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Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Part 2
OK where was I? Oh yes, on the loo...been there a long time! Eventually, the instructions changed to don't push as I started to - entirely involuntarily and impossible to avoid. After a good while of this, me getting more and more frustrated with my rubbish pushiness, So-san decided I could get in the water although it was a little early (7 cm dilated?). Still compos mentis enough to notice that Cameron had changed into shorts not his trunks and to send him back to get changed! A change of midwife shift saw Kondo-san on duty while So-san popped home for a bit. The water was wonderful but I continued to push with each contraction, try as I might not to: I clearly remember trying so hard to just breathe and not push, thinking I had managed, then failing and having a good push each time. Not a clue how long this went on for but eventually So-san came back to tell me that they thought I might be having pushing contractions (no, really?) - but an examination showed that I was still just 7 cm dilated. Disappointed and starting to ask (not entirely unseriously) for drugs and/or a transfer to hospital for a c-section just to get it over with. So-san decided we had to try something different: I was to put my head down, hold my breath and PUSH every time I felt the urge, while she tried to open things up. Well, it feels like I did that for about 6 hours yet also about an hour; I have no idea which is more accurate. But boy, did I push! I got out of the pool after a while because they thought it wasn't helping so there I was pushing with all I had and bellowing like a cow, Cameron behind me feeding me bananas and water and holding the basin for me to puke in, So-san doing I know not what, Kondo-san pushing on my tummy (I had bruises from that for a week). At some point, So-san went to ring Keiko the friendly acupuncturist but by the time she arrived, I was past needing acupuncture so she just held a leg (!) and later, bizarrely, took photos. I wasn't really prepared for that and neither was Cameron - the pictures are very odd, I am obviously far and away and unaware but Cameron, behind me, is obligingly gurning for the camera. Just as I was beginning to think I had no more strength and it would never end, everybody started getting excited and I could feel that something had changed: more pressure. A wee while later, I put my hand down to feel the top of a head - the softest thing I have ever felt in my life. And then I was allowed back into the pool for the final few pushes. Standing and climbing in was interesting as it felt like the baby's head was right there! In the pool I came over all Mabel Lucie Attwell (why her? Perhaps I mean Enid Blyton?) oh my goodness oh my goodness (rather gratified and surprised to find me not swearing my way through labour actually). One more push had the head out - I felt a face! Then the baby gave a wriggle and a twist by itself and seemed to swim out of its own accord. I leant forward to scoop it up but So-san reminded me to leave it under water until it was ready. We gazed at each other (Cameron too) for long minutes before somebody suggested I find out what sex it was. I couldn't be sure, the cord was in the way, but I thought, a girl. And Cameron said a girl! Then she started moving her mouth so we lifted her up out of the water and climbed out of the pool. Cameron cut the cord while she lay on my tummy (more photos and we named her. Maggie, then? and Sakura?) then I had to stay lying on the floor while they took her off for the weighing, measuring, dressing and phoning home ritual. I spoke to somebody but I can't actually remember who - my sister, perhaps? Then they brought her back to me and we just lay being happy. I am sure she didn't cry even then; not until much later. I remained sufficiently a scientist to ask to have a look at my placenta (like a very very large liver, it was extremely interesting!) and they told me that neither it nor the baby looked like she was actually overdue at all. An hour later Kondo-san came and had a feel of my tummy; much muttering then they decided I needed a catheter and withdrew something like a litre of urine...all very impressed with the size of my bladder - like a camel! An hour or so later I was asking to get up: they said I could stay downstairs that night but I felt OK so wanted to go up to our room. Very shaky on my legs and I had to crawl up the steep stairs but I made it! So-san came in and made up a futon for Cameron (Maggie and I had the bed), showed me how to feed Maggie and change a nappy (I knew nothing!) then we all went off to sleep. Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Birth (part 1)
