Today marks our 37th week and I couldn't be more ready for this baby. It's such a relief to know we've made it this far and very exciting knowing how close we are to getting to meet our baby. On Saturday Mark and I went up to London for our antenatal class which was great, we both learned a lot and were able to walk away with a birth plan and a much better idea of how things will go. We've definitely decided to have the baby at our local hospital rather then going up to the London hospital. In thinking about it, if I have to stay over night I would hate to know Mark was so far away and I was all by myself up in London. Also, it's pretty typical to go to the hospital and be sent back home if you aren't dilated enough or far enough along in the birth process and it just wouldn't be great to do the hour-plus drive up to London only to be sent home!
Mark & I have also decided as part of our birth plan that we're going to give the pool a try for the labouring process and pending how it goes, possibly for the birth. After watching about a million episodes of a Baby Story in college I would have never in a million years thought I would go that route, but in understanding some of the benefits I think it's worth a try and our local hospital offers a pool so I can use that whilst in the hospital. Mark of course WILL NOT be coming in the pool with me! I'm also only going to go for an epidural as a very last resort and am going to try using gas and air and see how I get on. I know it's pretty likely that the pain will be bad enough for me to request the epidural but with my fear of needles, knowing I would have to have a catheter (standard procedure here) and a few other drawbacks have lead me to really look beyond this option as much as possible.
Yesterday was my breast feeding class which was also great, really helped to go and learn about proper attachment and etc. and with all of this new education I really feel much less worried about not being prepared and even more ready for labor and to not be pregnant anymore! Having been off the past week has made life a lot more bearable but facing another week on my own at home has left me wondering what to do with myself and I'm eager to speed things along! Fingers crossed and watch this space-everyone here seems to think I'm going to be early based on how massive I am although I have a feeling we're going to be looking at his due date (May 11th) or longer....
Monday, 20 April 2009
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
A day in the life of a Desperate Housewife...
Today marked my first day as a housewife and I can't tell you how weird it feels! Thursday before the long weekend (here in the U.K. we get Good Friday off and Monday for Easter so Mark and I had 4 lovely days together this weekend) I manically handed over all of my work to my director and said goodbye to commutes on the train and work in the city.
My first day was actually a pretty busy one-I dropped Mark off at the station and headed to my new local hospital to sign up with them. I've been a little apprehensive about going to this local hospital because I wasn't sure if they could offer the same level of care that the massive University College of London Hospital in London could offer-basically the maternity unit there has just had a £100 million renovation and offers the best care in the country. Saying that, I've never seen the same midwife twice and regardless of what hospital you go under the NHS (National Health Service) in the U.K. you wouldn't meet the doctor who is going to deliver your baby until you show up in labor at the hospital so it doesn't make too much of a difference changing this late in the game. Anyway, the midwife I saw today said she would be my midwife throughout the rest of the process and even afterwards when the baby has come. She's also from Cork, Ireland which is close to where Mark's Mum is from and there is something so trustworthy and reassuring about the Irish, I felt very comfortable with her straight away. Unfortunately we won't be able to see the maternity ward until the day of but I think we've decided to have the baby locally rather then risk trying to get to London when the day comes since it could be up to a one and a half hour drive....
After the hospital I went to coffee. I know to you guys at home this seems so basic but this was a huge milestone for me. It's just not something that is part of my routine here, living in the heart of London you would have to get on a bus and go about 15 minutes before you got to a Starbucks. Now that I'm in the suburbs I can resume a routine which is more like that of the one I had in Seattle which is something I've missed. Anyway, I got coffee and then went to the grocery store BY MYSELF-another milestone! Because I haven't had my license until last month Mark has had to go with me to the grocery store every time we have shopped for nearly 3 years now. It was so nice to be able to dilly dally and take my time browsing around (even if 3 separate people made comment on how big I was and how it looked like I was going to pop at any minute!).
