Warning: This is a ranting post about being overdue and people's need to ask totally unnecessary questions or make dumb comments. I was due last Wednesday, I'm now only 3 days (4 days by the time this is published) over due but if one more person asks me that question, I don't think I can be held responsible for my actions. As a first time mother, I have absolutely no idea what a contraction is going to feel like. I hear it's like a bad period pain, but to be honest, I don't get those very much. I always imagined contractions would feel incredible tight! Like my insides are caught in a vice. But thats not what my menstrual pains feel like. So at the moment it's a bit of a guessing game. It's not like things aren't happening, things seem to be on the move and for a week now, I've felt like labour could begin at any moment. On Sunday evening in fact I was so sure that I was in the very early stages of labour that I repacked my hospital bags and got myself into the bath thinking, "right the midwife said have a bath and take some paracemetamol, then try to get some rest, so bed straight after this". . . Then, nothing! Monday came and went. Tuesday I woke up all aches and pains and thought, okay this could be it, so I downloaded a contraction counter . . . then nothing. Wednesday I woke up early with bad pains, and thought this could be it! I'll start timing these, but I fell back to sleep. I woke to find that the plug had come out too! Woohoo! Especially as this was my due date and I'd booked in for a membrane sweep. But nothing! no more aches and pains. So I went to my midwife appointment and told them the news about the pains and the plug. She said this was great news and should mean the sweep could be a success. But alas - the sweep was not possible as the baby's head was not quite low enough. Not to worry, the midwife said we could try again in a couple of days. We booked a re-try for Friday. I left with the knowledge that even though my cervix was soft and had shrunk, it had barely dilated at all! Thursday morning I woke up early, horrible achey menstrual type pains all over my front and back. "this could be it, I'll start timing these in a bit" then I fell back to sleep . . . then nothing all day! Friday morning I wake up, menstrual pains all down my legs and back. "this probably isn't it, I should go back to sleep". We make our way to the midwife appointment, all geared up because I know what to expect now from a sweep (uncomfortable with a lot of pressure, made worse by the fact that my cervix seems to be half way up my spine at these appointments, but not as bad as a cervical screen). Then the midwife, who was not the same lady as the one I saw on Wednesday explained that sweeps are more likely to be successful the longer you leave them. I look at her with a face of 'so...?' She continues to explain that they can only legally do two sweeps (this was news to me), so if she does one today then that's my lot, and that it might be better to wait for next week when I'm 41 weeks. I agree, after all they are the experts. Then as I got in the car I though 'but I've not even had a sweep yet!' When I get home I ring them back and explain that on Wednesday I didn't actually have a sweep, so surely that can't count as one. We discussed it for a little bit, most of my arguments beginning with 'yes but...' However it seemed this midwife was adamant that the internal exam counts as a sweep. So I decided to drop it and leave it hoping to see a more negotiable midwife next time, after all I'd just spent 5 minutes arguing her professional judgement, did I really want her carrying out the procedure now? Late Friday night (Or Saturday morning) I wake again with the same menstrual pains. "..." no thoughts this time. It's just a thing that seems to happen. Despite all of the false alarms and the perpetual boredom of waiting, particularly when your limited to what you can actually achieve in the day with sciatica creeping down your right side after just a few steps, the worst thing about being over your due date, is people asking you if you've had the baby yet. Can you see a baby? Can you see the size of my belly? Do you think I'm crossing my legs to keep him in? Do you really think I wouldn't let you know if I'd had the baby? Do you not realise that despite the agony pulsating down my right side with every step I take, that I still try to walk at least 1 mile a day to get this baby out? Do you not realise that I spend about 2 hours a day bouncing on my birthing ball while I slowly develop motion sickness? Do you not understand how much sleep I am vetoing in order to sleep on my left side, even when my left hip feels as though it's going to crumble under the pressure, all because I'm told sleeping on the right side doesn't give baby as much room to drop? I'm doing all I can to get this baby ready to be born. He's just not ready yet! I'm even trying all the old wives tales that everyone keeps recommending just so I can say 'yeah I tried that it didn't work'. All of which I am 100% don't ever work! If you ate a curry and went into labour, you would have probably gone into labour if you'd have had scrambled eggs on toast. I'm trying hard to make the most of this time, knowing that life is about to change dramatically and I won't ever know peace and quiet quite like this. But I hate waiting around! Especially for people! He should know this. It's hard for me not being in control of a big life change like this. Perhaps this is my first hard lesson of being a parent; my usual need to be in control and have everything organised and ready to go is now going to have to be ignored!
