Pregnancy Blog :: Week 40

I'm still here!

Despite having had an achey back since Thursday evening and lots of twinges and cramps there is no further sign of impending labour. I have a busy weekend with two different third birthday parties to take Lara to and a visit from the inlaws.

My last day at work was pretty uneventful. It felt good, I'm ready to move on to the next part of my year now - a new beginning.

Baby has moved down into a more-or-less engaged position now so movement had become pretty tricky and combined with piles the size of golf balls and a suspected urine infection, I had been bl**dy uncomfortable all week at my desk. At one point there were tears down the phone to the GP begging for a prescription... it worked but its still pretty depressing to be relying on prescriptions even before baby has put in an appearance.

So, now I have to play the waiting game. I have an appointment for next Friday for a stretch and sweep but I'm still hopeful it won't get to that point because I am home alone all next week without a car and with only a visit from the burglar alarm engineer to look forward to!

I'll keep you all up to date - promise!

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 39

Image taken by http://www.markwhitehousephotography.co.uk for Lexis Agency

Behold, the only official photograph of me with a bump during this pregnancy (OK, the only one I'm brave enough to admit to). This photo was taken for Lexis Agency as part of the preparation for the new Sterimar Baby facebook page which officially launches next week (stay tuned to Mellow Mummy to find out how I'm getting involved).

Obviously my bump is quite a bit bigger now; it was a couple of months ago when this was taken but it is a great picture never-the-less. In it, I'm sporting a gorgeous Vanessa Knox crossover maternity top that I won from A Mummy Too.

So, what has been going on this week? On Monday morning I started getting strong Braxton-Hicks at work which lasted pretty much 24 hours. If it wasn't for the fact that there was no consistency in strength or frequency, I would have started to think that it was labour but something inside me just knew it wasn't. Despite this, I did make sure I had the phone number of the hospital at the ready and insisted that Mr. B. pack all of the bags into the back of the car.

Ever since then, the movements of the baby have been very strong and distinctive; pretty uncomfortable at all times, especially when there is a fist being bashed repeatedly into my pelvis.

I have pretty much wound up everything at work now so I am cruising for this final week. Phew. I have also come to an agreement with work over my childcare vouchers which I will, at one point blog about once I've clarified all of my legal facts. It has been a struggle and hasn't come to the conclusion I wanted but I have lots of lessons and info to share with other working second-time mums. In the meantime, if you want to ask me about childcare vouchers then drop me a mail (to the address on my contact page) - I've become somewhat of an expert on the financials of childcare vouchers and the detail of the employment law that governs them!

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 38

This week I have fought off a tummy bug that Mr. B. and Lara seemed to get a lot worse than I did. I think perhaps my body just kicked into protect me and my baby at this late stage. It was a wonderful excuse for a couple of days in bed too!

I'm also beginning to dread childbirth. Not so much for the pain of birth itself but more because of the annoying after effects such as hemorrhoids and constipation which have already started bringing me discomfort even before childbirth this time. It is pretty miserable and I really hope I don't have another 4-7 months of this to look forward to.

I had my 38 week check with the midwife. Everything was in order. Baby had unengaged itself but I don't think that's a problem. I've just got to sit back and wait now.

The British Coffee Association settled my mind this week about having been drinking coffee during pregnancy. As you may know, just before I fell pregnant last summer I had started a Slimpod program which had the interesting side-effect of having reduced my caffeine intake. I have continued, at that reduced level of about 1 cup of coffee and 2 cans of Diet Coke throughout my pregnancy and this has got me some very strange looks from people - especially at work.

If you‟re pregnant then it is recommended that you limit your intake of caffeine to no more than 200mg per day from all sources which includes tea, coffee, cola and chocolate – equating to 2-3 cups of coffee a day (see NHS Choices) but for some reason, every time I have mentioned to any of my colleagues about how wiggly this baby seems to be compared to Lara, they nod knowingly towards my coffee cup and tell me that it'll be the caffeine causing it.