The story really begins on Thursday March 25th. I had an unavoidable hospital appointment for 11.30 the next morning, at which they were almost certain to insist on an induction - given that I was 2 1/2 weeks overdue - although I had every intention, if everything was still looking fine, of asking them to leave me until Monday. The Thursday was spent, as the entire previous week had been, employing 'natural' methods of induction: a session of fetal monitoring (oh your baby is strong. But sleeps a long time!) was followed by massage - because my stiff back was stopping the baby getting out - o-kyu* and a visit to the acupuncturist who this time left some small pins in my lower back and once again refused payment unless I had to have the baby in hospital. I was eventually allowed home for curry, pineapple and a good dose of castor oil, agreeing to meet So-san at the hospital the following morning. Miserable. *o-kyu = moxibustion; days earlier I had even in desperation submitted to 'direct o-kyu' (where the burning bit of twig is placed directly on the skin. 100 times. Like torture) and o-kyu to the top of my head which was apparently very hard and thus preventing the baby from coming out. 4 am Friday, I woke with contractions and a show. Yay! But still not sure whether I'd have to go to hospital or be allowed to the clinic. Went back to bed and dozed between contractions, coming about every 10 minutes, until the alarm went off and Cameron got up for work. Decided I should mention it to him... We decided he should still go to work as planned, meeting me later at the hospital if I still had to go there or at the clinic if not. Around 8.30 I rang So-san and told her I thought she could cancel the hospital appointment! She was very excited and we agreed I'd pop along to the clinic around for a spot more monitoring and we'd see what he hospital doctor said. 10ish, there I was at the clinic with my 'small labour bag' (lots of towels; tupperware containers, use to be revealed; fashion magazines*; CDs; lots of cash; clothes for Cameron; wash stuff). The monitor showed that yes, I was having contractions (I knew that!); the hospital doctor agreed that I didn't have to go in (and was apparently very excited and pleased for me) and the rest of the day is a blur. I know I was shown to my room; I know I looked at pictures in Vogue; I suspect there was more massage and o-kyu and brown rice and measurement of blood pressure but I really don't recall. I know I kept ringing Cameron (so perhaps he has a better idea of what I was doing) and telling him not to bother coming; I know the contractions weakened as it got dark; and I know I was eventually allowed to go home for the night. I was told to eat whatever I liked (pizza was good) and to come back in the morning or sooner if I needed to. *These did not actually appear on the list I'd been given. Pizza, ice cream and Moulin Rouge while Cameron timed contractions (although it was actually very difficult to say when they started and finished). We went to bed but I was up again at 1.30 - I was curling up in pain every 10 minutes or so and I couldn't see the point of keeping Cameron awake - at least that way one of us might be functional in the morning. I spent the night pacing in circles around the kitchen, sipping hot water and listening, oddly, to Elgar, or leaning over the back of the sofa. At least in that position I could doze off between contractions. It was a long night. Early the next morning I got in the bath, where I did manage to get an hour's sleep. The taxi ride back to the clinic was long and uncomfortable. Being terribly British I didn't want to make a fuss in front of the driver so I gripped Cameron's hand very tightly and gritted my teeth through the contractions. Most of Saturday is also a blur (you didn't want a detailed account, right?!). Late morning we were sent out for a walk; I have no idea what we did before that. I kept having to stop and lean on things - lampposts, trees, Cameron - while trying to be inconspicuous and not make a scene. I know I was sick and terribly embarrassed about it (thus not in 'real labour' yet). We made it to the local park where the cherry blossoms were absolutely at their peak. Pink blossom, blue sky - so beautiful. Up and down the paths, we found a small temple. Heading back to the clinic we passed the fabulous shop 'ferret world' and visited a bakery and a combini for chocolate milk and high-calorie snacks; past caring by this point I was bent double in the shops. Wonder what they thought? (Of course, being close to the clinic, they maybe have it all the time.) Hours must have passed back up in my room, mostly kneeling on the floor so I could bend over onto the bed with contractions and insist (rather snappishly I expect) that Cameron push HARD! on exactly the right bit of my back. So-san kept popping in and telling me how great it all was. Sometime in the afternoon we went downstairs to see the birthing pool, which was being shown to a prenatal class. Cameron got more from the demo than me as I was too busy leaning on a bookshelf in the next room trying not to groan and scare the pregnant ladies. Anyway, we decided to definitely try the pool (we like to make decisions at the last minute), an idea we'd been toying with for months. Later on, a masseuse from next door came to see me. I think So-san was o-kyuing at the same time and this was the point all dignity left as I hauled myself to all fours with each contraction. 'Great', said So-san. 'Great' again, as I vomited profusely. Goodness knows how long after that was spent sitting on the loo but at some point my waters broke and the intensity, well, intensified. A good job the bathroom was largish as there were three of us in there - me, So-san telling me to open my eyes, relax my shoulders and BREATHE, and Cameron feeding me chocolate and bananas (eating on the toilet, yuk!). Monday, March 22, 2004
