Maternity leave - the final countdown

So today is the first day of my maternity leave, well, technically I'm on annual leave, but I'm not going back to work for 9 months, wooo!

There's 3 weeks until I'm induced and I have a lot of plans to fill the time until Squidge is due to arrive, like:

• Playing plenty of Sims 4 Minecraft and WoW (who knows when the next time I'll get to play is)
• Writing, writing and more writing! This may not work out, but I want to get as many blog posts written and scheduled as possible to cover me for the first couple of weeks after the baby is born, just to give me a break and not have to worry about writing
• Nesting - well preparing the house as best I can for Squidge's arrival, which includes washing the rest of his little clothes, lots of cleaning and making sure we have everything we need
• Resting - I'm also going to be having my feet up a lot and resting while the baby grows and gets ready for his big day
• Painting - I want to do some artwork for the nursery, I just need to buy the frames first, then I can start on my Studio Ghibli collection, if I manage to get that done before he arrives, I'll write up a post with pictures of the artwork :)

I think I'm in for a busy 3 weeks :)  Do you have any suggestions of some other things I can do during my 3 weeks before the baby comes?


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35 week pregnancy update

Top - Bottom, Left - Right: Progress in the nursery - we finally have the furniture put together, the hubby after completing the Cardiff 10k on Sunday (in 3 weeks he'll be doing the mens health challenge), The Sims 4 - I've been spending a lot of my time on that, baby clothes in the drawers, awww

MY WEEK
Well, this week hasn't been quite as crazy, so this blog post won't be quite as long :P  We've made some great progress in the nursery - we bought the drawers (Hemnes 3 drawer) and put the Mothercare oak changing table together (not very good quality).  We popped over to the in-laws to pick up lots of the baby stuff (mostly toys and clothes) to start filling the drawers.  We still need to buy more nappies - we'll be getting the Aldi ones, but in the meantime we've ordered some of the Waitrose Essential ones - our friends who have a newborn have said they're pretty much as good as the Aldi ones and they're practically the same price (only a few pence difference).

This week also see's me finishing work (tomorrow) and starting my annual leave and maternity leave, I can't wait!  I'm hoping to blog a lot more as I'll have the time to dedicate to it, and ideally, I'd like to get lots of posts written up in advance ready for when the baby comes.

SYMPTOMS
It's been the week of the bad back - my lower back has been killing.  Normally when I'm in bed and I get an achy side, just lying on my back for a couple of minutes eases the pain, but that's not helping any more.  I've also reached the point where I can't stand for more than about 15 mins without feeling sick and getting lots of pain in my back and bump.  My heartburn seems to have returned too.

Oh, and I've been having some cravings - spicy curry :D  For curry I always have pilau rice, with plain korma sauce (no meat or veg), and occasionally a bombay aloo - well the new curry place we've tried does a very spicy bombay aloo and that's what I really wanted.  It's that, and Fanta Zero - can't get enough of either at the moment!

SLEEP
As mentioned above, my sleeping has been interrupted by a very achy back and pretty horrid heartburn.  At this stage, I don't know whether it's the bad, old & tired mattress or just this stage of pregnancy.  Part of me thinks it's my body preparing me for the sleepless nights I have ahead.  I'm just grateful that at least then, my body won't be using all it's energy on growing a baby.

DIET & WEIGHT
My weight has remained the same, despite a growing baby and lots of curry, I must be doing something right!  My meals are still very much the same, fruit salad and greek yoghurt for breakfast, cheese sandwich on wholemeal for lunch and then either new potatoes, quorn and veg for dinner, or a pasta bake (or curry!).  It's not great variety, but it's been tasty :)

NEXT APPOINTMENT
Tomorrow - I'm seeing the diabetic nurse at the antenatal clinic, they're going to review my food diary and the bloods I had taken 2 weeks ago.  If I'm lucky I'll have another scan and get to see Squidge again.  I think I need to go back next week too and that's when they'll talk about inducing me at 38 weeks, scary!

BABY STUFF
I've not bought anything new this week, but what we have yet to buy and will hopefully this week, is the cot mattress, maybe Ewan the Sheep, and the car seat base *fingers crossed it fits without me having to move my seat all the way forwards*.


