CharlieBeth's "My Life As Mumma Walker"

It's a week to due date. Not that it matters now the induction is booked, but it felt odd NOT posting something this week given I have every Saturday for... well a long time :oD It's also my mother-in-laws birthday today: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE! Sorry I've not been able to present you with a new grandchild for your birthday, we'll have to consider him/her a belated gift when they finally show up. Although, this is a good point for me to record some last details. Like my weight. I am 15 stone 11lb this morning, so that's 221 lb. A total pregnancy gain of exactly 20lb, which for some one of my size pre-preg is pretty good! Especially since I have been tarred with this GD brush (I've got an apt thought the post today for the 16th June to test me and see where I am post preg). I'm recording that on my Weight Watchers page and I guess it wont change now until I've had Baby.... And then the fun starts! Ha! Time to get trim, stay happy & balanced, and mak

....Wednesday.... It's only a few days away. It also feels like a million years. I was talking to Mark last night and asked him what he thought: Was Wednesday really exciting and therefore an eternity away, or absolutely terrifying and therefore here before we know it? He wasn't sure. And neither am I! I can't wait to meet this baby, to be able to use the name we have chosen instead of "It" all the time (in my head, of course, I have been for weeks but Mark still doesn't know if we have a Rosie or a Tom), to cuddle and snuggle and feed them, bring them home and start this next new phase of our family life. On the other hand... it is a wee bit scary. Just because I've already had a baby doesn't mean that giving birth again isn't a worry (although one I'm not stressing about too much, it's inevitable and drugs will help with the pain). And just because we already have one child it doesn't mean that things aren't going to change

It didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Don't worry, there's nothing wrong! Midwife was happy to see us. She let Mark have a listen to baby's heart beat (he hadn't heard it so far) checked my blood pressure and pee (all good) and suggested that we didn't bother to make another apt as we might be getting induced, she said she's see us with the new baby afterwards instead, although if there was no sign of baby next week I could try and tag on to the end of the surgery if I wanted to. The consultant - once again - opted not to see me herself and we saw the same nice woman as last time instead, which I am happier about anyway. I wouldn't have put it past the consultant to be unnessessarily rough during the examination... For some reason it hadn't twigged that this examination was the same as a "sweep". It should have done, but I just didn't put 2 and 2 together. Regardless of name though it didn't have a good result. This baby is,

Errrrrgh! Hospital this afternoon.... And the midwife too actually. Mum's coming over (and bringing the double buggy with her) to look after Jack while Mark and I go off to see the middy at 2.15, and the hospital at 3pm. I'm a bit torn between looking forward to it and dreading it. Midwife's will be fine - I'm going to ask if she can get the Doppler on my belly because Mark has never heard Squiggle's heart beat. I just hope she's not behind because we'll end up being late for the hossy then. It's the hospital apt that I'm wary of. I'm having a cervical examination. The long and short of it is they want to have a feel of what state my cervix is in, and if my body is any where near ready to have this baby. And I know it's going to be uncomfortable. If not out and out painful (more so because I'm nervous of it.... must calm down!) Bare in mind that on this day in my preg with Jack (38 weeks 4 days) I had woken up with back ache and a b

I think I may be slowly losing my plug.... (men and anyone with a delicate tummy stop reading now, ok?) All of yesterday, and again this morning, when ever I have gone to the loo I have had some snotty stuff on the loo paper. There's no pink or brown in it, so it's not a proper "show" but I think the plug might be starting to come away. It's very different to last time, where I just woke up one morning with back ache and had a proper "bloody show", but after seeing some posts by the other mums & mums-to-be who have had or are having similar I can't help but feel hopeful that this could be (all be it very slow) a start.... I'm not having any other signs at the moment, no physical ones anyway. On Sat eve I wound up with pains under my belly when I did the last of my mental tidy up but they went away. Although it was the next morning when I started to get this gooiness. I think I might take Jack for a walk to the park today. I've alrea

So this is week 38. With Jack we never made it to week 39, and we might not make it this time if my hospital appointment on Wednesday leads to us having an induction. I'm still not thrilled at the idea of an induction, but I am slightly more open to persuasion. This has been helped along because of the conversation with the lady we saw last week coupled with Mark being offered some more temp work right over my due date... We'll see how it goes. I am trying all I can to help baby out naturally, but it shows no sign of wanting to move. At all. I'm chuffed that Mark's been offered the work. It just 4 days, but it all helps. Shame it's over our due date, but that's no biggie. It's in Lancaster so even if I do go into labour while he's working he could well be at the hospital before me! So he wont miss out on anything. I really need to get a shift on with getting everything ready. I've not done much this week. My feet and legs have been so swollen t