Update
I've got until friday to get it out! Which means they aren't exactly going for my story about wrong dates (that would give me weeks more!) despite much hmm- hmm-ing and nodding when I recite it, but I feel happier than I did yesterday - a whole 2 days longer. Baby did a lovely job on the monitor, everybody exclaimed how genki it is, so I felt very proud. It was rather nice actually, sitting in a darkened room in the hospital listening to about 5 babies' hearts all beating away. The worst bit of the whole experience was the sweet milky tea I was given, so that can't be bad. My midwife carefully researched which doctor I should see by ringing all her contacts, and found one who was very sympathetic - in fact she was lovely and drew me an annotated picture of the baby so I knew what the scan pictures were measuring (according to the scan it is 2.9 kg. According to the midwife's prodding it is 3.9 kg. I reckon it should be somewhere in between...). I turned down the offer of a caesarian for today and stuck firmly to my 'dates are wrong' routine and added some pleading. If it hasn't come out by friday I have to have a pelvic x-ray and an internal exam - if my cervix is ripening then I should be allowed to wait over the weekend but if not I have to choose between induction (with seaweed sticks - don't ask - and a drip) or a c-section. Oh and I've to spend this week being monitored daily, so no fun daytrips for me. Still, I reckon it's worth it. Come on baby! Friday, March 19, 2004
Game plan
I'm fine, the baby's fine, we're all fine. Cameron's fine. The cats are fine. The midwife kept saying 'why won't your labour start', which I really couldn't answer (because the baby isn't ready yet not being good enough.) I've started a 'maybe my dates are wrong' campaign in a last-ditch bid to stave off induction (anyone who is wondering why I have this fear of induction and who is tempted to suggest it might be the best thing, please read this and this and bear in mind that induction will involve giving birth not at my nice friendly clinic where they all know me but at a big scarey hospital where the doctor speaks little english. Of course I am more than happy for this to happen if it is for a medical reason but doing it because the calendar says I'm 2 weeks past an arbitrary date - which (as Kate pointed out below) could be up to a week wrong seems illogical to me. Nobody has ever been pregnant forever, right? Actually, if I was a week wrong in my calculations that would be a good thing as it would significantly reduce the exposure to alcohol it had received as a cluster of cells!) I'm going to an acupuncturist this afternoon who has promised to use big needles (!) in the hope of starting things off, then back to the clinic for more monitoring and a dose of castor oil tomorrow. Joy. Back to the clinic for more monitoring Sunday, then into hospital for monitoring Monday. The plan at present is to induce Wednesday but I am rather clinging to the hope that if the monitoring shows the baby is still fine and happy then that can be negotiated back still further. In the meantime I am stomping up and down stairs and drinking raspberry-leaf tea by the gallon. It is nasty so must be doing some good! Oh, the monitoring. I just sat with my feet in a foot bath while a small physics-lab type machine recorded the baby's heartbeat and my contractions (not sure how it does the latter). I am having some! But they are teeny weeny. They didn't affect baby's heartbeat - this is a good thing, but hardly surprising given that I wouldn't have known about them if the monitor hadn't picked them up. Baby had a good long sleep (30 minutes) which worried her - they usually sleep for 20 minutes it seems - but it didn't seem unusual to me and it woke up for a long time too so I think it's just on a slightly longer cycle than average. Cameron is supposed to be popping back to the UK next weekend for a wedding - if I'm not home from the clinic and my mum and dad aren't here (or if the baby hasn't arrived!) then he'll have to cancel. Maybe it just doesn't want its daddy to leave it so soon after birth so is waiting to spoil his plans? *sorry Max. Cervices and contractions. I'll blog about my webcam and beer again later if you like? Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Hmm. Another checkup tomorrow and she wants to do some sort of monitoring, see if the baby is still fine. Not sure what this will involve; she was pretty vague when I asked, but they will attach some sort of...monitor...and see what happens during a contraction. I did ask how she proposed producing said contraction (seeing that if I was having them then I probably wouldn't need to go for the checkup) and she just said that I would be having them by then. Fairly unsatisfactory but I let it go at the time. Now I'm wondering. I could be there a long time if she's just going to wait for one.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
last one
 I hope. Here I am at 40 weeks in black and white; 'scuse scruffy T-shirt (Cameron's), iffy hair (been asleep on it) and general dodginess of appearance. Honestly, I usually look much nicer than this (...and I'm sticking to it - I'm miles and miles away and you don't know.)
