showers and flakes

- gives you some idea of how heavy the little tyke is getting.

Jackie threw a wonderful baby shower for me on Sunday and we had a great time. She put so much thought and effort into it, and the girls were all so kind and generous. It really brings things home when you look at 6 tiny little baby-gro's and realise that your own child will soon be sleeping in them.
A sobering moment.

We didn't pack the hospital bag. And I still haven't written my birth plan, but will make time for that in the next few days.

I finished work officially on Friday and Jackie has taken over the big job I was working on. That is a relief because the client wasn't sticking to his deadline and I had a tick in my eye-lid that reflected the stress I was under. I need to slow down! I still have a few bits and pieces for other people, to get through, but nothing pressing.

Of the 8 couples who attended our ante-natal classes, one has given birth (5 days early) to a baby girl. Again, a sobering moment, as I realised that the ball was now rolling and we are on that ball. It's a bit strange because I'm only due at the end of the month, but you never know - baby will come when its ready.

It's been a beautiful clear morning, and I've just peeked out of the window and noticed that it is snowing, AGAIN. It snowed three times last week, and just made us all wet and messed up the cars. These are lovely big flakes though, so it may make some sort of covering after all.

How is the name-game coming along?
Well, let's just say that we sat and chatted to friends about it last night, and they're as undecided as we are. Our excel spreadsheet is expanding, which can only be a good thing, but we need to actually put names on it that we agree on, rather than names we both like individually.
Another thing to do this week.

Ocho is Eight

Eight years of marriage !

Yes, Keith and I celebrated our anniversary this week in a rather domestic manner: we worked all day, and then spent the evening in the hospital's ante-natal class. Any highlights ? yes, we got to walk through the labour wards. AND had a cheap-and-cheerful dinner at Nandos afterwards.

The labour ward walk-thru' was really encouraging. Seeing all the facilities helps you get a grip on the 'where' and 'how' of labour and birth. The new birthing pool room (recently refurbished) looked nice and I am hoping we are able to attempt a water-birth.

We did get to celebrate our anniversary. We went away for the weekend to Somerset / Dorset. We stayed in a delightful b&b, which sells itself as 'a restaurant with rooms'. The food was just awesome, and we ate like kings. We spent Saturday afternoon browsing around a charming town called Sherbourne. The weather was really bad, so there was nothing for it, but to stay inside and read the paper and watch the Olympic events on TV. Very hard indeed.

Our pram arrived on Thursday evening, so we opened it when we got back from our weekend away. It's a bog-standard Mclaren which folds nice and flat, is light and easy to lift into the boot of the car. We decided against all the glorious Bugaboo and Stokke designs, as they just aren't practical for us. Considering baby grows out of the thing in just 3-4 months, what's the point of spending all that money? We'll go for something nicer once we've found our feet and know what we need to suit our lifestyle. Ah, the challenges of baby-shopping.

Will pack the hospital bag this weekend !

Tomorrow is another NCT mummies lunch in Bethnal Green. We have a favourite spot - The White Cherry. it's an organic / vege cafe and they make truly delicious vegetarian fare. Most of the girls are now a week or two away from their due dates, so it's sure to be an exciting late lunch. I keep resting on the statistics and thinking, "well, some of them could have been early - ie. they'd already have had their babies, and some will be late. So if they aren't all having their babies early, maybe I will ?" heh heh. Wishful thinking. At the end of the day this little peach just needs to get nice and ripe and come out when it's ready. Whether mummy's ready or not is a secondary consideration. We'll just keep our wits about us as much as we can.

Gotta do some more freelance work, so should shaddup here.

Will post pic of [huge] tummy soon. Promise.

lurve

Valentine's Day 2006
Bit of a non-event in the Guthrie house - we're off to an ante-natal class tonight - and anyway, it gets eclipsed each year by our anniversary which is just 7 days later. I'm not complaining - it gives me an opportunity to resist the commercial madness. So, did I do that this year ? Nah - went and bought a card and some choccies just the same.

Went for a midwife checkup yesterday. Boy-oh-boy ! I was early, and I ended up waiting for an hour and half just for a fundal height measurement and 'wee' listen to the baby's heartbeat, oh yes, and a blood test. Most of my 30 minute appointment was spent with the two midwives showing one another how to use the computer system. I'm lovin it (the NHS that is).