I am a mummy on a mission! I am SICK of my sore, swollen feet, ankles and legs. It's even getting into my toes! So I've done a touch of t'interweb research. And this is my plan: Natural, herbal, SAFE diuretics, combined with GALLONS of water! I started today and so far so good! I've had 1 cup of green tea today, and 3 glasses of cranberry (concentrated to use with water, I saw it on offer and didn't read the bottle properly before buying it Ocean Spray, £1 at Sainsburys) My feet are much less swollen, and my legs are fine. Ankles are a bit puffy, but by this time of day for the last 2 days I have been so badly swollen that I couldn't kneel on the floor because of the pain caused by pressure in my feet and legs on the floor, and found it difficult to walk up stairs because my ankles wouldn't bend right for the swelling. I think this is working for me so far. I'm still drinking plenty of other fluids too: Strawberry milkshake x 1 Blackberry &

Jack TALKING! Originally uploaded by chiggster Just 3 words here, daddy, mama and ta. He can also say car, wall-e (thank you Disney) and Hahoo (thank you CBEEBIES) About bloomin time!!! (love you Jack)

GD Growth Chart 3 Originally uploaded by chiggster So I got my 3rd growth scan today (and another free pic! Whoo!). This time Mark came with me, and mum stayed at ours to look after Jack. Squiggle has had a bit of a growth spurt.... and is now about 8lb 10oz!!!! I was expecting 6 1/2 to 7 lb. We're off the "normal" scale again like we were with Jack. It's been an interesting afternoon though (for me, Mark looked like he was going to pass out from boredom while we waited to see everyone at the GD clinic). While we were waiting I could hear my consultant talking to someone out in the corridor. No names mentioned or anything, but she was clearly hacked off and was saying how she "didn't care" and the patient "had to come back next week for a cervical examination, yes she had good control now but she WILL run into trouble". I pulled a face at Mark and joked about the interesting conversations you hear in that place. Seconds later a l

Got to the pool and was turned away! They no longer do toddler sessions in the morning. The pool is closed to the public until 12 noon because they have schools in instead. Do these school children really need to use the BABY POOL??? Most of the toddlers I know sleep in the afternoons. So is it only a matter of time before they pack in the toddler sessions all together?? I'm appalled! Took Jack to the park instead, but couldn't stay long. It's blazing hot out there and I had dressed Jack for the chance of a breeze on damp skin coming out of the baths, no sun hat, no sun cream. So after 20 - 30 mins or so we had to come back out of the sun before he got heat or sun stroke, or sun burn. And when I got back with him I got snapped at by Mark for coming home too early without telling him! it seems telling him I'll only be out for the morning and coming home at 12.10pm is too early. Bloody nerve! Especially when I HAD sent him a message 15 mins earlier to say we were co

Oh... I'm getting worse. I'm constantly tired now. If I find myself sat without anything to do for as much as 5 mins I'm nodding off. I'm trying to keep active though because this baby needs to get engaged and get facing the right way, and that's not going to happen if I'm sat on my backside or kipping in bed. Unfortunately, the flip side to keeping active is that I'm not putting my feet up so they are swelling larger and larger.... I can't win! I took Jack out again yesterday since we're both well again and I had a bit of cash. We went to Preston (giving Mark chance to do a bit more decorating in peace) and Jack was as good as gold the whole time. I think he likes going to Preston. Of course, going to Toys R Us and Mc Donalds might have something to do with that! I managed to find a replacement spare Splodge (the last one in the shop though, hope they get some more just in case), a couple more trains for his Thomas set and another box of jigsaws s

Wow.... Squiggle is now concidered to be "Term". This means that I can safely go into labour any day from now on and baby will not be considered early as such. Much the same as Jack who was 9 days early, but still "term". That said, there are still 3 weeks to my due date and no sign of Squiggle turning up just yet. I'm really starting to feel like I'm coming to the end though. I'm tired so much of the time. Last night my feet swelled up. They are huge and puffy and ugly. I hate it. This happened in the last couple of weeks with Jack too. The skin on my belly feels so tight it actually felt like it was burning yesterday evening, which I am assuming is the start of some nasty stretch marks - something I largely avoided with Jack. The weight I lost earlier in the week is back, I have actually gained 2 lb instead of loosing 1lb, but I suspect a lot of that is fluid given the size of my feet and ankles. I'm back on with my sorting out of the house now

It probably helps that I got paid today - a day early! (Shame the wages dept couldn't send my P60 as promised... Only been waiting since April. But at least I have my money). SO! Before I've even got dressed today I have bought the last of the baby stuff I need from Kiddicare (nappy covers, nappy liners, breast pads) and got Jack some bits from eBay for his Thomas train set (to be put away until Squiggle comes). I have a HUGE list of things that need to be bought/paid for this week like haircuts for me and Jack, a new hook for the swinging crib, more storage boxes, more decorating stuff, a new spare Splodge (IF Toys-r-us still have them in stock.....) not to mention a big shop from Asda of general groceries. Mark has already commented that by the end of the week we'll be skint again especially once the bills have gone out. Of course, this is WHY we need my bloody P60 so we (he) can sort out the Tax Credits people..... But none of it is stuff we can do with out so we'

