The One About Bump Week 38 . . .

I'm a little late in posting this because tomorrow we'll be exactly 39 weeks!  I've put the 36 week photo up too, so that you can see the difference that two weeks has made.  Bump did drop a bit on Tuesday after Baby did much wriggling, but unfortunately you can't see it as clearly as I'd hoped in the photographs.  She hasn't dropped nearly enough for my liking either!  I would be quite happy if Baby decided to put in an appearance now as I've had enough.  The main problem is my feet, everything else I could live with, but my feet are now constantly swollen so I can't be up and about as much I'd like or even in a seated position at my desk as that causes them to swell even more too.  So, I'm now trying anything possible to bring labour on!  That's how fed up I am!  I'm drinking Raspberry Leaf tea, eating fresh pineapple, and rocking about on the exercise ball.

At 37 weeks if anyone suggested we go anywhere I would say 'oh it's too close and my waters might break', now, I'm saying yes to outings in the hope that it does bring things on!  I'm past caring now if my waters go in public!  I just keep a spare set of clothes and my hospital notes with me in the car whenever we go out.  So last night we went for dinner at Pizza Hut and the cinema with our friends, and today I have been out for lunch with M's sister.  Both were nice outings, but still no sign of Baby!

So if anyone has any other tips please do let me know!

The One About the Bump Update...

So I have been a very bad blogger for the last month, but I just wanted to provide an update to say Baby has not yet arrived, I've just been having a rest!

The last three weeks of work before Christmas were majorly stressful, trying to get everything up to date, and training my maternity cover ready for the handover.  I did really long hours, then was just shattered when I got home.  Then of course there was Christmas.  I've got loads of photos but I think its a bit late to be sharing them now in the middle of January!  And my Christmas Journal... hasn't got any further forward than when I last updated!  Christmas was great and it was nice to finally be able to take a breath.  M was off the week between Christmas & New Year and it was lovely to have that time together not doing very much at all.  We did go to the cinema with my Mum & brother to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie, and it was fab!  M told me afterwards that he was worried all the way through that my waters might go!  Thankfully they didn't and we had a lovely day out.

I'm now officially on maternity leave, and I'm not doing much at all!  Watching daytime TV, or movies.  And although my intention was to catch up on scrapping whilst on maternity leave, as I know I won't have much time when Baby comes along, I just haven't felt like it.  So there we go.

We've been taking photos every two weeks of me and the Bump to keep a record of how I've grown, using an idea that M got from another blog (although I can't remember which it was now), me wearing the same white top & having a different coloured sticker with the number of weeks on it.

We now seem to be ready, and with only three weeks till due date I'm quite glad!  We had our ante natal class at the weekend and are more prepared for the birth, and what we want.  We went to visit the hospital last night so we know exactly where to go on the day.  Then when we got back we packed the hospital bags, and apart from a few little bits that will need packing closer to the time, I think we have everything.

We took the 36 week photos yesterday evening, and I know you can't really tell from the photos but Bump has definitely dropped!  Only slightly, but Bump feels different and Baby's bum is lower down now!  She's been head down for a couple of weeks now, and doesn't sit in the middle, she always tends to stay on my right.  She kicks a lot, and she sometimes kicks to a regular beat, although I think she's doing it with her hand as it's always in my pelvis.  We think she's doing it in time to my heart beat, but we've got nothing to prove it!

Anyway thats all for now, I might even pop back with pictures of the nursery soon :)

The One About Our 3d Scan...

Last weekend we went for our 3d scan, and got to see our little baby's face.  It was lovely to see that everything was ok, she was the right size, and my having taken the anti-sickness tablets earlier on in the pregnancy hadn't made any difference (which is what I'd been worrying about for a long time).  We got some good pictures of her face, but they aren't as clear as they could be as the placenta was in the way.  We also noticed that she wriggles around inside me all the time, even when I can't feel it, which explains why I'm so tired all the time!  After a while through the scan, she decided that she'd had enough and kept putting her hand up by her face, and her foot too!  And no amount of wriggling by me could get her to move her arm and leg out the way!   It seems she has inherited a little stubborness from me!

Only two and a half months to go now, and I can't wait to meet her!

The One About an Actual Completed LO....

Yes you read correctly!  I have actually done some scrapbooking!  And I've had the idea for this LO in my head for weeks and weeks so it was good to actually put it together.