Just thought I'd share with you one of my Early Years boards from Pinterest. None of these ideas are mine, but I find it a valuable resource, particularly when planning for the continuous provision and independent activities. If you have a fantastic early years board worth sharing, please paste the link in the comments section. I'm always looking for new inspiration.
Mops has been part of our family since he was 4 months old and has lived with us for the past 5 years. He was a semi wild farm cat when we first got him and he was so terrified of us (people in general) at first. But with a little time, some food and a few warm evenings in front of the wood burner, he began to trust us more and more and started to follow us all around the house. We both have a fabulous relationship with Mops, but him and my boyfriend are BFFs. Mops knows that he can go to Sam for some rough play, he knows he won't say 'ouch!' when he play bites or grabs your hand. He does this thing where he likes to bite Sam on the nose, never viciously, as though to hold him. Mops doesn't like having visitors round, he usually runs upstairs if he hears the door bell go. But there are some exceptions of course. Anyone who looks after him while we're away or anyone who can offer him a comfortable seat in front of the TV in the evenings. Mops thinks our bedroom is actually his and any opportunity, he will get on the bed and sleep there, all day. His favourite place is to take my place in bed as soon as I'm up, seeing as I did such a good job keeping the bed warm for him all night. He doesn't mind being picked up and just generally loves to spend time with us whatever we're doing.
Sali
Sali we've had for about 3 and a half years. She also came to us at 4 months from a friend who couldn't keep his cats as he had to move to a new home which didn't allow pets. I genuinely believe that Sali and I have a very special bond. She takes turn in conversation and trusts me completely. She doesn't get on with Sam as well as Mops does as I think she finds him a bit unpredictable and much prefers my way of play, which is to talk to her and massage her. She often gives me a massage back too. She is the friendliest cat I've ever met and I think sometimes she is a little confused about her identity as she spent the first 4 months of her life living with a dog. Many of her mannerisms are dog like. Sali doesn't like to be picked up usually, but she lets you know when she wants to be picked up and hugged. She is also a little agony aunt for me. She picks up when I feel down and will nuzzle my face and try to climb under my chin. Luckily both our cats get on very well. Getting them together initially was hard work and heart breaking! Especially as Mops always looked so betrayed. But he soon asserted himself as the boss which Sali is fine with. Occasionally they have the odd scuffle, usually play, sometimes its a little more serious but thankfully they know the rules and accept that they have to live together. Yep we love them very much. Sometimes I worry that I won't love my baby as much as my cats! (I'm joking obviously.... kinda). I'm so very worried that introducing a baby into the house is going to really upset Mops and Sali. Sali has always been more interested in children than Mops, Mops seems terrified of them. Sali is fairly laid back so I'm not as worried about her, except for when she wants a hug and I can't give her one for whatever reason. We've tried to make sure that there are plenty of places to for the cats to go to get away from the baby if they need to. They'll pretty much have access to the attic room through the day and will be kept down stairs at night.
Best buds
I trust these cats completely, but until they have got used to the fact that baby is here, baby is here to stay and baby comes first I will not be leaving the cats unattended with baby. As I said earlier Mops seems afraid of children, when Mops gets spooked he panics and I worry that he might jump in the wrong direction, or may try to play with baby the way he plays with Sam. Sali I'm sure will be quite maternal. She has never ever played rough with people (only Mops). We even tried to get her to grab us with her mouth like Mops does but she just won't. She's very careful around people. However, Sali doesn't realise how sharp her claws are. I mean cats claws are sharp, but Sali's really are like needles compared to Mops. She's also very heavy on her feet. When she walks across the bed at night you know about it. It's like she's wearing steel boots. She loves a snug, warm cuddle so I worry she will get into the baby's basket. So I'm looking for advice. What have you done to ease the shock of a new baby on your pets? How have you shown them that you still care for them, but baby comes first?
