Heat and Pregnancy do not mix ....

Okay so here is another moany post. I am sick and tired of all the heat! Who told the world its okay to be so hot whilst I am 35 weeks pregnant exactly? I have been sitting on the sofa most of the afternoon, with a fan directly on my face, only moving to pee or get more water with ice! I am finishing work this week, thank goodness, but I have no idea how I am going to cope 2 days in my hot office trying to concentrate on work when all I shall want to do is strip off and lay on the cool leather sofas we have at home!

We had to put the fan into the bedroom last night too. I just can't sleep well with the heat, so its making it harder to have a few hours sleep (although I shall admit this is going to be good practise for when Bean arrives!).

Another horrible thing about the heat is my desperate urge to nest. This came on last week and each day I've had an overwhelming urge to clean, tidy and organise parts of the house that never really bothered me much before.

Oh and don't even talk to me about cooking, seeing as I'm still cooking all the weekly meals for James and I (although he does help when I'm too tired) when all I really want to do is go out and have somebody else cook for us instead! Its toooooooooooooooooo hot to be standing in a kitchen cooking a meal. Talking of which, its pasta bake tonight and I need to get the pasta on the boil or it wont be ready by the time he comes home from work (he needs to make the most of this as once Bean is here, he'll be doing most of the cooking I'm sure!).

So, in summary, if anybody is planning to conceive, try to avoid being heavily pregnant during the months of July and August, unless you're extremely brave.

I wonder if the neighbours would mind joining me in a little Rain Dance perhaps?

Backache and Baths....

Not wanting to complain again on my blog but I have had constant backache/lower back pain for 2 days now and its even affecting my sleep (or lack of it as the case maybe) and the thought of a bath wasn't a nice one. I used to love baths but with the heat at the moment, the big bump and the stress of getting in, getting comfortable, trying to wash etc with hardly any room etc means that I have just resorted to showers now (that Bean actually really responds well to).

However, now I am 35 weeks, its "safe" again for me to use lavender which I find so incredibly relaxing and soothing, so I thought I may have a bath to try and feel more relaxed and get the benefits of the lavender oil onto my skin for the backache.

As I slipped into the bath, I instantly felt better. The warm water, bubbles and smell of lavender cuddled my body and I remembered why I loved baths so much pre-pregnancy. It really did help my back and I wished I had run one yesterday.

I laid there for almost an hour (until the water was quite cold!), read my "slummy mummy" book and listed to "magic" on the radio. Heaven.

It actually got me thinking about a water birth. If water can have such a positive affect on my body in relation to pain in my back (which I know I shall also have in labour) then maybe a water birth is a good idea. However, pain relief and water births do not go hand in hand, so we'll have to see how I cope first.

Now I am suitably relaxed, I shall go back to reading my book and make the most of my Sunday afternoon. I shall be having many more baths with lavender now!

Little Bean is on the move....

Around the same time every night without fail, I sit on the sofa, with my feet up and watch Bean make my tummy move. Its such a weird and wonderful sight. At first I used to really freak out at the fact something inside me was making my tummy move, stick out and make waves! Now, I think its lovely and its a very special moment between me and my baby.

As I write this, my little girl is moving her feet across my bump, just underneath my boobs. Its quite big, strong movements, but also delicate and irregular. How amazing is that? I'm sure that some people will read this and think I'm crazy but if you're a Mum or a Mum to be, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Just how amazing is the human body to be able to grow something, from 2 cells? It doesn't feel long ago that we found out we were expecting our first child and although I knew I was pregnant and felt very much pregnant, I didnt really bond with our baby until she started moving. Now not only is she moving herself but she's moving my tummy around too! What a lovely strong baby girl we have. I don't think I have ever loved something so much without even seeing it properly.

5 weeks to go and I will be able to hold her in my arms. I simply cannot wait. x

It's a bit early for labour surely?