Bah.
I haven't been ignoring you all and your lovely comments. I was just thinking how strange it was that nobody had commented here since January when I decided to look on the actual site and there are loads! Thank you everybody. Seems my new comments host doesn't email me when people comment like the old one did. Sigh... If anyone had a burning question, please leave it for me again on this post. Tuesday, March 09, 2004
40 weeks
Although by some quirk of the calculations my 'official' due date is tomorrow. Not that I'm expecting anything; less than 5% of babies turn up on the appointed day and this one is showing no signs. Quite happy where it is. I've been walking miles around Tokyo, almost doing what I'm told (the instructions are to walk about 2 hours a day, not carrying anything and enjoying the sunshine and the trees. Yesterday I managed a walk in the park for over an hour enjoying the sunshine and the trees and carrying a very small evenly-balanced rucsac before deciding I needed to buy things and unbalancing myself. Today I did about an hour through tokyo streets with my handbag slung unevenly across one shoulder, stopped for a coffee and a piece of cake, then did another hour before picking up a big bag of groceries and two wicker baskets on my way home. Oh and a new pair of trainers.) Speaking of my new trainers, will I ever get used to being pregnant? Maybe my brain will catch up a few months from now and I'll find myself making allowances for a bump which (hopefully) is no longer there? I picked out my this-season's trainers, asked to try them on - then found I couldn't get to my feet! The shop assistant kind of pretended it was normal for people to have to contort sideways to reach their feet, bless him. I bought them - half a size bigger than normal though, I hope that isn't a permanent change as I'd hate to have to replace my entire shoe wardrobe. (Actually I'd love doing the replacing but would grieve for those that no longer fit.) Friday, March 05, 2004
moving goalposts
The friendly clinic reflexologist, although she says my body is getting ready to have the baby, no longer predicts it will come on Sunday. She reckons we're looking at Wednesday or Thursday next week instead - much less convenient than a weekend, but will provide time to assemble the cot! However, as she also suggested I make an appointment to see her again next Friday 'in case I'm wrong', I am not treating it as gospel. She asked me whether I knew the sex and then whether she could try to tell; apparently her teacher can tell and she is learning to do so. She reckons it's a girl, which gives predictions as follows: GIRL: me (first 7 months), reflexologist, Katy (intuition: she has a 5/6 record), Ally (?), Yolly (haven't got ugly) BOY: me (now), midwife (hmm, and she saw the scan...), no morning sickness Anyone else? Wednesday, March 03, 2004
"Traditionally , a father among the Huichol Indians would sit in the rafters above his labouring wife with a rope tied round his testicles. The wife would tug on the rope with every painful contraction so that they could both share the pain of bringing a new life into the world"
Thanks to my friend Rachel for bringing this to my attention. Cameron has pointed out that the clinic has no rafters - I reckon a stepladder would do just as well?! And while we're on the whole different cultures topic, when I go into the clinic in labour I am presented with a large plastic bag. It contains all sorts of goodies: a plastic sheet for the floor, enormous sanitary towels and so forth - and a small embossed wooden box in which I will keep the child's dried umbilical cord stump. As a souvenir. To me this is nearly as weird as the placenta recipes but, when in Rome... Sunday, February 29, 2004
When I turned up for my checkup on Friday the clinic was all in a fluster as a baby had just that minute been born! How exciting. And the girl who'd been in our 'class' last weekend had hers last week too. I must be next!
