, but still a worry. But there is definitely somebody in there, and only one!

We now have official date, from seeing how long little one is from bottom to head, and we’re scheduled for the 31st March…so looks like we may have an April Fools baby! At least if that’s the case people will remember when his / her birthday is.

Jon is very excited, and went a bit gooey during and after the scan! Looking at the scan photo it looks like babe is kicking, so now Jon is convinced it’s a boy, with very good kicking form that is going to make a very good rugby-playing No. 10, either that or she’ll be a great gymnast!

We decided to have all the tests done, so now are awaiting letters to say that little one is hopefully as normal as can be expected! We have also told pretty much everyone now… I made an announcement on Facebook and suddenly got 'poked' like never before!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 Ria has gone public!

Week 12 – hoorah! We have been thinking of this as a bit of a milestone, and even though we still haven’t had our scan it’s a relief to be here! Jon is convinced that I’ll instantly start to feel better once we hit week 12, I’m not sure about that but hopefully my hormones might start to behave themselves a little better!

From today we are also going public! The date coincides with Jon’s birthday so we thought it would be nice to tell all our friends then. We have found it a real struggle not telling people up to now, especially when we’ve been excited, nervous, or feeling rubbish!

Our scan date is actually a week tomorrow, I can’t wait for lots of reasons, I think mainly because at the moment I don’t actually feel pregnant, just ill, and am hoping that seeing the little wiggler will make it all seem a bit more realistic and worthwhile. We have decided that at the next scan we will find out the sex of our baby, (just because we’d both like to know rather than be surprised), but for this one we’re just checking that it has two legs, two arms and no tail!

I am starting to get an ickle bump – probably only noticeable to me, but I’m used to having a flat tummy and am feeling podgy, which again, because I don’t feel particularly pregnant, is not a nice feeling. My clothes are all still fine, and hopefully that wont be an issue for a while yet, but we’ve got lots of weddings to go to in the next six months so that might take some planning!

Next week, I’ll hopefully have a little picture of our little one to get excited about, let's hope he/she is on good form and performing!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 The going gets tough for Ria....

This last week has been the toughest yet of my pregnancy, we returned to school on Monday, which I have been anxious about because it’s not a job you can do at 80% - kids can be very energy sapping! Physically I am exhausted and feeling grotty all day, but because there isn’t much to show yet I also feel a bit of a fraud for feeling so rubbish!

Jon is like a cat with two tails and is bubbling over with excitement about the baby, but I just haven’t been able to share that this week because my body is doing funny things and making me feel very unlike me! He is convinced that in the next trimester all of this will magically disappear and I will feel wonderful…let’s hope he’s right!

We are eagerly awaiting the 12 week borderline, as we are desperately keen to tell everyone, partly to share in our excitement, but also so they understand why I’ve been so lethargic and weird! I have a little roundness, the start of a bump that is beginning to emerge and has literally popped up in the last week. I’m sure I’m not going to be able to hide it at school; teaching gym and dance and bouncing around you are on show a lot of the time so I’m not sure it’ll be a well kept secret!

I have started to swim as part of my “stay fit for baby” plan! I feel too tired to run or do much else in the gym, and am not allowed to play netball so swimming has begun! I’ve never been a great fan of swimming pools, but have actually found it quite therapeutic and good stress relief.

On the food front, I am still a bit low down on my appetite and have some funny ideas about what I fancy… plain crisps and Rich Tea biscuits are easy to stomach at the moment, and thankfully I can’t get enough of fruit, so am not going to turn into a total porker on crisps and biscuits!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 Ria's gone back to school!

I think I have probably had the sleepiest week of my life! I haven’t been able to stay awake for a whole day, and keep being tempted to snuggle on the sofa under a fleecy blanket and hide with our cat! All very well for teachers on holiday, but we are back to reality this week and hopefully I’ll be too busy at school to notice how tired I am.

We had our first appointment with our midwife this week, I’m sure the looks on our faces told her instantly that we were new to this … like two excited kids on the way to Disneyland! We left an hour or so later, with first scan appointment, wee bottles, a mountain of things to read, and in charge of “the maternity notes!”

We made the most of the last of the sunny weather and went to Cornwall for a couple of days with family at the beach, all very well except that my rather undersized breasts are rapidly expanding and didn’t want to behave in my bikini! A good excuse to buy a new one! A little adventure in the surf confirmed to me that lying on a surf board in the cold water is not a good idea for sore nipples; I was in agony for ages, much to everyone’s amusement they did not want to warm up!

Jon and I are now counting down the weeks to our first scan; we desperately want everything to be OK, and to be able to tell all our friends. My friends are going to go mad when they find out I’ve been posting all my thoughts on the internet before they even know! I’ve also got to decide when to tell my boss at school, it’s tough because I work with lots of close friends, but I’m sure the words maternity leave are not a happy sound to their ears! I can’t imagine how the kids will react… or when they’ll realise, I’ll probably get a lot of stick for getting fat before someone sensible realises!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007 Ria is on a rollercoaster of emotion!

Having only discovered that I was pregnant two and a half weeks ago, things are still a little surreal! We had not been trying for very long (2 months) and were trying to take things casually and see what happened, rather than watching the calendar and taking temperatures etc! I began to have suspicions that I might be pregnant, and the morning I mentioned it to Jon he had had a dream that night that I was!

Since then we have been on a rollercoaster of emotion- tears (happy tears!), excitement, anticipation, wanting to tell everybody (but knowing we shouldn’t), and giggling when we try to hide it! Strangely enough, since becoming pregnant all our friends seem to be dropping hints and all assuming that we are trying, they are obviously more intuitive than we give them credit for!

At present I am feeling quite scared, about being pregnant and everything that is going to happen to my body, I’m guessing this is because it’s the first time and I don’t really have any idea what it’s going to be like!

I have been feeling pretty sicky, and it’s a big con calling it “morning sickness”, with me it seems to be “mid morning – all day sickness”. It has meant that I have really lost my appetite, and even though I normally feel better for eating, that still doesn’t make me want to eat! I have also been feeling really tired, and being someone who doesn’t normally like to be sat down, this is proving difficult! At the moment we are on school holidays, so the odd afternoon nap is OK, not sure how that’s going to work out back at school!

We haven’t had very much to do yet, so other than my body behaving strangely, and not being able to clean out the cat litter tray, it doesn’t really feel like we are having a baby yet. Today however we have our first appointment with the midwife. I’ve been excited about this, I think because it will make things seem more real. We have been referring to our little one as “mung bean” as that’s how big we thought she / he was, but we have found that in week 9-10 it’s more like a raspberry! That’s all fine; it’s the “marrow” phase that’s worrying me!