We're now well on the road to being prepared. The pram arrives tomorrow, and I'm borrowing a car-seat from friends. The cot is up, needs a bit of work on the sliding mechanism, but at least the bub has somewhere to sleep. Basically, I guess we're ready.

Physically, I'm feeling good. Tummy is as hard as a rock, and I can feel the baby's bum sticking out on the left side. Thankfully the midwife said the head is down, so nothing to worry about there! Hallelujah ! Baby is still quite active, mostly when I sit or lie down (there are 2 reasons for this - no sloshing around because I'm not moving, and the 'house' is slightly compressed by my pelvis and ribcage when seated), but I'm expecting it's getting quite cramped inside.

We're still debating whether it's a boy or a girl. Heh heh - so are all the friends. And of course the name discussions continue.

I'm hungry, so better go have a bite to eat. There's so little space inside for food these days.

will you lactate ?

Funny how the debates about breast-feeding rage on, and for some of us, there was never really any question about 'what to do'... I guess it's mother's milk. My mum did, so I plan to, too. There seems to have been a generation of mum's here in the UK, Europe and Australia who were actively encouraged NOT to breastfeed. It means that today, there's an awful lot of lobbying going on, from the World Health Organisation to the La Leche League. There's is no shortage of information or volunteer-driven assistance. In our borough, there are drop-in centres 5 days a week, where you can go for advice and support. Who would've thought ? !

Our breastfeeding workshop on Tuesday night was held in the Bethnal Green, and poetically in the house that Emily Pankhurst lived in. Things don't get more empowering than that!

Like so many things in life, I've discovered that this is one of those "personal" decisions each mum needs to make and most people have very definite ideas on it. Alot of what we discussed at the workshop were preconceptions about breastfeeding... eg."my friend told me that..." or "I've heard that..." - because none of us have done it before.

I suppose all that can be said is that I'll try - I know that fundamentally it's a good thing, but that doesn't mean that it's easy or "natural" (ie. you just know how to do it). Time will tell.

Dad's away

Eish ! Keith is away in New York city for just a few days on biz, so bub and I are keeping ourselves busy with the usual - work, biblestudy, laundry, and a few ante-natal classes for good measure.

It's kinda busy inside there today - not sure why - loads of kicking and boxing, and jumping. Perhaps it's a blessing that baby's only gain a voice when they start to breathe oxygen, otherwise I'd have a raucus gestation accompaniment following me around. Imagine the funny looks I'd get!?!

Tummy is hard and feels very very very full. Not able to eat very much and eating so much slower than before. Feel tired, and should get more sleep instead of falling into bed at 1am (which has become a bit too regularly of late).

Spoke to Cindy on her birthday yesterday - she and Walty were walking around the Botanical Gardens in Singapore. I'm guessing she's about 25 weeks now, so due in early June. The time goes past so quickly !

Tomorrow night is ante-natal overdose, so best I take a bit of time to prepare. Good night all.

NCT classes : 1 of 3

Yesterday we spent the day at our first NCT ante-natal class. It was great! There were 8 other couples, and we were all of an age except for one older couple. We covered quite a few topics including birthing options (pain-relief, positions for relief, when to call, when to panic, pros and cons of different drugs), coping with 'coming home' - feeding, bathing, sleep-time, crying babies (ideas on what to do), the physiology of the birth process (dad's had to put together about 16 cartoons showing phases 1, 2 and 3). Basically the big highlight for us all is meeting other mums who are due around the same date as us. Keith and I will have the youngest if our baby comes at term, all the others are due in early March. It was also good (for the ego you understand) to compare your bump with other bumps. Boy, do I still have a way to go, and it's all going to happen in the next 4 weeks. Whew!

We have a breast-feeding workshop on Tuesday night, followed by another full-day of ante-natal talk next Friday. I must do a bit more research so that I'm sure I've covered the questions I have right now. Talking to Mandy last night, she pointed out that 'you don't know what you don't know', and it's only after you've had the baby that you know what you should have asked about. yes - too late.

I also spent a wonderful afternoon on Thursday, with the girls from our biblestudy at a nearby chinese restaurant. It was so good to chat and gather information. If you've seen 'Defending the Caveman', you'll chuckle at the "gathering" reference - it's a chick-ability. There is so much to learn, and 'notes to self' to file away. You just really want to know about the resources that are nearby.