Ah well, I guess I will still be moderating my coffee intake a little once I am breastfeeding but hopefully I can look forward to some super-duper homemade Mr. B. stylee coffee once baby arrives to help me through some of those sleepless nights.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 37

37 weeks is officially term and baby, should it arrive now, would no longer be considered premature. It feels like an important milestone and perhaps now I should be rooting out things like Raspberry leaf, pineapple and hot hot curries (not that any curry I make isn't mind-blowingly hot on the normal scale of things).

Baby has slowed down a lot. I think it has more or less run out of room so any wiggling I do feel is really pronounced and can usually be seen by everyone in the room!

This weekend we are really concentrating on spending quality, fun, family time with Lara. I've taken a REALLY long weekend off work and we have already done crafting and gardening together and over the weekend we have plans for an easter egg hunt and lots of cooking together.



We haven't bought Lara an easter egg this year due to the phenomenal amounts of chocolate she has already consumed over the past week or so at nursery and as gifts. Instead, we went on the lookout for non-chocolate options. Our easter-egg hunt is going to be blueberry, raspberry and strawberry based and Lara's main pressie came from ASDA - it is a great big bag of brightly coloured ball-pool balls to turn her paddling pool into a ball pool. They are just one of the toys, homeware and DIY goodies that is on sale for less than £5 at ASDA this easter and given that I would have spent about a fiver on a nice chocolate egg for Lara, it seemed like an appropriate alternative gift.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 36

So, 36 weeks. Wow.

This week I had the last of my NCT refresher courses. I think I'm prepped and ready to go.

I also stepped down from my primary role at work. It felt very weird at first not to be bossing people about and having to rush in and out of meetings but I can tell you this... it felt good. I've been able to relax a little bit and can feel the stress starting to melt away.

The sunshine has helped with the stress relief too which is handy because Mr. B. has been working in London which means I've been doing the nursery run to and from each day without him to help and having to cook (oh, ok... order takeaway) and clean which we normally share equally. It was especially hard on Tuesday when I could barely walk because of pelvic pain and general baby uncomfy-ness.

The pevlic discomfort I'm assuming comes from the fact that baby has dropped a lot over the week and, according to the GP, is now 1/5th engaged. I think I know the moment it dropped too! On Monday night I woke up at 1am in agonising pain near my pelvis - just as bad as I remember from labour. I could feel a light tightening in my uterus which happened twice within half an hour and I genuinely thought labour was starting. I practiced some of my breathing exercises to calm down, took some paracetemol and eventually managed to fall asleep again only to wake up when Mr. B. left at 6.30 feeling pretty normal again. On Tuesday I was really achey breaky all day. Thankfully nothing more sinister has happened since.

On Thursday I had my 36 week check with the GP and took Lara with me. Because I work full time, I usually just pop out of work for my appointments, which means Lara is normally at nursery but today's appointment just happened to fall on a morning when we would normally be at swimming - we are currently on an easter break from swimming so Lara kept me company. She was so well behaved and seemed REALLY intruiged when the doctor took my blood pressure and again when he listened to baby's heart rate. I'm so glad I managed to share one of these experiences with her.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 35

This week I've started to waddle like a penguin! Bump is really beginning to grow now. Bending down is uncomfy and sitting anywhere for very long gives me backache.

I'm not convinced that baby is in the right position - sometimes I think I can feel it moving in a full 360 degree turn and there was one evening this week where I'm pretty certain it was sitting transverse with feet poking out above my left hip and head poking out above my right. I have an appointment with the GP this week and he will be the one who decides whether baby needs moving.

I've done a lot more exercise than normal this week - Mr B and I took a few days off work to start ticking off some of those things on my maternity to-do list! Mega-hot curry (check). Really nice meal out with just the two of us (check) and we also took Lara to Legoland which also counts as a (check).