I drive a Fiat 500. My beautiful blue Fiat. I've had it for about 4 years and we've been through a lot! Within only a couple of months of getting the car, we had the most horrendous storm which brought with it hail the size of golf balls. My poor beautiful car was covered in what can only be described as car cellulite. It was a long process going through insurance, but thankfully, they agreed to pay for the repair to the body. It was eventually taken in and repaired 6 months later (there was such a bottle neck if cars that needed repairing it took that long). But anyway, back to the point at hand. As you may know the fiat 500 is smaller that the Mini. It's boot space is pretty shocking really, but it's always been fine for me. I spent days and days looking into how I can fit my new life into my fiat 500. Reading parent blog after forum after pram review, it seemed as though no pram would fit into my boot (or trunk) without removing and reattaching a wheel or two each time I use it. I was watching bugaboos and icandys on eBay, (personally they were too expensive for me to buy new, but the ones that seemed to promise to fit best were a particular, or new model and I was finding it hard to find the ones I needed. I can't remember exactly how I found it, but I came across the Babyzen yoyo. I took the measurements and could not believe the space it would need (or rather wouldn't need). This pushchair folds small enough to be taken on as hand luggage onto a plane and be stored in the overhead compartment. It can even fit behind my car seat and the back seat. It really is a space saving dream. As mentioned before I need to save space at home too, this fits amazingly into the under-stair cupboard and can even been hung up. The Babyzen comes with a seat from newborn to 6 months, then 6 months plus. It can be folded and opened up with one hand (while you hold baby in the other). It pushes like a dream with one hand. I understand it's wheels aren't designed for a range of terrains, but I plan on wearing baby should we go walking up hills on beaches etc.
Now it's very early days yet. I have no baby to test the Babyzen but I have faith that I've made the right choice, and, given its size and sleekness (and the fact that I don't need to change my car) I found the cost to be quite reasonable, especially as I was able to buy it while there was a promotion on at John Lewis. Do you have a Babyzen? How have you found it? Or have you discovered another brilliant push chair? Especially if it fits your tiny car.
Erm, nursery? Not quite! I'm asked this question a lot, by lots of different people, and I feel a bit like an unorganised mess saying, "no we're not really having a nursery." Which k then have to follow with a whole explanation about the awkward layout of my house. We live in a 2 up 2 down Victorian semi detached. There's no hall way or landing. I think the kitchen and bathrooms may have been built later than the rest of the house. Access to the bathroom is through the back bedroom. So we're a bit short of space in this house hold. But I love my house, I enjoy the challenge and it stops us from filling the house with clutter. It also means I get to spend hours trawling through pinterest. For the first 6 months we're advised that baby should sleep in our room anyway, so does he really need his own room just yet? I seriously doubt it. In the back bedroom (which was often used as a bit of a nothing room, it's been my studio/sewing room/office/music room) we have baby's wardrobe, my boyfriends chest of drawers, which also acts as the changing table, and a nursing chair. Last year we cleared out the attic which is now the office/studio/music room come spare bedroom for visitors. Access to this room is also through the back bedroom. So putting a baby in there at this point would be a bit unfair and we'd hate to think we could be disturbing him every time someone went to the toilet. We've considered a range of options for the future, I love this house so will try and stay as long as I can, but for now I'm pleased with the set up.
Some space saving measures we've taken comes from things we've bought. When you're tight on space it's no secret that ikea is your best friend. I bought this portable trolley to store baby's changing equipment, which looks like it's going to work brilliantly considering we're using reusable nappies. Apologies but I'm not too great at remembering what my ikea furniture is called.
I also found these small bowls at ikea which hang off the side of your changing table, perfect for topping and tailing the baby.
This wardrobe organiser also came from ikea and work perfectly well with the drawer organisers.
Have you had any problems with creating space for your new arrival? What space saving tips do you have, baby related or not?
