34+6 - Guess the birthday...

Okay so I thought this would be good to have a go at - have a guess at baby's due date and weight, will be interesting to see who's closest! Something to take my mind off the results tomorrow anyway.

Click here to guess...

A few insider tips -

• Due date is 14th April but was originally 18th April.
• She is currently measuring slightly big but only slightly.
• Today she was 4/5 engaged.
• I have had no Braxton Hicks contractions as of yet.

Happy guessing :)

With love and light xo

34+6 - GTT done!

I've just got back from my glucose tolerance test at the hospital, and nothing to report yet! Will get a phonecall tomorrow if there's anything in my results that would indicate gestational diabetes, if not I'll receive a letter over the next few days. So, fingers crossed for no phonecall?

I ate some toast first thing at 7, and I was only able to sip water afterwards until my hospital appointment. I had some blood taken, then had to chug a pint of Lucozade, which I have never drunk before, and it is gross! Why would anyone ever drink such vile stuff?! Then had to go back a few hours later and have some more blood taken.

However on the positive side, a midwife saw me about half way through my wait, and gave me a quick check up. Baby is still lying head down, and is apparently 4/5 engaged! However she must be a good girl and stay in there for a little while longer as I'm not quite ready and have a few things left to do at work / teacher training :).

The midwife also shed a little light on the pain I've been feeling in the middle of my chest, just under my breastbone. Apparently it's your stomach muscles starting to pull apart - lush!

A combination of these things has led me to put a few things in a hospital bag, although I've ended up with one for me and one for baby - I had no idea how much stuff you had to take! I'm sure I'll unpack and repack about amillion times over the next few weeks, but at least I have one for now :).

Hope all my lovely pregnant and none pregnant friends are well, and good luck to KQ with her 20 week scan tomorrow, hope baby co-operates and flashes their bits!

With love and light xo

34+1 - Glucose tolerance test

Went to the midwife yesterday and I did have glucose in my urine again, so I'm off to the hospital next Wednesday for a glucose tolerance test. I have to not eat or drink anything before the test (which is at 2.15 so all day!), not even a swig of water or a bit of chewing gum. I am going to be a nightmare.

Apparently I have to then drink a controlled amount of lucozade, they take my blood before and after 3 hours to find out how my body is processing the sugars. Then on either Thursday or Friday they'll let me know the results, and if I have gestational diabetes. Woop woop.

With love and light xo

34 - Sleeeeepy

So, there hasn't been really a lot to report in the land of babies. Today I have exactly 6 weeks left until D-Day, and seem to be doing quite well!

I'm struggling a little with work this week - just tired and achey, and I'm not good at sitting (or really able to sit down a lot as a teacher!) so I'm coming home with achey hips and knees every night. Nothing too painful, as I'm forever reminded when I hear tales of the dreaded SPD, but enough to make me want to moan about it a little!

Sleeping quite well (famous last words?) but still waking up shattered in the morning. I think it's down to waking up every hour to have to reposition pillows and roll over - I sleep well in the gaps but just don't think I'm getting proper sleep! The next person to tell me it's 'practice' for when baby comes gets kicked in the face.

Off to the midwife this afternoon, so fingers crossed I have no glucose / protein in my wee as I think then I'd have to have more tests. Also fingers crossed bump is measuring okay as I feel huuuuuuge. How can there be any more room in there for baby? I'm pretty sure if she grows any more she'll be up to my armpits.

Exciting evening tonight courtesy of the lovely MC Steelz! She won tickets to Boyzone, and a free Indian meal so I'm going as +1. I don't think I know many Boyzone songs but think I might just surprise myself and sing along alllllll the way through (sorry in advance!). Looking forward to it, but glad to have seated tickets!

Will update later about midwife,

With love and light xo

33+5 - Photos w/ Mitchell

I took these photos at the weekend and didn't really think anything of them - just wanted to try out my shiny new remote and tripod that I've acquired for taking pictures with baby! However I think they're kind of sweet so thought I'd post them :)




Nothing new's happening really! Getting bigger and more uncomfortable by the day, but still doing quite well considering - just a bit of back and hip pain but I know how lucky I am! Struggling with work at the moment, very tired but plodding on. Less than 3 weeks left at work, finishing on the 18th March.

Packed a small hospital bag tonight - not my proper one but just wanted some stuff in a bag just in case. Although I'm sure baby will be cooking for a while longer yet :).

Too tired for a proper blog but just wanted to say everything was okay!

With love and light xo

33+2 - Bump Photo

And click here for the other ones for a comparison :). Will blog soon - nothing new to report really!

With love and light xo

32 - The story so far...

Picture taken with my shiny new camera remote!
So today I am 32 weeks pregnant, or 8 weeks (56 days) away from my due date, a date that still seems a distance of about ten thousand years into the future!

I'm still feeling mostly very good, with very little to complain about really. Back and hip ache have been getting to be a daily thing, but nothing too crippling and certainly nothing I can't cope with – and who am I to moan about daily back rubs and getting the sofa to myself!

I've had a busy few weeks at work, and I'm really trying as hard as I can to complete my teacher training work. The deadline is the 11th June, but obviously I'm going to be somewhat preoccupied through April / May / June, so trying to get as much as possible done beforehand. This was really worrying me last week, and there have been more than a few tears shed, but I'm only one person, there are only so many hours in the day, and I can only do so much! Written myself a schedule of things I can be doing next week so really hoping to get some big chunks done.

