So the day of contractions was not in vain - baby is 2/5 engaged and will probably stay that way. MW said that 3rd babies often require a few days here and there of contractions before labour real begins, but that once it does it doesn’t take very long. So I am expecting a few more days worth of helpful, but not labour, contractions and am glad I know about this now as the next day/night I feel like that I can just take some paracetamol and let it happen *knowing* that it almost definitely isn’t ‘it’. The other good news is that she’ll come to the birth herself unless I go into labour on Boxing Day! This really is wonderful news as she’s such a hands-off midwife and won’t press me to do anything, or even disturb me, if that’s what I want. Going for any old MW on the on-call rota could mean I get a hospital-based, bossy, hands-on midwife, which was what I was dreading. I can really relax now - will definitely be having lots of baths as baby’s head is causing me a lot of lower-bump pain. It’s been painful to walk all day today, and now I know why. I’m enjoying posting these updates, and I hope that I enjoy looking back on them some time, even if no one else reads them! As long as things don’t go too fast when I actually am in labour, I can quite see me jotting down little updates as things happen. I (my body) am feeling so ready though, I really don’t think I’ll reach my due date this time, and if I do then I should think I’ll be absolutely fed up and exhausted if it means belly pain for the next week!
Yesterday morning I woke with proper contractions (ie. not Braxton Hicks) - short, painless and irregular, but frequent. My whole lower body ached as well. The two days before I had been nesting like mad and felt slightly nauseous. So guess what I thought?…early labour, how exciting! DH had the day off anyway, so we went off to a BF Support group where he played with the girls and I chatted to mums. After that we did our food shopping (I sat and drank tea in the coffee shop!), came back, tidied up (our plan was to get things at least tidy *in case* it was labour, but not set anything up until things started progressing), DH and the girls had lunch (I wasn’t hungry…another ’sign’?), then we went to buy the Christmas Tree (it’s not up yet - that’s happening on Thursday morning when DH starts work late), came back, had supper then remembered we hadn’t yet done my belly cast that DH bought! Maybe the baby was ‘waiting’ for that (ha ha!) so we settled down with hundreds of towels and a bowl of water for some really messy time with the girls. It was good fun, if a tiny bit stressful, and has produced a somewhat bumpy cast due to the girls randomly placing screwed up bits of plaster on my tummy. Went to bed having felt absolutely exhausted since 2pm (another sign?) still having contractions. Had an horrific night with little Mopsy (not sure why, but she was desperately unsettled) and me finding it very, very difficult to sleep anyway, what with an aching pelvis and frequent contractions. Finally we all managed to be asleep at around 2ish (by my reckoning) and slept the rest of the night peacefully. Guess what! Hardly any contractions this morning at all!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve been planning so strongly to just be patient this time round, and to try not to think about whether contractions mean labour or just a pain in the back/tummy, but I just couldn’t help it! I’m cross that it’s all come to nothing and cross with myself that I got my hopes up. I’m not even that desperate to have the baby soon - I want to go to DH’s Christmas do on Saturday night, and I want to do our couples antenatal yoga evening next Tuesday. So why is it so frustrating to not be in labour? I guess it’s the not knowing - I’d rather just get on with each day without having contractions coming and going, each one seeming to taunt me with “I might mean something, I might not…”.
Plan for today: My good friend is coming to pick us up to take us to BIBS so that will hopefully distract me for a couple of hours. My MW is coming to see me for the second time this afternoon, so that will be a nice chance to chat over plans and feelings etc. Then lots of tv/computer for the girls while I doze on the sofa I think (just about all I have the energy for in the afternoons at the moment!).
Plan for tomorrow: Tree decorating!!!!!!!!!! Yay! Then DH goes off to work and won’t get back until 9pm so my mum’s coming over for the afternoon - maybe we’ll take the girls somewhere fun…mum, what do you think?
Plan for Friday: My BFC Tutor is coming over first thing in the morning for my exit interview (I’ll have to get up and going early - I’m still in my nighty right now! Eek - just saw the time (10.50am) - my friend will be here in half an hour!). Afternoon…Katherine…did you get my email? I’m hoping you’ll come over to play (well, the children can play, we’ll try and fob them off all afternoon!).
Saturday: Mum and Dad come over on Saturdays, then my Dad’s going off to visit his family and leaving Mum with us to babysit while we go to DH’s work do in the evening.
Sunday: Mum will be with us most of the day - will have to make some plans.
Monday: Nothing - aaarrrggghhh!!! Yoga in the evening.
Tuesday: DH’s day off - might take the girls to see Father Christmas. Couples yoga in the evening.
Weds: BIBS? Nothing else.
Thursday: Mum comes over - due date!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully won’t have got that far (ha ha ha!)
Can’t think any further ahead - hope to be cuddling my baby before the end of the plans I’ve made so far!
No baby news, I’m afraid. I haven’t been blogging as I am finding that I am caring less and less about everything lately - part of late pregnancy inwards-focussing I guess! Notable updates:
1. On Wednesday (6th), I got my Licence to Practise as a BFC - I’m finally qualified and my three years’ hard work has paid off. I was so chuffed to bits to get the acceptance letter and thorough comments on my portfolio (which I don’t think I ever blogged about submitting! - It was huge and included all my academic work over the last 3 years, as well as lots of other supporting material) but the excitement has worn off as my body has encouraged me again to stop focussing on external things!
2. My pelvis is very painful now some days - some mornings I’m hobbling around the kitchen like an old woman getting breakfast for the girls. I have to spend about an hour or so kneeling and leaning over my birth ball to loosen it all up. Yoga is immensely helpful and I can’t believe I didn’t do with when I was expecting the girls.
3. Flopsy has had the sickness bug - the week before last - but I don’t think she had it too badly as it only lasted a night and a day.
4. Mopsy has had a really horrible non-specific virus with a wierd rash that hasn’t touched her torso and a very painful mouth. She didn’t eat a thing for 4 days and just breastfed or cried or slept for about 24 hours at one point. I think I’ve proved that nipple stimulation doesn’t actually work as a natural induction technique! She’s now eating again, at long last, but both girls have a very nasty cough and Flopsy is needing her inhaler again.
5. Pre-labour has started - hurrah (sarcastic!). I’m getting runs of contractions at night (as I did with the girls) and baby is very, very low now. Yesterday and today I have been uncontrollably nesting. This has all started earlier than it did with the girls so maybe this baby won’t come so late. I swing every minute from hoping baby comes early, to hoping I don’t miss out on the fun things we’ve got planned over the next 10 days. I’m excited about labour and birthing, and looking forward very much to the girls meeting the baby, but I’m also looking forward to DH’s Christmas do on Saturday, and putting the Christmas tree up etc. On the other hand, despite vaguely looking forward to these things, I’m not really that enthusiastic about anything other than the contractions I’m having anyway - and the odd period of time that my back’s not hurting!
6. My closest friend rang last night to tell me she’s engaged so I’m very excited for her and her fiance. I haven’t seen her for 10 months, and I think probably haven’t spoken to her for nearly as long - we have a wonderful friendship that allows us to pick up where we left off however long the gap between communications. She’s hoping to come and stay in February and I can’t wait.
I think that’s it…might go and surf some other blogs now and maybe leave a few comments around the place. Hope I feel a pull back to the blogosphere again once the baby’s born - I kind of miss blogging, but also feel so unenthusiastic about everything and blogging comes into that, unfortunately! DH reckons I’ll be spending my labour posting updates on here LOL!