After my checkup I had an hour of reflexology, which was just fabulous. Why have I never had it before? She took quite a thorough medical history then settled down with my feet (oddly, one of the questions was whether I'm a cat person or a dog person but I think this was after the history-taking and into the chit chat. I think). She exclaimed over the narrowness of my feet and wondered whether I had problems balancing - did I fall over very often (it really was very entertaining!) After a while my hands started to tingle so I sat up - she said it is very normal and to do with the energy starting to flow around. Weird. Anyway, the upshot was that I have a very stiff back (I know, I know. I am just stiff, always have been) and I'm going back to see her next week to try and loosen that. It is a big baby, as revealed by my feet (my midwife also says it's a big baby, though I am not clear in either case whether they mean big for me or big compared with a japanese baby. Oh, the midwife also said she thought it was a boy but then backpedalled swiftly saying "50% chance"!) And she thinks it will come a few days before its due date - probably the 7th! (Which would be very convenient, being a weekend) Except that my stiffness might delay it a few days more. My midwife thnnks it's coming around the due date too. Eek - not long to go and that cot has still not arrived! Oh and she wondered whether I or anyone in my family had smoked because my lung area is a funny colour. I think that might be my shoes...(wonder where my lung area is?!) My dad thinks I might have stood in something nasty... Tuesday, February 24, 2004
38 weeks
Did somebody say nesting instinct? You stay still long enough, you're going in the washing machine! It's very odd though - I can stand back and know I am behaving erratically but can't do anything about it. I have a list of jobs I really want to do but that doesn't stop me, for example, putting the kettle through the dishwasher. From the garbled telephone conversation I had today (fedex man: can I speak in Japanese? Me: No) I think my cot should arrive tomorrow. Hooray! That is top on my list of things to do before the baby can arrive [haircut - check. Return of the king - check. Aunty - check (oh if any of you don't read turquoise you should know that my niece arrived on Sunday). Cot, bags packed, photos in albums - not yet. I have filled the freezer to bursting point too but that isn't stopping me continuing to cook. We might get scurvy but we won't starve.] At the pregnancy group this morning I was sitting next to a girl who was bemoaning the fact that she's developed a sweet tooth since starting her third trimester. So have I! I exclaimed (having lost mine entirely for 6 months or so). Well, she clearly doesn't know a sweet tooth from a hole in the ground as she said she'd bought a box of after eights and had one a day; she'd had the occasional square from a chocolate bar, and had eaten two chocolate-chip cookies in one morning! I see her sweet tooth and raise her whole packets and tubs of lovely sweet things. Thursday, February 19, 2004
arg!
Wel I may not have gone in for all that first-trimester puking and what have you but one symptom I have in far more than my fair share. My books all warned that I might get grumpy and irritable in the last month and have I ever! Don't mess with me...especially don't ask if I (or my sister) have had the baby yet. I guarantee I won't forget to mention it when it happens, OK?! Tuesday, February 17, 2004
37 weeks
Officially full-term. Meaning the baby has 5 weeks to get itself out before they start threatening to do nasty things with drips and needles. We're going to see the return of the king this evening, after which it can come any time it likes as far as I'm concerned. Obviously it would be nice if I had a chance to enjoy a bit of my leave first, and if the cot arrived before the baby, but it's not important. I'm not sure I'm nesting exactly - isn't that supposed to be a compulsion? - but I am on a one-room-a-day programme of tidying and sorting (and throwing away). Chucked out all our out-of-date medicines yesterday which was quite satisfying. Of course I am starting with the small, easy rooms! Two bathrooms and the spare room done to date. Nothing else to report. The midwife said everything was just fine yesterday (and I'd lost 0.5 kg which was a bit of a bonus!) but that I'm not to put on any more weight now. No food after dinner in the evenings - not even any fruit and definitely no sugar. A warm drink is OK (I'm categorising cocoa as a warm drink not as sugar. And you can't have cocoa without a biccie, it wouldn't be right). Monday, February 09, 2004
I had my last fortnightly checkup this morning, will now have to trek to the clinic once a week. It's due a month today! A quiet day meant that I had my feet massaged simultaneously by two midwives; I could definitely get used to this treatment. I was a bit disgruntled to see I'd put on nearly 2 kg in the past fortnight (but am consoling myself with the thought that I only put on a few hundred grams the fortnight before that. I am now heavier than most of Cameron's colleagues though. By the way, if any of them are reading this: no he is not a batchelor* just because I am about to have a baby, and if you try to persuade him otherwise I will come and sit on you!)