This week I sat down with Mr. B and, with the help of a print-out from the NHS choices website, we wrote up a birth plan.  It was the first time that we had talked at length about Lara's birth and it was quite revealing to hear his thoughts about how the childbirth had gone.  Mr. B. seems to have some strong opinions about where I (hmm, we?) went wrong last time so perhaps he might be a bit more assertive this time.  Using my past experience, I've put in some decisions and some indicators for the midwife/midwives in charge at the time but in general I'm not going to approach things any differently this time around.  We are going to try, once again, for a drug-free, water birth but just see where it takes us.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 34

This week I had another trip to the hospital for my second shot of Anti-D. Hopefully, the next time I go to hospital will be when baby arrives.

The appointment took place with a midwife - this time a student midwife who was very inexperienced. It took two people to find the baby (!) but they finally established that the position is cephalic right now (head down, bottom up). I also had to have more bloods taken because the 28 week blood results had gone missing!!! the student midwife was freaked out by the fact that I have no visible blood supply and I am notoriously difficult to extract blood from. I was quite grateful that she wimped out and asked the phlebotomist to do it - me and needles don't get on at the best of times!

This week my NCT class covered topics such as sibling rivalry, foetal positioning and relaxation techniques. In terms of foetal positioning, I know I've got some work to do to make sure baby is sitting on the ideal side when it comes to the big day and the fact that my job involves me sitting at a desk all day doesn't bode well for optimal foetal positioning. We have a rocking posture chair at work that I used a lot during my last pregnancy and yesterday I decided it was time to start using it again. I hope it works!

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 33

This week I went to my first NCT lesson of this pregnancy. I had been in two minds about whether to fork out the money for the NCT refresher course but I decided to do it for two reasons.

• Last time I made three new friends for life and their company in the first few months was invaluable - I now live in a different town and could really do with the female company


• My first childbirth experience ended in a drug-induced haze so the whole experience is a bit blurry so I think I could do with a refresher.

Our first lesson was a bit more like a therapy session than a lesson. We all shared our birth stories and it was pretty emotional. Not a single woman in the room had experienced an uncomplicated birth (I don't think NCT prepared me last time for quite how likely it was that I 'would' experience an intervention birth). It was good to get some of my worries off my chest and I also managed to get hold of a hypnobirthing CD so I shall give that a try.

In other news, I went into London on a day off work and had some pictures taken for a new venture of mine. I think they may well be the only photos of a pregnant me this time around so I am looking forward to seeing them. I'm glad I don't have to do a commute in and out of Central London these days - wouldn't be much fun with a bump.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 32

This week the baby has become incredibly active. When I am sitting in meetings at work, other people can see my belly wiggling and jiggling! Before Lara was born she always used to have an active time of night at about 10pm and a small kick just before or after my lunch. This baby is different... it is active ALL day. No really, I never ever get a moment when I'm not aware of it doing its thing. Not even if I wake up at 3am to go to the toilet. This is an ominous sign for when baby arrives.

Someone asked me this week whether I had been experiencing 'baby brain' and I'm delighted to say "No". For a couple of weeks between my first and second trimester I struggled to remember anything (even spelling simple words) for more than 20 seconds but since then I haven't felt it at all during this pregnancy. Phew.

This week represents a major milestone, financially. Why? Because Mr. B. and I successfully managed to get our mortgage down to the next LTV (Loan to Value) rate which means that we save ourselves nearly £300 a month in mortgage costs. This was a big goal for us to complete before I go on maternity leave. That extra £300 each month will mean that I can afford to take a little longer as maternity leave and by making regular overpayments over the past 6 months we've reached out goal. In addition to this we have swapped our electricity and gas contracts (another noticeable monthly saving) and streamlined our grocery shopping. Every little helps!

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 31

Woo hoo, I am finally healthy again. It took a while but I finally managed to shake the cold that I first caught about 3-4 weeks ago. With my new-found healthiness appears to have come a renewed vigour for life and an inspiration to do my very best at work, and on the blog over the coming weeks. I've also found a drive to get the nursery ready for the baby and finish off lots of jobs that I have been meaning to do for a long while.

