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Had to wait a whole hour for my midwife appointment, luckily OH was with me to help pass the time. It was raining when we went in, by the time we came out we walked into a winter wonderland, with huge snowflakes falling all the way home. The baby's back has moved from left side to right side, but the head is still 2/5 engaged, so all is well.
Today saw us try out the TENS machine that my dad has lent us, you're not meant to use it in pregnancy, so OH was the guinea pig and for a while I renamed the machine the TENSE machine, as OH just wasn't taking it seriously enough, whilst I was trying to establish if this was going to help my labour, but then I realised I was just being a moody old so and so, relaxed and we managed to get it all set up and working and I'm looking forward to using it as part of my birthing experience, along with the Hypnobirthing and the birthing pool - though clearly not mixing the TENS and the pool.
Starting to get a tad impatient about labour kicking in now, its very tempting to spend the day doing power walking, bouncing on my swiss ball and throwing some yoga poses, but instead I directed my efforts towards a spot of home baking - first attempt at mince pies, ended up with the pastry so short it crumbled as you eased the pies out of the tin, still they tasted (yes, that is past tense) good.
We decided to really go all out on practicing the various Hypnobirthing hypnosis techniques together as the birth is so imminent. First stop, Glove Relaxation. I usually listen to an MP3 of this, but OH got the script out to read to me, which has slightly different wording: "Imagine you are putting a silver glove onto your right hand..." says OH. "Sha-mon" I say in a faux Michael Jackson falsetto and that's the end of that, we both fall about laughing like a couple of overgrown kids.
Other birth prep today has included gently bouncing around on my Swiss ball, to make sure that my body is making the most of gravity, I know its supposed to be all about the baby coming when the baby is ready, but I'm so excited its hard to be patient, honestly, this is more exciting that finding out whether Jo McElderry or Rage Against The Machine has the Christmas No.1.
My mum came over today to help do some 'spring' cleaning before the bub arrives. She turned up clutching a newly upholstered chair for me, the very chair that she used to sit and breastfeed me in. The chair was made for my mum when she was a little girl, by her great uncle Ted, who had his own furniture business. When I saw it my eyes welled up, I've been pretty balanced on the emotions front through the pregnancy, but all the family history wrapped up in the chair tipped me over.
Mum also brought up the baby shawl she used to wrap me in - back up for if the chair didn't have me in tears perhaps?!! So, a very emotional start to our weekend.
We then set to work gutting the kitchen cupboards, whilst my other half carried on his mission to paint all the spindles on the staircase, I keep telling him the baby won't notice if its not all perfectly finished in time, but he's determined. Can't believe that tomorrow marks 39 weeks of pregnancy, its all getting very exciting now.
I've promised myself a Hypnobirthing afternoon today, I make sure I do at least something everyday, but if I am honest, sometimes its something very small like practicing my breathing techniques for a couple of minutes, a saint I am not. What I really need to focus on today is the relaxation and visualisation techniques, some of the time I listen to them on my iPod and I really go with it, other times I realise I am busy listening to that little voice in my head babbling on about random stuff instead and then next thing I know the session has finished, doh.
Still, one thing is for sure, Hypnobirthing has made me feel really relaxed about the birth, I may look back post-birth and marvel at my own naivety, but I really am feeling no fear at the moment - the Hypnobirthing theory is that fear plays a big part in making labour a painful experience, which makes sense to me, as your body tightens up when you're tense and worried, so my aim is to be as relaxed as possible throughout.
I'm trying to keep as active as I can at the moment, to try and ensure that the baby doesn't arrive too late, the midwife said I need to find a balance between resting and being active, as activity will definitely help move things in the right direction. Makes sense, my other half was bemoaning the no. of times you find yourself really needing to get to a loo half way through an early morning run, same principle, get the body stirred up with some activity and all the body's systems galvanise themselves into action.
Oh and finally for today, here's the pic of the new stroller system that I mentioned I'd post, it really is Micralite by name and by nature, lovin' it!
I must confess I have always been a bit on the clumsy side, but this last week or so my clumsiness has gone interstellar. I've not long since finished clearing up possibly my biggest clumsiness achievement, where I sent a bottle of maple syrup smashing into a thousand tiny, sticky pieces on the kitchen tiles. Luckily our two cats weren't in the vicinity to start trailing sticking shards (not to mention blood) through the house on their paws.
My cousin thinks the clumsiness could be down to hormones - she went through a similar phase with both her pregnancies, whilst my other half thinks its because my centre of balance is all out of kilter with the bump. Whatever the reason, its driving me half insane, not least because my most loathed maneuver these days is having to bend down.
On a separate note, had a good chat with a friend on the subject of what colours to dress babies in, she put her now 7 year old daughter in varying shades of blue from birth, I remember her always looking v. cool, but now said friend has mentioned she recently looked back at all the baby pics and can't see past her daughter looking like a boy in every shot. Oh the dilemma's that hit you as a new parent...
A second blog entry so soon, but I am so excited, our new stroller system has just arrived and I am loving it. We were going to borrow a perfectly lovely system from my cousin, but then my fiance's Gran wanted to buy us something big for the baby and mentioned a pram... so thanks to her generosity, we now have a spanking new system. We've got steps going up to our house at the front and back, so we've gone for the lightest system we could find, Micralite. I'll take a couple of pics and post them once my other half has come home and used his man-brain to work out the assembly instructions.
38 weeks and three days and I've finally admitted defeat for keeping my legs smooth and fuzz free, I just can't reach anymore. So much for being primped and preened for the big day, its going to be au naturel all the way. I am still religiously moisturising the parts of my body I can still reach, I've had some lovely pregnancy gifts, but by far my most favourite has been a Mamma Mio Congratulations Kit, definitely the best bump oil ever!
Vanity aside, my main focus is on practicing my Hypnobirthing relaxation, visualisation and affirmations. I'm far from the perfect student - its amazing how easily you slip back into well worn procrastination techniques for avoiding homework, thank god I can't locate Neighbours on TV these days - but I really am feeling quite relaxed about the whole birth thang.
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