Hat

Hat
Originally uploaded by mellopuffy

I've been getting this impulse to do something with my hands. That, and the request that we take along something special that we have bought/been given/planned to the final antenatal class had me looking through my copy of Stitch n' Bitch to find something that I could have a go at knitting. This wee hat popped out (easy, cute, etc.) as an idea, so off I trotted to the knitting store to buy circular needles etc.

So here it is - my first attempt at knitting in ummmmm 15 years? It took far less time than I thought it would. Seeing as there seems to be a lot of people in my family alone that are popping out sproglets, I think I might be able to keep myself busy for the next wee while.

9 weeks to go today. I'm feeling BIG (more photos to come soon) and quite a few of the preggie clothes that I have been wearing for the past 14 weeks or so are even beginning to get tight! Went up to my parents place in the weekend as Mum organised a baby shower for us. A really lovely chance to see family. And mum ordered yummy cookies and cupcakes for the party which was awesome (I'm such a cupcake fiend!). One of our oldest family friends confided that in all her years, she had never actually been to a baby shower before! Everyone was really generous, which is such a great help (even using trade me, getting the basics is pretty expensive... though I must admit I am a sucker for slings etc in pretty fabrics).

My cousin N had her first baby in the weekend (on the other side of the world from here...). I got a few texts as her labour progressed (fantastically, she managed a 10 minute second stage of labour - I should be so lucky!), and then finally, a really neat message after she had taken her new baby girl, Emily, home, about how amazing she is.... I'm coming over all emotional now!

But seriously, the enormity of it all is beginning to sink in. I'm impatient to see what our little person is going to be and look like, but at the same time I guess a bit apprehensive about how things are going to go for the rest of the pregnancy and of course, during the labour. Our ante-natal classes are finished, and we're now seeing the midwife fortnightly. Baby A is apparently already standing on its head which is good. I like the feeling of knowing what it is that is actually poking and prodding me from the inside (I know where the legs and arms are now). So wish me luck!

Hmmm I wonder which side bubs is sitting on...?

Mels belly lopsided 27 weeks.jpg
Originally uploaded by mellopuffy

Movement is definitely being felt now - in fact at times it is positively uncomfortable (belly button area being esp sensitive). There is something strange about looking down and seeing half your belly sticking out further than the other side. There is still another week until we see the midwife again, so I'm counting down to be able to find what position the baby is in etc. That will be our 28 week visit, so from then on we will be seeing her every fortnight - only 12 weeks to go! I managed a good walk down to St Clair and (most of the way) back with Amy this afternoon - for some reason I'm feeling a bit more energetic than I was a few weeks ago. I have been going to preggie yoga which is really helping the sore muscles and ligaments - they just don't seem to stick around annoying me as much now.

In literature news, I have made the resolution to resolutely ignore the statement repeated in many of the baby rearing books I have been perusing of late, that it is IMPERATIVE that I follow this or that advice that they are touting. Other than it being imperative to feed, cloth, change your baby (as well as avoiding dropping it on its head of course), I don't see how any other advice can be 'imperative' - I mean all babies are different, ay? What is good advice to dealing with one baby may not work with another....so I've decided that I must view this phrase with suspicion. There just seems to be so much critical writing out there that bombards pregnant women from every direction, I'm almost at a point where I want to shut everything away, in order to avoid imploding from the anticipation of my own inadequacy!

Right - rant over, glad I got that out.... move on....