I asked what I should pack in my bag and was given a leaflet all in difficult Japanese...but our teacher is coming tonight so Cameron will just have to hold off on the advanced grammar while I have 'towel, nighty, toothbrush' translated. Baby is still curled in the same position as last time (it must know when we're going to the clinic and line itself up because I'm sure it was the other way round a few days ago). Oh and Kai-san (the midwife) thinks that Western women are warmer than Japanese women, probably because we have a better metabolism - and this is a good thing. So we can all feel smug, girls. I also made a quick expedition to the baby shop in the hope that the moses-basket stand would be in. They did have one but it stood all of 6 inches off the floor. Not much use then. And they have no sheets large enough for my cot. Pah. *Japanese women traditionally go back to their mothers when they have their babies and their husbands are officially batchelors for the duration. I might have told you before, in which case I apologise, but one of my favourite stories is one of Cameron's friends who, when asked (nudge nudge) what he was up to as a batchelor shyly confessed to taking his motorbike apart in the kitchen! Wednesday, February 04, 2004
35 weeks (and one day)
And I'm beginning to feel like I'm done. My belly button popped out sometime when I wasn't looking in the last few days (euw) and I think things are starting to move south as the pressure is definitely more on my bladder than my ribs again. Oh, and I have stopped sleeping; I can't even drop off on the sofa in the afternoon, which is most unlike me. We're nearly done with shopping too - my parcel of nappies arrived yesterday and, Kavitha, I know I said I wouldn't get excited about something silly like nappies but really they are cute! Pastel shades and all soft (even Cameron said they were like teddy bears). And I have finally made a decision about a cot, which is on order and should reach us in 2 weeks or so (we won't talk about postage costs). Then all I need is sheets and blankets for said cot and I think we're set! Tuesday, January 27, 2004
34 weeks
34 weeks. Blimey, not long now. I should become an aunty sometime in the next month too (much more exciting - or rather, differently exciting - than becoming a mother). Suzanne is expecting it to happen imminently, while Chris is stuck in snow the other side of the Pennines - but I reckon she'll have to wait a bit longer yet. All our shopping is nearly done, just a cot, a moses-basket stand and a few miscellaneous bits and pieces left on the list now (where on earth am I going to find a cat net?). I think we have enough that we'd manage if it arrived, at least, so I've stopped fretting. It even has some toys! (Picked up secondhand of course - this is a great city for that with expats leaving every day.) I've found the cot I like; trouble is it's in the UK. I've had one fairly high quote for shipping (approx the same cost as the cot again) and am waiting on some more - or for somebody to tell me how heavy it is. I had a checkup yesterday and am still the genkiest pregnant woman on the block. And who wouldn't be with a "checkup" encompassing not only weights and measurements (circumference now 91 cm; anyone taking bets on whether I'll reach a metre?) but also a 20 minute foot massage and then 10 minutes on my lower back. Yum. I don't think I'll ever be able to face having more children back in the UK - not unless the NHS has changed significantly in our 2 years away. And, really, I can't think of any more news. The midwife tells me it's curled around with its back on my right side and its feet on the left, though I'm not sure whether it stays largely in that one position now or moves about. It certainly wriggles - and when it does these days, it's like that scene from Alien as my belly stretches and deforms as though something is trying to burst out. Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Looking forward to giving up work I must confess. My brain is just not there any more, not to mention that sitting at my desk is not comfy.