I wanted to scrapbook my first proper bump picture, although you can't see much of a bump in the photos, it was definitely there!  Week 16 was important as it was the week that I first felt baby move.  The LO hasn't got many embellishments on as I made it with the intention of framing it for the wall in my craft space, as the walls are bare at the moment, and I want to make it look more crafty!

Anyway, I've wanted to do more scrapping since last week, but just haven't because I'm quite over whelmed and don't know where to start.  Do I start with pictures of the Lake District, my sisters wedding, our friends wedding... and do I make a mini book, single LO or Double LO???  I'm just not feeling inspired :(  any advice would be appreciated!

The One About Our Evening Meal....

Saturday night we had a table booked in the hotel for a five course meal.  M had decided that he was going to dress in his suit, all smart, so I ordered a dress very last minute off the internet so that I was all dressed up too.  It was only once we got there that M realised he had left his suit in the separate suit bag at home.  It didn't matter, he still looked very smart to me.

Bump at 26 weeks!

The dinner started with us sitting in the lounge choosing our starter and main courses, whilst eating the first course, of the canapes.  We were then taken through to the dining room for the rest of our meal.  My starter was vegetable fritters on a bed of lettuce with parmesan cheese, which were delicious.  M had a goats cheese dish.

Then out came the main courses, M had a three way beef dish with roast dinner trimmings, whilst mine was a potato bake in a parsley sauce and carrots.  Unfortunately the actual name of the dish was Wensleydale cheese & Lavender potato bake.  Now I just thought that was the name of the dish, but no.  The potato bake was actually cooked with Lavender.  Considering lavender is one of the fragrances that I can't stand I struggled to eat my main.  So I had to call over the head waitress and explained the problem, who suggested bringing a side order of vegetables.  So I ate them, but couldn't eat the potato bake at all, so again we called the lady over.  She suggested looking at the menu and picking something else, but given that there were only a couple of main courses to choose from in the first place I struggled to choose another dish.  So I went for the starter of the vegetable fritters again!  Of course by this time M had finished his main course!  So the main course was a bit of a palaver, but they were extremely nice about it all.  And I still had room for dessert afterwards.  The fifth course was the coffee which we took back in the lounge where we flicked through the newspapers.

Stay tuned for the places we visited on Sunday!

The One About Bump Week 24...

Just another quick update with a bump picture.  We've been quite bad at doing this every week, but I'm sure every couple of weeks will keep an adequate record :)

I've been for my 24 week check up with the midwife this week, and she is happy with my progress.  The swollen ankles aren't a sign of anything untoward like pre-eclampsia which is a relief!  And actually my blood pressure was on the slightly low side, which is what it normally is anyway!

I even had my bump measured, but not around the middle like I thought but from top to bottom!  And apparently the size is spot on, so all my worries about my bump not being very big were all for nothing (that was a couple of weeks ago though)!  Recently I've been feeling like a bit of a frump, especially with wearing Marks clothes which don't really flatter a pregnant bump.  So I've been for a visit at the shop I mentioned before, Jojo Maman Bebe and bought some proper maternity clothes and a winter coat.  I had such a lovely time, the ladies were all really helpful and I came out with a smile on my face.  So next time we have a bump photo shoot I'll put one of my new tops on :)

The One About Baby Bump Week 20...

My belly has expanded some more, and so I thought I'd share another bump photo:

Last weekend I went to the Trafford Centre with my friend N to buy some maternity clothes.  Fantastic though the belly belt expander was, it just wasn't working for me any more, so I took the plunge and went shopping for some maternity trousers.  Unfortunately, not many shops do a maternity range, and if they do its not always that great.  I've found Dorothy Perkins & Next to be the best so far.  And I've learnt that you can't just buy a pair of trousers, you have to try them first, and really you should try sitting down in them too.  Which was my mistake.  I bought a lovely pair of jeans, but found that when I got them home and sat down in them, they actually dug into my belly, so they are going back to the shop.  And for now I have to live with wearing M's jeans that are too short for him!  I have found some lovely clothes on a site called Jojo Maman Bebe, but it's quite expensive, so it might just be a few one off's that I get from there.  I've already spotted a lovely dress that I could wear for the Christmas Do!

Since this photo was taken it feels as though my belly has risen some more, and I'm sure I look bigger!  We'll have to try to take pictures on a more weekly basis to keep a better record of the changes!

The One About Bump Week 17...

So we've finally taken a couple of pictures with me and the mini-bump, I can't believe that we're already 17 weeks along!

We went to visit our friends S & R in their new flat on the way back from London, and they took our pictures: