8 weeks

Well it's been a while since I blogged (again!) but time to do it is hard to come by, any spare moments I get I just want to sleep!

Sleep... ah that would be nice! I am breast feeding on demand, which I love, but I would love it even more if Olivia would sleep a bit longer in the early mornings! Lately she's been waking up around 2-3am then again at 4 or 5 then 6. All these wakings are taking its toll on me and to some extent Grant.

I got really excited about a week ago as she slept 6 hours in a row which meant I was only up once in the night. Unfortunately we haven't had a repeat of this.

The health visitor came yesterday and weighed Olivia. She was 9lbs 12oz at birth and is now 12lbs 5oz! We're very happy with this steady growth and the health visitor was pleased with her development generally. I think I've been lucky with my health visitor as she's lovely - I've heard horror stories from other people about their health visitors.

We had a bit of a worry a couple of weeks ago when Olivia caught a cold. Around 10pm on a Friday evening I was convinced she had a fever so we rang NHS direct and were advised by the GP on call to go to hospital to get it checked out. We didn't have a thermometer so had no idea if her temperature was high but she felt hot to touch and I think I panicked a bit! They checked her at hospital and she was absolutely fine which was a huge relief and although I felt a bit silly for overreacting, I'm glad we went.

I'm starting a mums and babies yoga course on Monday. I'm really looking forward to doing some gentle and social exercise. I'll be back in my prepregnancy jeans in no time! Ha ha!

36 weeks - well almost...

I'm 36 weeks tomorrow! Suddenly 40 weeks isn't so far away.

We had our first parentcraft session on Tuesday. It was really good to have my knowledge reinforced and supplemented by one of the community mid wives. It is quite amazing really when we have so much info on the internet, in books and in magazines these days but it still really helps to hear it from an expert. It is also really reassuring to know that other parents have the same questions and worries as us. We only get two 2hr sessions which doesn't seem very much compared to other areas but I'm sure all the major points will be covered.

I've been feeling fairly heavy and tired since Christmas and my sleeping has become more and more disrupted - I'm pretty sure this is just going to get worse - perhaps it's nature's way of preparing the body for sleep deprivation once the baby has arrived! Other than the tiredness and general aches and pains I am still feeling very well and keep getting told I'm blooming so I count myself very lucky as I know some people really suffer, especially towards the end of their pregnancies. I do have to keep reminding myself to slow down though. I get these sudden surges of energy and end up over doing things then feeling drained for the rest of the day!

Baby Disco

For the last few days it has felt as though the baby is having a party in my tummy! The movement has been pretty much constant (except when Grant puts his hand on my belly). It is getting really strong now too and is sometimes a little bit painful but really reassuring to feel, even if I do feel like I have a little kick boxer inside me!

Not only can I feel the kicks but I can also see them. My whole stomach moves each time, as though she's trying to escape! I read that the baby will be going through a growth spurt now which may account for the extra force. I suppose she is making the most of the space while she can.

Luckily I seem to be able to sleep through them during the night but if I'm cuddling Grant he can feel them and often gets woken up. I find this incredible as normally he will sleep through everything and I wake up at the slightest noise, perhaps it is his protective father instincts kicking in!

I think I am experiencing a growth spurt too as I feel as though I get bigger every day. I feel huge now, although in some clothes I still don't really look pregnant, but then some clothes make me look ready to pop! I never really realised how tired carrying this extra weight would make me; just climbing the one flight of stairs up to our flat leaves me feeling a bit breathless - I'm 26 weeks now so I dread to think how I will be feeling at 36 weeks!

February still seems a long way off but when I look at it in terms of weeks it's nothing - especially with Christmas and all the excitement that comes with it! I am slowly gathering the things we need for the baby, although not going over board as space is limited in the flat. The car seat arrived today and I couldn't help having a little play with it and wheel it about on the chassis of the travel system we have bought. It looks very smart, and very comfortable for the little one - someone should invent a similar design for adult car seats!

Nightmare day in the rain

Yesterday was horrible!

It all started on our way home from the scan on Weds. The car started flashing engine malfunction at me, so I stopped, pulled over and we checked the oil. Nothing seemed a miss so we carried on. Half way home it happened again, this time, luckily, we were outside a Ford dealership so we thought we'd see what they had to say.

Yesterday I made the trek on the tube down to collect the car. There is quite a walk at either end of the journey and I got completely soaked in the rain, twice!

Having retrieved the keys from reception, asked lots of questions and been calmed by the receptionist that it was unlikely to happen again, I found the car and made my merry way on to Cambridge where I was due to attend a business advice day.

Halfway there, on the M11, engine malfunction started flashing and the car started to slow down all on it's own. I had a little panic as the hard shoulder was all coned up but I thought I can't stop on the carriage way. I generally panic in these sorts of situations; alone, vulnerable, stranded... all reduce me to tears at the best of times, added to 'Oh my god I've somehow killed the car, what do I do!' I was pretty tragic at this point!

As the car is a company car and not mine, my first call was to my boss/step dad, who managed to calm me down enough to get the details from me. He called the dealership to explain (probably rather forcefully) that I was stuck on the motorway hardshoulder only 30mins after leaving them and what were they going to do about it.... a recovery vehicle was despatched.

I sat on a fence outside the car as I have been told on many occasions that it is not safe to stay in the car when parked on the motor way. It was still raining and despite my 2 coats, I was soaked again in minutes!

Finally, 2 hours after I'd call my stepdad, I saw the flashing lights of the recovery truck - my rescuer! I think he took pity on me being pregnant as he was just meant to take me and the car back to the dealership but then gave me a lift home too which saved me the tube journey and another soaking. Phew.

As soon as I got home I had a nice hot bath and a cup of tea. I felt like I was coming down with a cold but thankfully that seems to have subsided, now I just feel dog tired. Got to pep up before 6 as I'm out on a rare evening on the town... well, a film screening and dinner out, nothing too outrageous or hopefully too late!

Gosh this is a long post about not very much but I needed to get yesterday out of my system!