Been busy today, went to the baby shop and bought a moses basket (means I can stop fretting about it having to sleep in a drawer at least!). They didn't have any stands but I'm going back on Friday anyway, with a friend with a car so I can fill her boot. I suppose it will have to have a stand - and a net - else it will rapidly turn into a cosy cat bed. I think they'd like it very much. What else did I buy? Oh it was very exciting - a nappy bucket (I also ordered our nappies and accoutrements from the nappy lady, a great website where they advise you which nappies to get after you fill in a hugely detailed questionnaire that covers everything from lifestyle and priorities right down to plumbing and laundry facilities. See, I've been busy!) and some raspberry-leaf tea. (Actually it's raspberry-leaf-and-something tea but the something is a plant that has a kanji name so I couldn't read it. It's small and has yellow flowers.) I looked at changing bags but ran away in fear - will try again Friday. Too much choice! I kicked all my extra pillows out of bed last night, meaning I am extra stiff and sore today, hobbling about like an old lady. But I'm going to a prenatal yoga class tomorrow so I hope that will smooth me back out again. Thursday, January 15, 2004
Oh my goodness. Two of the ladies from my 'due in March' messageboard have given birth! Of course the babies are in incubators and what have you, so it's not like they've got them home to be looked after, but it has realy brought home that it's Not Long Now!
My only other news is that I have some sort of tummy bug so I've had two icky days. That's the downside of the pregnancy-induced lowered immune system - the upside is that my allergies have gone away so I've eaten a pear and almonds and marzipan and everything in the past couple of weeks. Tuesday, January 13, 2004
32 weeks
The name debate continues as I feel smug and finger-on-the-pulse as all the slightly obscure names I like - or pretend to like to get Cameron to react - appear in last year's top 100. Cameron fails to grasp the fact that Noah was a person, arguing that perhaps Gomorrah would be just as good, and claims that Tegan was made up for Doctor Who (it's a good cornish name!). He doesn't have his finger anywhere near the pulse. Generally I'm feeling well though having the odd nosebleed - not sure whether it's pregnancy related or just the high pressure and dry air here. Allie over at baby m has summed up exactly how I've been feeling lately - keen to do something for the baby but not really able to. It's too early to start washing things (what if something dreadful happened and they had to go back?). There is still shopping to be done so I suppose I'll just try and tick off the rest of my list. Aren't hormones weird? I have a real baby brain. Still, the first thing to happen is the birth of my niece-or-nephew: not long to go now! Suzanne and Chris seem to be all prepared, they're putting us to shame. But oh, it's so easy at home, land of mothercare and other lovely shops. Boo. Oh and I was speaking to a girl at the pregnancy group this morning who had rushed off to her doctor in a panic after giving herself food poisoning then not feeling the baby move for some time. Apparently he had tried to reassure her by saying not to worry, because if necessary they can usually deliver the baby even if the mother is dead! Fantastic. Thursday, January 08, 2004
More on names
Scottish island names are quite nice: Iona, Lewis, Skye. Only given that our cats are Islay and Jura, I think we have to rule them out. You can take a theme too far. (Also ruled out for the same reason: Eigg, Muck, Rhum. Unst.) Oh! I just found the Islay and Jura website (here). They never told me they had one! Tuesday, January 06, 2004
31 weeks
And the poor child still has no name. No ideas for a name. Cameron has now admitted that it will have to have one, though still not made one suggestion - he says he can't think of anything good enough. I have tried to fool him by playing Nick Hornby-style games "name your top three boy's names" but he gets around that by listing Cameron, William, Thomas (ie his name, his middle name, his father's name). We will have to think of some before it arrives, else what will it think in years to come when it asks what it would have been called if it had been a boy/girl (delete as appropriate)? I have always been pleased to be a girl, knowing that had I been a boy I'd have been Peter. In other news, we have a hospital appointment on Friday. I have to go at least twice in order (I think) that I'm known to them, should I have to have the baby there rather than the clinic (regulations are strict here and hospitals do apparently turn away labouring women whose names are not down). It means I have to have another scan, despite not really wanting one. And yes, everybody thinks I'm insane for not wanting one, but it isn't the first time. I don't feel that strongly about it though: I suppose it will be nice to see if it has arms this time! |
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