Very pleased things are coming together in this way. My only concern at the moment is the work-situation, as there's more trickling in from clients, and I need to start clearing the way for stopping at the end of this week or early next.

hi ho, hi ho

A week of madness is now behind me. One magazine is signed-off and another is nearly there. All I need to do now is get a website refined for another client and I'll be more at ease. Oh yes, and then there's X, Y and Z to do for .... (sheesh! it never ends).

I'm feeling horribly guilty because I haven't visited Bridget in 4 weeks (disgusting!), but it just hasn't come together. I was even in town last night but it was so late (4:45pm) when I was near her flat, and all I could think of was getting off my feet. Starbucks reached out it's warm, comforting arms and I succumbed.

It hasn't been particularly eventful on the pregnancy-front. Baby is growing more, and my tummy is feeling tighter and tighter. It's week 31, and I'm already wondering when we can bring the baby home, whether we'll be breast-feeding, if it'll be sleeping in cycles, how long that'll take, how we're going to cope, etc.

I picked up a book in Borders last night - Miriam Stoppard (and Dorling Kindersley)'s Baby Care Book. Hmm... interesting stuff, although you do get a sense of deja vu reading through it. So much seems like common sense, and information you've picked up 'along the way'. It was good to read it though - like brushing up before exams.

Next week, preparations begin in earnest :

Friday 3rd - NCT ante-natal class, full day
Friday 10th - NCT ante-natal class, full day
Tues 7th, 14th, 21st and 29th - Homerton Parentcraft classes in the evenings.
...the countdown begins.

Tomorrow Keith and I are going to a marriage seminar at the church. It's only 3 hours, which seems like a bit short to me, but it'll be good to go and get a bit of an MOT. Last one was eons ago.

new side bar links

check out all the new links I've added to the side bar here >>>>>>

it's heavy to carry around

Slept late this morning because I HAD to stay up all night and finish a book I'd been reading. Felt shattered, but am grateful to Jackie for phoning and getting me out of bed. I really needed to just get up instead of lying there feeling spaced out.

Mum's been asking me for a photo, so I thought I'd better get that done. Once it's up, I won't have to think about photographing myself for the next while.

Feeling fine on the whole, just need to keep a handle on the walking - too much is a bad idea. It just amounts to back pain, and swollen ankles which I'm delighted to avoid where possible.

Did a bit of internet shopping this afternoon. What a pleasure that is! You can just order what you need from the comfort of your desk and chair, and wait for someone to bring it here (and up the stairs). I will put together a list of online maternity / baby websites for the UK. Should be useful for future mums and all the family in SA.

It's Keith's birthday on Sunday and he's been the "super-shopper" recently : new sound system has been arriving in bits and pieces. The last component, the amplifier, arrives tomorrow. He's going to be a very happy birthday boy on Sunday

I am normal

We had an appointment with the consultant today, and we now have the official report - I am normal!. She measured me, felt the baby's position, listened to the heartbeat (junior was not co-operating, just wriggling around), read the report from the cardiologist... and said that there was no longer any need for me to see her.

So I'm back into the midwife-led care at the Homerton, which means that we have normal birth to look forward to - no high-risk, intervention stuff. Thank the Lord!

FETAL FACTS FOR THIS WEEK :

baby's eyes are now open a lot of the time, and it is practicing 'looking' around. Not much to see, as you can imagine, but it does notice light from the daytime / interior lighting, shining through your skin.

baby's brain has started taking on that wrinkled appearance because it is growing so rapidly. These 'convolutions' contain more brain cells than a smooth surface brain.

B is for back ache

Yesterday was the most beautiful clear day, and because I haven't even ventured upstairs to prune or tidy in the last month, I thought I better seize the opportunity. After all, it wasn't raining and I wasn't going to frieze to death. I still managed to delay though and only headed up there at 3:40pm, by which time the shadows were starting to lengthen and I knew I couldn't leave it much longer.

Once I was up there I went at it hammer and tongs, and cleared away as much as I could reach - dead leaves, mucky build-up in the drainage, and old growth. It's the kind of job where you really do have to do lots of bending over, hands and knees, scraping under pots, which is probably where my technique needs improving. By the time it was dark, I'd filled two large buckets and swept down at least 2/3 of the roof with water and a broom. Once I'd put all the implements away and taken the boots off to come down stairs, I realised that I'd really overdone it... my back was killing me.