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34 week pregnancy update

Top-Bottom, L-R - Proof that Squidge is indeed a boy, our pram arrived (Graco Evo travel system), Matilda trying to eat some of my baby shower balloon, Mani from the weekend (OPI Suzi and the 7 Dussledorfs with the Max Factor fantasy fire top coat), the nursery progress - walls painted soft sage green and the laminate floor in, the Mamas & Papas equivalent of the Bumboo - thinking of getting this

MY WEEK
Well, you'd better grab a cuppa, it's been a big week!  Ready? Right, I had an appointment to see the diabetic nurse at the antenatal clinic on Tuesday (only seeing her) due to my blood sugar readings not being quite perfect.  Got there, waited about 2 hrs and then I was called in for a scan (wasn't expecting this), Squidge had turned to head down (whoop), his legs and head are still measuring a couple weeks ahead, but this time so is his abdomen (not great).  Fluid levels had dropped a smidge too, but not enough to concern them (yay).

Then I was called in to see a Dr, she talked to me about my thyroid issues, had a feel of my tummy and listened to the baby's heartbeat (aww).  She dropped a bombshell on me - that they're going to induce me at 38 weeks - this is for 2 reasons.  1) Because I'm diabetic, and 2) because his abdomen is starting to grow ahead of where it should be (thanks to the gestational diabetes).

Then I saw a consultant about my diabetes, he still wasn't quite ready to put me on tablets and wanted a blood test done and to see me back in 2 weeks.  After all that, I was there for 4.5 hrs!!!

Knowing that I'm likely to have Squidge early, I've brought my maternity leave and annual leave forwards by 2 weeks, which means I only have a few days left in work (Mon - Weds this week, and just Mon and Tues next week).

So you might say it's been an eventful week!

SYMPTOMS
HUNGER! The pregnancy hunger has finally found me! But I haven't really eaten any more than I normally would (whoop), I'm just hungrier - if I eat more, it'll mess with my blood sugars more, so I have to be really careful (boo).  I had a massive craving at the weekend for meat, big greasy burgers, bacon and sausages (not good considering I'm vegetarian!) - so instead, for dinner I had a plate of Quorn (protein) and a little salad - it seems to have got rid of my craving, I suspected it was more of a protein craving than anything else and I think I was right.

Pregnancy insomnia has found me too - more on this below.  Had the same amount of heartburn as usual.  We've also discovered that Squidge's routine is to have 1 quiet day every 7-10 days, well Saturday was the quiet day, and even though I know it's his routine it's still worrying.  But don't worry, Sunday he didn't stop wriggling all day! :)

SLEEP
So yeah, pregnancy insomnia.  Basically, I get really tired throughout the day, and in the evening I get really restless and when that happens, the only thing I can do is go to bed.  If I don't immediately fall asleep (not likely) then I get really restless again and a little itchy, then it takes me hours to get to sleep - and it's very interrupted sleep (needing to get up to wee or just waking up lots).

DIET & WEIGHT
Weight is the same as last week, so about 3 quarters of a stone lighter than when I got pregnant.  Diet is good, here's a typical food diary:
Breakfast: Fruit salad and greek yoghurt with a flat teaspoon of truvia.
Lunch: Cheese wholemeal sandwich, packet of Quavers and a can of diet pop.
Dinner: Quorn salad, or wholemeal pasta, or new potatoes with veg and quorn.
All in all pretty healthy - I'm just craving variety, and because I've been watching GBBO I've been wanting to bake again, but I daren't otherwise I'd be too tempted to eat my creations!

NEXT APPOINTMENT
Thursday 4th November - just a midwife appointment - but they gave me strict instructions that if I'm not seen at the hospital at weeks 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 & 41 then I must make a midwife appointment on those weeks.  Hence this appointment.

BABY STUFF
Well, the nursery is coming along in leaps and bounds (hubby is fitting the beading to the floor as I type this) - during the week the furniture will be assembled and arranged, and all the baby stuff brought back from the in-laws and put away (can't wait for that bit).  Don't worry - I'll do a big post with lots of pics on what the nursery looks like :)

The pram turned up too, so that's all assembled and ready to go.  We also picked up a couple of bits at the Asda baby and toddler event - bought some Johnsons sleepy bath wash and baby oil (I plan to bathe Squidge in the evening - subject to change!), a big tub of Sudocrem (this was super cheap at just £4) and some Infacol.

I also placed a good Mothercare order, I think I'll do a separate post on this for you on Weds :)

Still to do/buy:
Pack my hospital bag (I'm gathering stuff for it at the moment)
Go to Mothercare and see if the car seat base for our car seat will fit in the car - if yes, buy it
Buy a chest of drawers from IKEA for Squidge (Hemnes - 3 drawer unit)
I'm sure there's loads more and my mind has gone blank :P

I bet you're glad you got that cup of tea now!

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