Yup.... Me. Wonderful. Just what every pregnant woman needs a month from her due date: Sickness, loss of appetite, and the resulting weight loss. I have lost a pound in weight since Saturday... I'm supposed to be gaining that sort of amount, not loosing it. I started with it on Monday. Luckily I had a midwife apt for that day anyway and baby is fine. But since then I have hardly eaten and what I have has largely come back up. I'm tried all the time. I've slept for most of the last few days. Baby is in and out of my pelvis too, mostly because I'm spending so much time ether sat or laid down because I am sick. This is no good. Also, baby is back to back with me - again no good - because I'm in the wrong position myself because I'm sick! I am now dreading going into early labour (not that it's likely while baby keeps disengaging) but with no food inside me I have no energy so I wouldn't be able to cope. Luckily Mark has not (so far at least) come

It seems that the bath was a bad idea.... I should have had a shower and that's all I will be having for the rest of this pregnancy. I managed NOT to get stuck this time (unlike when I was carrying Jack and I got wedged!) Squiggle likes baths, Jack never let me have one for more than a couple of minutes before he was trying to climb out of my belly button. I laid there very happily watching my belly shuffle about, and gave it a good soaping (something else Squiggle really likes, any kind of rubbing of my belly) then decided to wash my hair. This involves a certain amount of shuffling back and forth on my back, knees in the air (ever since Mark used my hair washing jug for some DIY and never replaced it, it's the only way I have of rinsing my hair without the shower head). Not normally a problem, but what you may not relies is just how many of your tummy muscles you use doing this. Squiggle did NOT like that AT ALL! From late Thu afternoon, right though the evening, on and off

Wooo! Just one month to go - maximum. Potentially less (I hope less). There's still stuff to do, but the pressure is off now. Mark has started to put some stuff in the loft. I think if Jack hadn't been ill we'd have more stuff up there so it isn't all done yet but with very good reason. Jack seems to be well on the mend now too so hopefully we can get moving again soon. As it's polling day today me and Mark walked Jack down to the community centre (our polling station for the day) so he's had chance to go out and get some fresh air and exercise, although it's wiped him out, poor thing. We need to do some more baby / house shopping, so that's cutting in on our remaining prego time. I get paid in a little over a week. We need to get some more storage boxes which will fit through the loft hatch. I want to buy a birthing ball before it's too late. Both Jack and I need to have our hair cut (Jack so he doesn't start to look like a girl, me so I don

Our poor wee man.... He was a bit snotty over the weekend. On Sunday he didn't want his tea (which was roast beef so I didn't expect him to eat the meat, but he even left his spuds and he LOVES roast spuds). Monday he wouldn't have any breakfast so for lunch Mark made some veg soup thinking it would be easy for him to eat and would get some much needed nutrients into his little body. Jack ate the soup and a while later when for his afternoon nap, a little early because he'd had a rough night and was acting very tired. Not long after he went to bed we heard him crying. Really crying hard, not just a little protest whinge about being in bed. So I went up to him. His whole bed, his clothes and his skin were covered in regurgitated soup! And Jack was bawling! It's the first time he's been sick since he was a small baby and I think he was really quite scared! So I soothed him the best I could and called Mark up to help comfort Jack while I stripped off the bed. It

Some people may scoff at my forward planning and my constant desire to have plans formulated for "What If". Well today I feel justified! Mark did take Jack out for the morning, allowing me to have time to myself to do some housework and have some peace. And it was lovely. However... when they got back Mark whispered to me that Splodge had been lost. Properly lost. No idea where or when. He'd noticed Splodge was missing once they'd got to the park on the way home. Now, personally I'd have back tracked until I found the poor thing. But then that's the difference between men and women, and between mums and dads. Instead I found myself ringing around all the shops Mark had been to in an attempt to track down Splodge. With no luck.... The lady at Julian Graves remembers them (because Jack was trashing the place) and says he had the dino when they left. After that it was Sainsburys, Waterstones and B&Q. I called all of them but also no luck. I even called and le

Wow..... 35 days.... It's the 1st of May today which also means that Squiggle is due NEXT MONTH and could easily come THIS MONTH! In another week I can join a different thread in my forum. There's a 36-37+ weeks signs spotting thread where imminent mums-to-be can chat about what signs of early labour they are (or are not) getting. One more weeks and I can increase the cups of raspberry leaf tea from 1 to 2, and then more as my due date gets closer (just in case they DO induce me, at least my body might be slightly better prepared). I am proud of my weight gain still. The FF site says this: You may have gained up to 30 pounds or more by this point. I have actually to date gained only 17lb! And that's with Squiggle being on the bigger end of perfectly normal.So hopefully I wont be too blimpy when Squiggle gets here and I'll get a good start on my healthy weight loss / fitness plan. Mum came over yesterday and we went baby shopping! She bought us the new mattresse