Now you all know what a pregnant woman looks like when she walks, and it annoys me that people make fun of it, but the truth is - there is no other way. Most of the time I 'womble' along. But last night, I was hobbling like a crotchety old man, clutching my lower back.

And by this morning, I couldn't face getting out of bed, so I switched off the alarm clock and stayed there. Confession time : until 11:50am.

It still hurts tho'

delivery : mattress

Today we took delivery of our cot mattress - bought online at John Lewis. I've done quite a bit of surfing as there is so much stuff you can buy on the net.
Yesterday was the mummy's biblestudy group here and everyone got to talk about their birth horror stories. A bit exhausting actually. I felt fine at the time, but by last night I was feeling quite shaken. There just seems to be an awful lot of stuff that happens, and you don't know what to make a fuss about and what to just accept.

On a positive note : I met a girl at swimming last night who is due on Friday, and having a home birth. She was looking great, and said she'd so enjoyed the swimming all these months. She is also zoned for Homerton, so we may yet bump into one another in the future - weighing babies or having innoculations.

More good news : apparently the Homerton have just finished refurbishing their birthing rooms. They re-opened a week or more ago. Excellent timing methinks.

We've spent some time reading through all the lists of what we need to get. Made some lists last night, and did a bit of thinking about when and what to pack. I feel like a real boy scout.

We're becoming more aware of baby's shape - last night there was a definite 'head' sticking out next to my belly button. It feels quite tight and uncomfortable, although that doesn't last - it seems to be in 'rotation', and then settles into something more comfy.

olympics

The baby is so incredibly busy, waking up around 11am and then it stays active through the day (on and off) until well after I go to sleep around midnight. I read somewhere it's like someone preparing for the Olympics in there. How true!
I have had these 2 images in my mind since finding them on pregnancy.org
Is it just me or do things look really cramped inside there ?

Geraldine has had a baby girl !

Wonderful news !
little Amy has arrived safely in Sydney, Australia. Born to my dear friends Andrew and Geraldine - a little sister for Samuel.

27 + 6 all is well

We had our "26 week" antenatal appointment this morning. We missed the actual 26 week appointment because my brain has turned to mush and I hadn't put it in the diary. It was also the week that I went to the cardiologist and I was completely focused on the outcome of that session.

They listened to the baby's heartbeat, while it kicked away, and then I had some bloods taken - results at next visit. Keith's a honey and drove me to the hospital and back again. He's concerned and involved which is very kind - it is during office hours after all.

It sounds like we'll get to meet the midwife team in about six weeks time. The Homerton have a team of around 50 midwives and you get whoever is on duty when you're in labour. The consultant said that they'd have a "walk around" the labour ward closer to the due date. It's a bit wierd knowing that we won't have met the person who's going to take us through the birth of our child, but then I also think that you can't focus too much on the hours of labour and birth. They must do what they're good at - midwives, obstetricians, et al. We'll have a consultant on hand because of the cardio risk, but I'm hoping that because of the "all clear" from my cardiologist, it'll minimise their intervention. Keith and I are both feeling positive about the delivery, we have no reason to be concerned. All the tests and the fetal activity are normal.

I spoke to Jacqui Archer (mum of 2) yesterday and she said Keith should have a good suck of the 'gas and air' / Entonox during labour, if I'm having it... not bad advice for any father who's on hand, and a little stressed out.

Things I must get to this week : find out about maternity pay, make a dental appointment (free for pregnant mums), make enquiries about schooling and day-care in the surrounding areas.

and so it begins...

The third trimester has dawned.
... and with it, a growing reality that we will be soon be parents to a tiny little screamer. . Many friends have asked for photos of the happy parents to be, and the growing bump so here it is.
Things are going well - baby is growing every day, and oh-so active. It's done nothing but kick me all day today.
We did a bit of preparation this christmas and new year holiday : bought some sheets for the cot, ordered a new mattress online, went to the hardware shop and bought some bolts to put the cot together. Baby now has a bed to sleep in. I bid for a 'moses basket' on eBay, but didn't win it, so will keep looking.
We've done a bit of planning too : dates for mum (grandma) to visit, and the on-going name saga.

FETAL FACTS :
In the last 2 days the baby has grown eyelashes. It can now respond to light and dark as it's eyes open and close.