Nearly Baby

The time is near. Very, very soon, our first (and only for that matter) son will be here. Things are starting to come together for the Grand Finale, now that I am 37 weeks and officially considered 'at term'. I could still be another 5 weeks, or I could have a baby tonight. Who knows?

I've been madly rushing around trying to tie up ends that I before didn't even realise were loose. This is the last week of school, so I've had all the end-of-year school stuff to take care of, and not the least of these loose ends include getting teacher gifts for ALL of the teachers Fifi and Lolly have between them - seven in all. Though, I realised today, it's really more like eight, because there is a volunteer in Lolly's nursery who really ought to be recognised too. So I've been busy sewing reusable sandwich bags for the teachers to take for their packed lunches. Tonight, Fifi and I will make scones too to include in each gift bag, along with a small jar of jam (store bought) to complete the gift. Eight of these bags... they aren't hard to make, but eight does take a fair bit of time! Plus, I want to make some for Fifi and Lolly, so it's been a time-consuming (but inexpensive) project.





I've also been preparing all the baby stuff. Scott and I (mostly Scott) put together the baby hammock that our friend has kindly lent us to use. I've been washing and drying our cloth nappies to get them ready to strap on baby boy's bum. There has also been all the usual housework, which easily gets on top of you, especially when you are extremely large and unable to bend over and get winded just doing a load of laundry.



Because I'm now on maternity leave and not making money, I've also been busy putting things on eBay and trying to sell them. So far, I've had a lot of success, and have made a decent amount of money just selling maternity clothes I can't wear anymore and old baby clothes that belonged to the girls. So between taking photos, posting the items on eBay and making numerous trips to the post office, I've been quite busy with my eBay ventures.

The other major part of getting ready for this baby has been the physical and mental preparations. I've been attending HypnoBirthing classes on Monday nights, Aquanatal classes on Tuesday mornings, and have been to the hospital and/or doctor's surgery weekly for scans and antenatal appointments. I've been bouncing away on my birthing ball, practicing my HypnoBirthing techniques, and drinking raspberry leaf tea. My sister-in-law Kate has managed to get me some big sheets of plastic (in purple, no less!) for saving my carpets and bed linens. And speaking of carpets....

I've had to organise all the various prescriptions I might need for the birth (pethidine and stemitil, as well as oral Vitamin K), and today... dum dum dum! the entonox (gas and air) arrived! The NHS delivery man brought three big canisters of entonox to the house today, along with the rest of the birth kit, and, very kind delivery man he was, also inadvertently tracked in black mud onto my carpet.

This is the mud...



This is my face.




As soon as I shut the door behind him, I sprayed the spot with Vanish and luckily it all came out.

So that's us really, truly just about ready to have a baby. At home! I am beyond excited, and not the least bit worried about anything. Except the mildew in the bathroom, which simply must get cleaned up before I could possibly bring a little baby into the world.