The other day when my cold was at it's worst, I started to really suffer with back pain. The pain was preventing me from sleeping and, as I mentioned before, I found that putting a memory-foam mattress topper on the bed seemed to ease the discomfort during the night. During the day I tried out a back-pain aid called PosturePlast.



PosturePlast is effectively a great big sticking plaster which you apply to your back in such a way that it keeps your back in a safe posture. I've found that the times when I most experience pregnancy back pain in the day are when I am sitting at dining tables. I found that I hardly noticed wearing the PosturePlast most of the day but when I was at the dining table, I was aware that it was pulling me into a position I was unused to - perhaps the position I should be in to prevent this bliming backache! It is designed to support the back and prevent you from injuring yourself by putting yourself into the wrong positions. I can't say that I found it to reduce my back pain, but I was aware of it correcting my posture and pulling against my back when I was walking. I also found the PosturePlast to be pretty tricky to put on - it was definitely a two-person job to apply it in the correct place on my back.

PosturePlast is suitable for combatting many different types of back pain and is also recommended for new mums who are unused to carrying babies and car seats etc.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 30

So... I'm three quarters of the way through now! Woo hoo. Down to single figures, weeks wise!

I've really begun to notice the weight of the baby now. It is having an effect on the way I walk and move and makes going up the stairs at work feel like climbing a mountain. I've also noticed over the past couple of weeks that my pelvic floor muscles are shot - dammit, I really thought I'd got away with it after Lara's birth despite the traumatic experience and the damage it seemed to have caused my nether regions!

So I've made myself a promise that from now until baby arrives (and for some time after), I'm going to concentrate on strengthening those pelvic floor muscles so that I'm in control when it comes to the important things like pushing babies out and going to the toilet without little accidents. My first step was to download the new 'My PFF' app from Lights by Tena. I've reviewed it over on FamilyTech and I'm hoping that it will kick-start me into regularly perfoming pelvic floor exercises.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 29

Well, the pregnancy has just ticked on this week but I've been feeling rubbish too. Managed to pick up ANOTHER cold which, combined with a general level of pregnancy-related discomfort at nights, contributed to one entirely-sleep-free night this week. Trust me, I do not work well without sleep.

Thankfully my parents came to the rescue and I took the day off work. They also brought with them a memory foam mattress topper which managed to make me comfortable enough that I could catch up on the missed sleep while Lara was out at nursery.

Hopefully I'll be able to shake the cold soon and get on with being pregnant!

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 28

Week 28 is another eventful week in the pregnancy calendar. A diabetes test, an injection and a regular midwife appointment.

On Sunday night I had to fast from about 8pm until the following morning. Exactly two hours before my glucose tolerance test on the Monday morning I had to drink a lemon-flavoured glucose drink. It was weirdly tasty and nowhere near as bad as the midwife had made it sound. 2 hours later we were sitting in a packed hospital waiting room twiddling our thumbs. In the end we were only 3 minutes late but I was beginning to panic that we'd missed the critical time slot.

I had two blood samples taken, one for the GTT and one for... who knows what. I had to trek across the hospital to hand in the blood sample and then trek back again for another appointment, this time for the first of my Anti-D injections. The injection was uneventful other than that the hospital midwife seemed a whole lot more competent (and cheerful) than any community midwife I've ever met.

After an hour passing time in the cafe and twiddling thumbs in the waiting room again, I was given the all clear. No gestational diabetes.

On Wednesday I had my regular 28 week appointment with my midwife who told me I didn't need to have bothered seeing her because I had seen a midwife on Monday for my anti-D appointment. I had pointed this out to both the surgery and the hospital before, *sigh*. Anyway, this means I can skip my next 34 week appointment with her too and so I won't see her again until 38 weeks. Eek.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 27

Ug, what a week.

I have come to the conclusion that pregnancy has this time turned me into a miserable witch. Everyone annoys me. Yes, including Lara and Mr. B. I find myself getting fed up of people and their ridiculousness all of the time and have had to apologise several times this week for being so abrupt and offensive.

