Getting Organized and then Waiting...

I think I am ready. Well ready in terms of all the logistical baby things. Whether I am actually ready, as in mentally or emotionally, I guess I won't know until baby decides to make an entrance into this world. Can you ever be fully prepared on this level? Probably not.

I am 37 weeks tomorrow. The big 3-7. Pebbles is at term. And it certainly feels like it! Jane, the midwife, arrives on Sunday. Everything is gearing up for this baby to come. It is all really happening. Though I'm not sure if I fully believe it yet.

We have everything prepared for the big day. Birthing pool. Connector hose. Plastic Sheet. Cotton sheet. Towels. A sieve (or as Mr. T calls it the pooper scooper, I seriously am hoping there will be no poop to scoop). A pool thermometer. A small bucket to bail out cool water to make room for hot water. A small hand mirror. Birthing music. Candles. Aromatherapy oils. An electric fan in case the room gets too hot. And we are renting an oxygen cylinder, due to arrive today.

I also have a list of labour snacks which we are slowly getting prepared - including fruit ice lollies, date and almond balls, cold potatoes with mustard and water cress and lots of carrot and cucumber sticks. I also have bought a load of bendy straws. Why? Well a friend of mine started a great blog (www.twolittlevees.wordpress.com). For some reason blogger won't let it appear on my blog list no matter what I try. Is there some wordpress blogger animosity going on?? And the one thing that came highly recommended during labour was having a bendy straw close at hand - as no matter what position you end up in you can always have a sip of much needed water without fuss.

As for baby things, well here are a few shots of what I've been up to this past week:

Nappies! Beautiful soft bamboo nappies and our changing bag. Sitting in their little alcove between the bathroom and the toilet. Waiting for a little bottom.

The baby health and hygiene basket. Muslins, cuddle try organic towel, cotton wool, thermometer and other assorted goodies. Waiting for a little body to keep clean and dry.

We haven't bought much in terms of clothing as everyone has said it's better to wait and see how fast she grows and what she really needs. Plus by November we will be needing warmer clothes for Winter. So we just have a small basket of some newborn clothes, swaddling blankets and swim nappies, she is being born at the height of Summer after all. They sit waiting too.

The organic moses basket with baby sheepskin. It is so cute and so soft. Mr. T keeps looking at it and saying he wants to sleep in there, it looks so comfortable.

All we need now is a little baby to put into the moses basket, the nappies and the clothes... but most of all we want to have her in our arms. Of all these things they have been waiting the longest of all.

31 Years & 36 Weeks

Today I am 31 years old. I started this TTC journey when I was 27. It took the next 3 and a half years to get to here:

This is me today at 36 weeks.

Today I celebrate all my blessings. A life filled with love, tenderness and respect. This is what I get from those around me and I endeavour to give to them too. I am so very grateful and so very thankful. Especially for the greatest blessing of all - this beautiful life growing inside of me with every breath I take. I can't wait to meet you Pebbles.

Tonight Mr. T is taking me and my folks to a very fancy restaurant. I am so looking forward to it. The chance to dress up! I haven't done that in a while and after baby is here I'm sure we won't be going out to fancy restaurants anytime soon. Since I am on my strict pregnancy diet for a gentle birth I am avoiding wheat, sugar and puddings - so we picked a Thai restaurant. I figured that way I would be safe. It's not like they serve you bread rolls on the side! And instead of a cake this year Mr.T has organized a tropical fruit salad. We'll save the cake until after Pebbles is born. Then I really will be able to have my cake AND eat it!

I Like Boring

What a naughty blogger I have been! No words from me for two weeks. In truth I just haven't felt like writing any. Mainly because I feel a little boring right now. You see I don't do much except be very fastidious about my routine. My routine right now is everything - it dictates whether you get a smiley Clare or a grumpy Clare.

And I haven't felt like boring you with my oh-so-important but let's face it yawn-yawn routine. But now I'm gonna. Mainly because there's not much else I can write about (or have the energy or focus of mind to...):

A day in the life of a very pregnant Clare

Wake up time - This tends to dictate my whole day. This is because it varies A LOT. Pregnancy insomnia. Sometimes I'm up at 5am and just carry on through, other times I wake up at 3am and get back to sleep around 6am and sleep through until 10am. And sometimes I actually sleep normally and wake up around 8am. This is the most unpredictable part of my day. I still haven't found the best way of dealing with the insomnia. I try to connect and have conversations with baby. But then my mind wonders and I start pondering all sorts of things - like the Greek debt problem, austerity measures, the routine use of antibiotics in dairy farming - and I realize that a pregnant woman's nocturnal political musings are not going to help the world a great deal and I should really try and go back to sleep, or failing that get up and have something to eat.

I look forward to breakfast so much. It is very routine. Which I like at the moment. Raspberry leaf tea, fruit smoothie, wheat-free pancakes with marmite. Prenatal supplements. Satiated.

If it's not too hot in the day I walk for 30 minutes with the dog. Dog has become my constant companion. He follows me everywhere. When I take a bath he barges into the bathroom and sits down on the floor next to the bath. When I go to the toilet he sits down outside the door. When I sleep he sleeps on the floor next to my side of the bed. When I watch TV he sits next to me on the couch. I am not allowed to do anything by myself evidently.

Then I gather my books and radio and sit in the shade in the garden (yes with dog). When I am getting hot and sweaty I swim in the pool for a few lengths and do gentle aqua aerobics. So dog is not left out I soak him with the garden hose and he cools down too.

Then after we have dried out we come in for lunch. Lunch is a welcome highlight of the day. Then I get ready for some afternoon entertainment - movie or radio now as Wimbledon is over - which I never finish as my eyes feel heavy for nap time. One or two hours of blissful napping. This is the key to a happy Clare. (Well that and lunch time.) If I don't get my nap I do become a raging monster. People kept calling me on my phone during nap time - so now phone goes off. By people I mean Mr. T. He does not remember/respect nap times.

Then I'm awake and feeling good. I do my hour of yoga. Then perhaps another walk around the block. Afterwards I'm ready for a light snack for dinner (it's so hot to eat much then) before my cool water bath. Then Mr. T has to step up for belly and foot massage. We are currently stimulating acupuncture points that lovely TCM lady showed us to encourage baby into the best position and encourage her to drop down into my pelvis. We have also started the perineal massage - more challenging than I thought and really not sexy. Afterwards I practice my self-hypnosis and visualization for labour and birth and then I am usually soundly asleep.

Yes these are lazy days. But it's 40C plus here. And I am nearly 36 weeks. And I forgot to mention that I pee 50 times in a day. And if I don't follow this routine then I can have a tendency to become a whiny b.i.t.c.h. And I did not want to inflict that on you blogosphere. So here is my first post in 2 weeks from a well-rested and smiley-if-not-slightly-boring Clare. But for now I like boring. Boring is good.