I finished off the afternoon with my pregnancy yoga class which is always a treat and then came home to make dinner and catch up on the day with Mark. It's going to be hard to get used to not having the mental and social stimulation that my job offered, but it's also going to be great to have the next year (yes, here in the UK we get ONE YEAR of paid maternity leave!) to get to know myself again and of course to get to know this little baby. Let's hope the rest of the week is just as fulfilling-tomorrow I'm going to plant some flowers in the garden and do some weeding since it's going to be in the 60s again. Can't wait x
My first day was actually a pretty busy one-I dropped Mark off at the station and headed to my new local hospital to sign up with them. I've been a little apprehensive about going to this local hospital because I wasn't sure if they could offer the same level of care that the massive University College of London Hospital in London could offer-basically the maternity unit there has just had a £100 million renovation and offers the best care in the country. Saying that, I've never seen the same midwife twice and regardless of what hospital you go under the NHS (National Health Service) in the U.K. you wouldn't meet the doctor who is going to deliver your baby until you show up in labor at the hospital so it doesn't make too much of a difference changing this late in the game. Anyway, the midwife I saw today said she would be my midwife throughout the rest of the process and even afterwards when the baby has come. She's also from Cork, Ireland which is close to where Mark's Mum is from and there is something so trustworthy and reassuring about the Irish, I felt very comfortable with her straight away. Unfortunately we won't be able to see the maternity ward until the day of but I think we've decided to have the baby locally rather then risk trying to get to London when the day comes since it could be up to a one and a half hour drive....
After the hospital I went to coffee. I know to you guys at home this seems so basic but this was a huge milestone for me. It's just not something that is part of my routine here, living in the heart of London you would have to get on a bus and go about 15 minutes before you got to a Starbucks. Now that I'm in the suburbs I can resume a routine which is more like that of the one I had in Seattle which is something I've missed. Anyway, I got coffee and then went to the grocery store BY MYSELF-another milestone! Because I haven't had my license until last month Mark has had to go with me to the grocery store every time we have shopped for nearly 3 years now. It was so nice to be able to dilly dally and take my time browsing around (even if 3 separate people made comment on how big I was and how it looked like I was going to pop at any minute!).
I finished off the afternoon with my pregnancy yoga class which is always a treat and then came home to make dinner and catch up on the day with Mark. It's going to be hard to get used to not having the mental and social stimulation that my job offered, but it's also going to be great to have the next year (yes, here in the UK we get ONE YEAR of paid maternity leave!) to get to know myself again and of course to get to know this little baby. Let's hope the rest of the week is just as fulfilling-tomorrow I'm going to plant some flowers in the garden and do some weeding since it's going to be in the 60s again. Can't wait x
Monday, 6 April 2009
The nursery
I can finally post pictures of the nursery since we're about 95% of the way done. First the nursery furniture came, then we had Mark's Mum's boyfriend Roy come around and spend a weekend painting it a beautiful blue and then last weekend Mark and his brother Paul put the Safari Friends border up. I have to say, I absolutely love this room-when I go in I get that overwhelming sense of calm that you would want from a baby nursery and am really pleased with how it turned out. It's been a labor of love and I couldn't ask for more. What's especially sweet is that Mark goes in every night before bed and walks around touching everything, opening the wardbrobe doors and flipping through the clothes hanging in there-so far he's spent more time in there then I have!
You might notice that we've finally decided on a name! Calum was always our favourite but we started to have our doubts about "Cal". After taking into consideration everyone's comments and testing each one for a week or so we still came back at Calum and I have to say now that we've decided, I really love it.
This weekend much to Mark's urging I packed most of my overnight bag which at 35 weeks might be a bit premature but better to be safe then sorry! With maternity leave in sight (3 days to go!) I have to say, there really isn't going to be much for me to do! We literally have everything but a few toiletries (including a thermometer if anyone has any recommendations), a nursing pillow (not sure if this is needed, or not??) and then of course I still have to wash all of his little clothes and bedding. What am I going to do after the first week?!
x Jen
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