I have also got back ache for the first time in this pregnancy. I think it is a lot later in the pregnancy than last time, but even so, its a bit depressing to know that I have 13 more weeks of this to go. At least I received lots of useful tips at a gathering of chiropractor type people last weekend!

In better news, I received my maternity NHS prescription exemption certificate this week. I was really surprised that neither my midwife nor my doctor mentioned it to me - I had to ask them about it and when I did, they took about 15 minutes to find the form. If you're pregnant GO AND GET YOUR MATERNITY EXEMPTION APPLICATION FROM FROM YOUR GP! trust me, after the birth you will be grateful not to have to pay for prescriptions for 12 months. By my reckonings, this one tiny little plastic card saved me about £125 in prescription fees last time around.

Finally, I attempted a trip this week I was actually quite worried about - an afternoon in London with Lara, the buggy and a bump. It was a bit of a rushed visit which was due to end with a train journey out of Waterloo at rush hour. Actually, Lara was heavenly (compared to normal) and so it was no where near as horrific as I had imagined (thanks partly to the fact that I've learned the buggy-friendly routes through central London). We even managed the tube together for the first time. I was shattered afterwards though.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 26

So this is it, the final frontier. I'm into my last trimester and on the homeward straight. Actually, it still feels like an age away... I remember the last 10 weeks REALLY dragged last time (made worse by the fact that actually it ended up being the last 11 and a half weeks).

I have a series of maternity appointments lined up ahead of me - they get more frequent from here on in. First off will be my GTT (glucose tolerance test) in a little over a week where we will find out whether I'm at risk of gestational diabetes.

Mr B. and I have started to make some early preparations for the baby's arrival. Last week we lifted out all of the baby clothes and paraphenalia from the loft (thank goodness I kept most of it after this moment of indecision back in January 2010). I've also spent a few vouchers I had saved up on maternity and baby essentials in an attempt to get me into the baby-shopping mood.

This week I've fallen over twice. Nothing serious, and baby is still fine and wiggly as normal but it has just highlighted to me how much my shape and balance has changed. I'm also feeling REALLY uncomfortable when I walk and when in bed - far more so than I ever did when I was expecting Lara. I'm also suffering from cramps in my legs at night but thankfully, my DK app tells me that all of these feelings (cramp, pelvic discomfort and a loss of normal balance) are all quite normal when entering your third trimester.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 25

This week I had my one (and as far as I can see) only maternity check-up with the G.P. My G.P. is always very positive (this is generally a good thing) and put me in good spirits - he seemed very critical about the Midwives' notes in my records but from past experience this doesn't enormously surprise me.

My bump was measured and was approximately 25cm which is spot on for 25 weeks. Theoretically your bump grows 1cm each week from now on but it's all a bit approximate. The doctor tried to take the baby's heart beat but it was once again so wiggly that he couldn't pintpoint the heartbeat for long enough to take a reading. This is one properly active baby. Several times this week I've felt baby kick so hard it has bumped my belly against the desk at work!



This coming week Tommy's are launching their new FREE guide for pregnant or expectant women called "Having a Healthy Pregnancy". This is by far the best guide to pregnancy I have seen so far - modern and up to date it is packed full of information without being dull. I particularly like the chapters on health issues during pregnancy which are honest yet not preachy and provide ideas for realistic ways you can get on top of things. Inside the Heaving a Healthy Pregnancy guide you will find:-

• A detailed pregnancy calendar
• Chapters on diet, weight, exercise, smoking, mental health and drugs and alcohol
• Antenatal care – from finding a midwife to what happens during your antenatal appointments, as well as what your notes mean
• Preparing for birth – writing a birth plan, packing your bag for hospital and pain relief options
• Labour and birth – what to expect

You can order your copy for free at www.tommys.org/shop.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 24

Today has been a very mellow day (which explains why my regular pregnancy blog post is so late... apologies!). A facial, a leisurely drive into deepest Berkshire and then a cheeky nap. Pregnancy rocks.