Another thing that's been on my mind over the past few weeks is a bit of an exciting development house wise! I'm going to keep it quiet for the next few weeks, but if anyone is looking for somewhere to rent sometime in the next few months then get in touch with me :)

I've finally managed to get off my lazy bum and start doing some exercise this past month or so, not tons but more than before! Going swimming once a week, which I suppose is better than nothing. Would love to get out and do some more walking but the weather's not really been fit, hoping that this changes soon and we can get in a few nice walks before baby is here!

Sleeping a lot better lately, seem to be dead to the world this week, maybe waking up every few hours to change sides and relieve an achy hip, but other than that very well! Counting my blessings with this at the moment, as I know I'll be up every 10 seconds to pee soon enough! I'm thinking it's because my bump is so high at the moment, that she's not really pushing on my bladder. Also not waddling yet, again because I think she's so high up! This has been leading to a lot of being out of breath from going up 2 flights of stairs though.

The movements I've been feeling have definitely changed, from defined pokes and prods to more “swooshy” (?) movements, like I can feel her moving around and changing position and my whole tummy changes shape – it can be quite strange / surreal! Tried to get a video last night but she stopped as soon as I started filming obviously.

I've had 3 antenatal classes so far, and they've actually been really useful and interesting. They've only been 45 / 50 minute classes, but we've covered relaxation methods, breathing, birthing and labour positions, and other bits and pieces. The physio that takes the class is really fantastic and a big hypnobirth / natural birth advocate. Although a lot of the stuff she's going through is stuff I've already read and I'm aware of, it's very reassuring to hear a medical person repeating things back to you. I do feel a bit like the odd one out at the classes though, but I've always been a bit odd I suppose!

In other baby news, I haven't really bought anything else or done anything else! I received a gorgeous hamper full of baby things last weekend that was very much appreciated, lots of lovely things to stash away! Bought a few bits for my hospital bag on Monday but still not got round to packing it, possibly a weekend job along with trying out the car seat? I keep putting off buying things but I will get a move on soon.

I have put myself on a nappy buying hiatus until baby comes, just because I may not even get on with the cloth nappies! We have a nice little stash now, consisting mainly of Bum Genius (a combination of the V3 BTP and All-In-Ones), TotsBots (some V1 and some V2), a few Bambooty, and just some other bits and pieces I've picked up from the pre-loved board on BabyCentre! I keep meaning to take pictures of them all so I'll try and do that soon too.

Finally, a bit of a question. Those of you that have had babies before, did you wash all the clothes before they were born?

With love and light xo

31+3 - Bump photo

With love and light xo

31+1 - Hard week

This week has probably been one of the toughest of the pregnancy so far, thankfully not because of baby related things, but because of life related things! However, this week also holds promise of exciting developments and changes in the future, so I'm trying to stay super positive.

Going out for a meal with my lovely boyfriend tonight to celebrate Valentine's Day and very much looking forward to good company and good food!

Not a lot to update on this week really - had another antenatal class on Wednesday focusing on relaxation methods, then was at the midwife yesterday. Had both glucose and protein in my wee sample, so got to keep an eye on these next time, but other than that everything seems okay.

Will take new bump pictures over the weekend, feel a lot bigger now! Had to give in and buy some more maternity tops to stop the "hulk" affect. Luckily found some in the sale as I am quite mean!

With love and light xo

30 - No news is good news right?

So, time for another instalment of what's happening in the land of Lizz and bump! I know I've been a little slack with the blog lately, but truthfully not a lot is really happening at the moment.

Yesterday I went to my first antenatal class at the hospital, as part of the physiotherapy unit. We looked at things we should / shouldn't be doing during pregnancy, some exercises to help with birth and back pain, and generally talked about body changes during pregnancy. Apparently I shouldn't be working – the thought of afternoon naps is lovely but unfortunately I don't think the money tree would agree! I enjoyed the session but looking forward to next week's session more, focusing on breathing and relaxation methods for birth.

Starting to lose some of the energy I had in the second trimester, and feeling super sleepy at the moment. I slept from 8.30 last night and still woke up tired this morning! I don't know if that's down to me waking up in the night, or just baby taking up a lot of energy at the moment. It could be entirely un-pregnancy related and just due to the fact I've got a lot on my mind, but I'm really struggling to keep my eyes open past about 5!

The back ache / hip ache has shifted up a notch this week, but work have provided me with a better chair (it's amazing!) and I've bought an exercise ball to sit on at home which actually seems to make a big difference. Don't want to complain too much, as lots of ladies have really severe problems with SPD / PGP so I feel very lucky to just have a little back ache :).

Haven't done anything more baby related to the house, or bought anything else. Trying to hold off until right at the end and I'll buy any bits and pieces we need then, but I keep having to remind myself that the shops will still be open after she's born!

Still seems to be forever away. 10 weeks, or 70 days to go until the due date, so I guess she'll be here in 84 days maximum?

And in amazing news, my cousin welcomed a GORGEOUS little girl into the world on Monday, weighing 6lb 14oz. Happy Birthday little Amelia! I haven't seen her yet but cannot wait to meet her, and find out some of the details.

Hope everyone else is okay!

With love and light xo