The end is nigh

One week to go until my due date. The midwife says the baby is not quite ready yet and doesn't think it will arrive before Wednesday at least. As D says, it's looking over the edge of the highest diving board but it's not ready to jump yet. I've now had a week of maternity leave. So far it is just like taking time off work when you have nothing in particular planned but you have great hopes of achieving lots of things. Then the week ends and you've not done a whole lot. Except I don't now have to go back to the office! Mwoah ha ha ha ha. Hooray!

At the midwife on Wednesday, my blood pressure was a bit higher than normal. There was a student nurse in and the midwife had me explaining hypnobirthing to her. I think I got a bit excited and it raised my blood pressure. Anyway, she took some bloods to check for other signs of pre-eclampsia and said she'd come round to mine the next day to take my blood pressure again. I'm getting fed up of having blood taken even though I know it's necessary. It never used to bother me but I'm sure it's more sore every time.

She also told me not to do anything for the rest of the day. I was supposed to be meeting NCT girls in town so I cancelled that. Luckily the next day, my bloods came back perfect so she didn't bother taking the blood pressure again. I have to say I wasn't remotely worried about it. I just knew I was fine. But it was nice following orders not to do anything.

We now have wheels! D bought a car a couple of weeks ago so we are finally mobile. It's still really strange that we can drive around together after 14 years together without our own transport.
It's already come in really useful and we've picked up some storage boxes and bags in Ikea, bought plants and compost at the garden centre, been for dinner at the Stable Bar, visited my grandparents, dropped my brother home after he visited. It's great. It's like my life changed overnight. Suddenly I don't have to go to work and I get driven round places.

Because it's Easter this weekend and the Royal Wedding and the May holiday next weekend, I'm going to have D around a good deal. He's just got three days of work between now and 3 May. And, as I'm planning on having the baby on 3 May (!), he'll have two weeks off after that. So far, he's been really helpful getting things tidied around the house. Well, things are far from tidy, but we are slowly getting there and I am slowly getting less stressed about the mess. He's also pretty useful for getting rid of all the spiders in the house. For some reason they are everywhere at the moment. I cannot stand the things. Mostly they are pretty small but the other day I went to put a pot away in a kitchen drawer and there was this HUGE hairy one just sitting there. In the drawer! Euwwww. I've also found a flattened one on the side of my birthing ball - double euwwww.
I have a mantra to prepare for labour. It covers what I want to happen. I thought I'd throw in a date just to see if I can make it happen on a particular day. I thought 3 May was perfect. It's a few days later than my due date of 29 April but not so very late that I get fed up or that I need to be induced. I do have to admit to becoming slightly fed up in the last couple of days. It is difficult to get around and the place is just such a tip. It doesn't do much for my relaxation. Nor does the flow of birth related news that's been coming in during the past few weeks. Most of the women I know (I'm talking 8 out of 9 or 10 pregnancies) have ended in a C section. One of those which hasn't was a 23 hour labour because the baby was back to back and was finally delivered with forceps. But it just makes me more determined to have a quick, natural, drug free birth. Mantra Mantra Mantra.

Today I am 11stone, 10 pounds. Good grief! 2 stone, 3 pound gain. And the baby is still the size of a watermelon. I presume it will remain this size due to a lack of the existence of a bigger fruit or veg. Well, I suppose there is always prize winning marrows - I should be grateful I suppose.