Last night I had the weirdest night so far during pregnancy. I felt a bit strange after coming home from work, so dozed on the sofa and did the easiest dinner possible - quiche and chips. I went to bed after dinner was on and led there not really understanding what was going on with my body but knew I felt strange. My husband came home and asked me if I was okay, obviously didnt look too bright. I managed dinner and then just sat on the sofa for a couple of hours before suggesting an early night. Getting off to sleep was okay but I found myself waking up with pains low down every hour or so and had many trips to the bathroom.

Once morning came, I still felt strange but had some breakfast (which didnt stay down too long) and felt lots of pressure pushing down. I kept thinking in the back of my mind that I was showing signs of early labour. This was such a scary thought. My husband noticed it too and was actually reeling off a list of early labour symptoms to me whilst I sat on the toilet feeling rather dizzy. Very helpful James, thank you!

I managed to go to the office but still had this weird odd feeling that I have now and I really cannot put my finger on what it actually is. Eventually, I gave in and rang my midwife who believed it could be either a water infection or tummy bug. Great. That's all I need! I don't want to get poorly this late during pregnancy and especially with only 3 days left to work in the office. I have to see my GP tomorrow for her verdict.

Just for preparation purposes, I have cleaned out my desk, packed it all up and I'm ready to go now. I have bits of work to get finished but nothing urgent and all the training of my workload has now been done, so I feel better about that.

Its weird thinking that my body and my baby are getting ready and preparing for labour. What an amazing feeling. Actually, the baby has been moving a lot more than normal today and I can feel pressure heading south, so I know it has to be that she's moving down to get ready for the big day. We always said that we wanted her to come 2 weeks early, but I would really rather she didnt come yet, I'm only 34+4, so its far too early and I worry that her body wouldn't be able to cope with the outside world yet.

So please, if you're reading this, I need lots of "not yet please" baby stay in vibes. I still haven't listened to my preparation for labour CD enough!!

Too tired to work....

I didn't want to turn this blog into a place where all I do is moan but today I am grumpy, so unfortunately it's going to have to be a winge.

I am 34 weeks and 2 days pregnant, I had approximately 4-5 hours sleep last night, up to the bathroom 3 times (regardless of how much I drink during the day or before bedtime!) and my hayfever is bad, so my throat, head, eyes and nose are all sore and running. Not a very glamourous mum-to-be today I'm afraid.

So, I'm sitting at my desk, trying so hard to find the motivation to actually do more work but its just not happening. I have enough work to get me through the day but then this afternoon I am training somebody else on what I do (well most of it) and she will be starting to do it for me. I haven't actually decided when I will make her do it from, but I'm thinking sooner the better, so at least if she struggles, she still has a couple of days with me in the office to ask for help. Not that I want to help her do my job for me naturally.

I'm trying to stay positive by thinking that this is as bad as its going to get before labour. Always feeling tired, miserable, peeing for England and just wanting to sleep is as bad as pregnancy gets before labour and at least with childbirth you get pain relief and have your baby at the end of it, which is more than I'm getting now!

5 days is all I have to do at work now, so why does it feel like a lifetime and why is the day insisting on passing so slowly? I guess looking at the time on my laptop every 5 minutes isn't really helping is it?

I think I may just go for a wander around the office and stretch my legs, that will waste a few minutes.......

Hormones anybody? Free to a good home...

So I'm sat at work thinking there are so many other things I'd rather be doing right now and the thought of having to be here for another 11 working days is rather depressing. I am pretty sure its just my hormones getting the better of me but I could burst into tears at any given moment for no good reason at all.

I think its going to get worse before it gets better as well. Take Saturday for example. My closest friends (well a couple of them) had organised a small baby shower for me. I know its not really the "done thing" in England but I just saw it as a nice opportunity to get all the girlies together and have a laugh, a little chat about baby and use it as a nice opportunity to spend some time with them before baby arrives. It really wasn't as I expected it to be. We were all rather bored and ended up just talking, eating and leaving. I had dreams of playing "guess the weight and date" etc but we didnt do any of that. I must sound really selfish and ungrateful but I'm really not. Perhaps just a bit disappointed which is magnified because of the raging hormones I have right now.

I even managed to cry myself to sleep last night because my husband accidently hit me with his elbow in bed. I got into a right grumpy mood, burst into tears and demanded he turn the TV off and not speak to me. It sounds silly now looking back at it but I felt awful. I must admit, I do really feel sorry for my poor Husband at the moment. Not only have I given him a huge list of things I want doing around the house before the baby arrives but he has to cope with my mood swings, hormones, tearful outbursts and grumpiness. I'm sure he often wonders why he married me in the first place. Nevermind, a few more weeks to go and hopefully we'll have a beautiful baby to cuddle, which will make it all worth it. I can't wait.

In the meantine, if anybody wants my dreaded hormones........... they're yours!

So today I've been thinking about breast feeding...

Its lunch time at work and I'm reading "top tips for breast feeding" and have come over all emotional (hormones are a glorious part of being pregnant don't you know?). I think the feeling that I will be able to give my child something that nobody else can give her is amazing. I will have the ability to give my child everything she needs that my body will produce for me all on its own. How wonderful does that sound?

In my own mind, I know its not going to be easy. So many people give up within the first couple of weeks because of the pain and seeing as my pain threshold is really quite low, I'm going to have to be seriously determined not to stop so our baby can have the best possible start in life.

Lots of useful tips like having a "feeding pack" by the side of the sofa and bed is a great idea. Apparently a pack consists of bottled water and squash, biscuits and sweet snacks, the tv remote and your mobile phone. Sounds good to me!

Nobody in my family has been able to establish breast feeding for very long at all. I think my Aunty gave it a go with her first and lasted a couple of weeks and didnt try with her other 3 at all because of the pain and stress it caused having a crying baby, painful boobs and sleep deprivation. Well, its hardly a recipe for success is it? I have no idea how woman do it, but I really want to give it my best shot.

Apparently setting yourself little targets and milestones is the way to go. I think we'll aim for little targets in the beginning - 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, etc. Then if we make it, go for 3 months, 6 months etc. I think it really is the best start in life you can offer your newborn child.

So, I've decided I'm going to be very determined and give it the best I can give. I think my greatest motivation will be that none of my family have managed to do it. They already have a relatively low opinion of my parenting skills (not that Ive shown them yet anyway) so being able to say "you were wrong, I can do this, see?" will be very rewarding.

Armed with breast pads, nipple cream and a manual pump, I shall be ready for when Bean arrives. I'm actually rather excited about it now. What a strange Mummy to be I am.....!

So I thought I'd start a blog....

I've heard so much about blogging but didn't really understand what all the fuss was about until I fell pregnant at Christmas 2007. I brought myself a Pregnancy Journal and vowed to write a little bit about how I was feeling and how the pregnancy was going. I thought this would not only be quite therapeutic for myself but a nice keepsake that I could give to our child once he/she was born.

After getting to 32 weeks and realising that I need to "catch up" on the 4 weeks that I haven't yet written, I have realised that I would much rather be on my laptop typing whenever I feel like it, rather than hand writing in a book.

So here I am. 32 weeks and 2 days pregnant and about to start the biggest journey of my life - motherhood. The last 7 months have gone so quickly. I have no idea what sort of Mum I am going to be and the thought of labour really scares me (well, show me a woman who wasn't scared of labour!) but I have thoughts and ideas on how I'd like our child to be raised and I guess we'll have to take it from there.

The hardest thing so far has to be the way people treat you. You're either public property because you have a bump or you're an invalid. You just cant win! At least work have been good to me, which was surprising considering as I work in a male dominated industry.

I am going to use this blog to diary not only the last few weeks of pregnancy but about being a new mum in 2008. So much has changed since my Mum had me (27 years ago) and much more pressure is put on women to do it all - have a career, be a good wife and a good mother, that I just have no idea how women manage it, well, I guess I'll soon find out.....!