This week I have been back at work after the Christmas holidays. It didn't come as so much of a shock as I had anticipated and I seem to have got back into the routine quickly. Work is busy as ever but at this stage in my pregnancy I feel like I can take anything on. I multi-task as no-one has ever multi-tasked before! In fact, I feel so capable, so on-top of things that I decided to launch my third blog this week - Family Tech - hopefully I can maintain the energy that I have for it even after baby arrives.

I have started to think about furnishing the nursery. This week I managed to secure a second hand glider chair from twitter (realistically there was no way I was going to afford a new one) and I have lifted out the moses basket from the loft (OK, so Mr. B did the actual lifting... I did the thinking). I'm still on the lookout for lots of storage and a table so I have subscribed to my local freecycle group and will pounce when anything appropriate comes up. During my first pregnancy I managed to furnish the entire nursery and clothe Lara for 3 months through quality seconds from freecycle!

My bump has grown significantly again. I know this because I mis-judged it when trying to close the car boot and caught my belly. Eeek. I am also just starting to feel a little uncomfortable in bed. I've lifted out my support pillow but it seems a bit like overkill right now. My growing bump means that I really need to start looking for some genuine maternity tops rather than just wearing the baggiest and saggiest of my existing clothes.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 23

So here I am on the verge of a new year with exciting new prospects for 2012. Baby will be here with us before I know it - I just get this feeling that the next 3 and a bit months are going to whizz by.

Baby seems to have coped well with the over-excitement and over-indulgence of Christmas without any ill effects. I've tried to get Mr. B. to feel the movements of the baby which seem strong and energetic to me but he can't yet feel anything.

Here's to a fab 2012 - enjoy!

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 22

This week baby has become REALLY active. Somersaults, drum-playing, football, maracas... you name it, baby is up to it!

Baby seems to have started responding to food (I'm sure Lara did from an earlier stage). About 20 -30 minutes after eating, I often get a lot of activity, or... (if its something baby isn't too keen on) a bout of nausea.

This morning we were listening to Christmas music and baby started wiggling and kicking along to the music - I believe that at 22 weeks its ears are just starting to form and process low frequency sounds so you never know, Frank Sinatra may be just the thing!

I've also begun to find everything an enormous effort. Just walking up the stairs to my office at work feels like I've climbed a mountain. This worries me as I still have a long way to go and the bump is definitely going to get heavier.

I can feel my body stretching and re-arranging itself now. If I sit in the same position for a long time, my back aches like nothing on earth and i can feel the weight of my body weighing down on my pelvis when I walk. Ho hum.

Right then peeps, have a wonderful Christmas... see you on the other side.

Pregnancy Blog :: Week 21

Last weekend I went to the Tots100 Christmas Party at Butlins in my gorgeous Isabella Oliver dress and felt fantastic. The bump was REALLY obvious and I swear my belly has grown noticably even since last Saturday.



I have been slathering on moisturisers and most recently the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Oil in an attempt to prevent stretch marks on my ever-bulging belly. it seems to be a really fast-drying oil (which is great because I have little patience to wait for it to dry) but the best thing about it is the smell of the cocoa butter - I feel like a walking chocolate shop. Very festive. So far so good, but I guess the ultimate test is to see whether I can come out of this pregnancy with no new stretch marks.

On Tuesday we went for the 20 week scan. It all went really well - I can't believe how much the image quality of the ultrasound scan has improved in just two and a bit years. We could even see the tiny valves in the heart opening and closing.

We didn't find out the sex of the baby, but I have my suspicions (that I won't share here as I haven't even told Mr. B).

I also had an MRSA test - I'd totally forgotten that. I weird cotton bud thing you have to rub around your nose and then another around your crotch. Lovely! Plus, I got given my first Bounty pack. There was a teenie tiny size 1 Pampers nappy in the bag and I simply can't believe how small it is... Lara was NEVER that small, surely?