So yesterday I reached the 8 month mark in my pregnancy, it seems like only yesterday I was writting about being 7 months pregnant! which means I now have less than a month to go, scary yet incredibly exciting all at the same time! Nik and I keep commenting that soon we are going to meet our little man and we can’t really believe it! It certainly is becoming all very real.
I am still enjoying the whole experience but I’d be lying if I said it was a breeze! I have been very lucky with a very uncomplicated pregnancy so far but I think I’m just getting to that stage when I feel big, and a bit like a weeble! I keep bumping in to things, my bump gets in the way and I generally feel like I’m waddling everywhere. Never the less I love my little son with all my heart and I find myself getting super protective over him when Nik and I are discussing things. He suddenly becomes ‘my son’ when we disagree about something not ‘our son’….Nik laughs but I think it’s clear to see that I am going to be an over protective mother if I’m not careful!
(35 weeks)
So over the last few weeks I seem to have found my apatite! The 1st trimester I couldn’t eat because I felt sick all the time, the 2nd I couldn’t seem to finish a whole meal. Now however I seem to have become a human dustbin, I’m hungry all the time and despite my best efforts just can’t stop eating chocolate. Since last month I have managed to put on half a stone, putting my full weight gain up to a stone and a half, I was convinced that I was only going to put on a stone and a half but it looks like with another month to go I may hit the 2 stone mark pretty easily!
According to my baby apps baby Hood is now 20 inches long and pretty much fully grown, he just has a couple more pounds to put on before he is ready to come out.
I’m pretty convinced he is going to come early, or maybe that’s just me panicking that things aren’t finished yet!
I have had more midwife and hospital appointments and all the results say that he is developing as he should be. He is in the right position, he measures correctly, My blood levels are fine for someone with no spleen and dodgy bloody, so my hymotologist is happy, so all in all we are both happy and healthy and doing well which is fantastic news.
The only thing I did get annoyed about last week was when I went to see my consultant and she said quite mater of factly, ‘once you get to 40 weeks we’ll bring you in to be induced’ Induction is something we have spoken about in hypnobirthing and something that is very much frowned upon. Induction generally leads to a higher chance of having a C section and also it is a key player in getting rid of all the natural pain relief in your system. I have been taught though hypnobirthing to keep things as natural as possible and that ‘baby knows best’ and when he is ready to come out he will come out, no sooner, no later!
I said a straight no to my consultant and she was pretty shocked but I stuck to my guns. I can’t see why they want to induce me if nothing is wrong with me or the baby and I’m having a normal pregnancy. It seems to be a rule these days with mothers over 40 these days but I’m sticking to my guns!
Apart from that I am very much looking forward starting my maternity leave in 2 weeks’ time. 3 months off which doesn’t seem enough to be honest but when you are self-employed it’s pretty hard to take any time off at all.
Getting stuff done
- The main thing we have done this month is swapped my office and turned it into the nursery. The painters came a couple of weeks ago and painted my old yellow office a lovely pale green colour. Nik spent ages putting all the flat packed furniture together and yesterday we got all of baby Hoods clothes hung up in his wardrobe. My new office (Nik’s old office) is also finished and as much as it is small I love the bright colour scheme.
- Apart from the nursery we haven’t really done that much more. We bought some more bits of the list and have our last shopping trip booked in for this weekend. We only have a few items left to get and then that should be it. I’m sure there will be a million things that we need to get once he has arrived but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it
- We had our maternity shoot last night with Jon from S6 photography and had so much fun! So far Nik has taken quite a few pictures of me, just as a record really of each stage of the pregnancy but we wanted some professional ones done to record the bump properly. I shall be sharing them on the blog as soon as they are ready.
Stuff still to do
- The nursery just needs a few bits and bobs to finish it off, lamp shades, coat hooks, laundry baskets all that sort of thing, so that is on my list to do this week and then it will be all ready for him. Nik and I keep walking into the nursery and grinning to ourselves. We admit we may have gone a bit overboard buying everything brand new for him but we just wanted it to be perfect!
- I have to get my hospital bag packed. I made a start yesterday buying bits from the internet for the hospital, slippers, something to wear during the birth, new summer PJs, but there is so much more it seems, so again something to do this week
My Body
Apart from that my body seems to be just about holding up, the backache is still pretty rubbish as is my diaphragm being crushed but I think I’m just getting used to that now. The worst thing seems to be my pig trotter feet. They have swollen up to ridiculous proportions, it actually hurts to walk now, and I can only just wriggle my toes about! The rise in temperature isn’t really helping matters!
Baby Hood is still kicking ten to the dozen, my stomach has taken on a life of its own now, Nik is in amazement at how much it moves about when we are watching TV. Baby hood certainly has settled into a routine, even at night-time now I am waking up at the same times, which I’m lead to believe will likely be his feeding times when he is born!
So with only 30 days left till my due date I am excited and nervous all at the same time. As soon as I’ve bought all the last bits for the nursery and finished packing my hospital bag I will feel a lot better. I have a stack of things to finish off at work, so if he could wait a couple of week before he makes an appearance that would be great! Ideally I’d like to enjoy a week of my maternity leave before he joins us but if he comes a couple of weeks early I really won’t mind. I just can’t wait to meet him now; his arrival has been a long time coming and something so special and dear to us, especially as we were told two years ago that I could never have children!
So baby Hood is going to be loved with every bone in my body, I don’t think I’m quite ready for the impact he is going to have on our lives and our hearts but My God I can’t wait for what’s ahead of us!
Big Boho Love
Kelly xx
So exciting to read about your pregnancy at 8 months. Everyone elses pregnancies seem to fly by!
Just thought I’d put in my two penneths worth about induction. My understanding is that the risks of stillbirth and danger to the mum’s health increase significantly after 40 weeks and that increases with the age of the mum. I know it sounds scaremongering but you never know who is going to be that statistic. The rates of intervention are higher because once induced and in advanced labour they can’t leave you too long to get the baby out. I think its something to do with the fact they started it off artificially rather than your baby/ body doing it. But that doesnt mean you won’t be able to have a drug free hypnobirth with no intervention. And even if you weren’t induced it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t need intervention.
I agreed to an induction at 41+5 meaning our son was born at 41+6. I still had the calm hypnobirth I had hoped for and it was very unmedicalised, quiet and quick with no drugs.
I totally agree that it is your choice to take though, and as long as they monitor you daily and you both seem to be well you should be able to wait and see if baby hood will come out of his own accord before 42 weeks.
Looking forward to seeing your maternity photos, I loved mine. And good luck with the final preparations, I’m so looking forward to hearing your happy news x
Thanks so much Lucy.
Very interesting to read that you stil managed to have a calm hypnobirth even with induction.
I’m hoping it won’t come to that, but I was just annoyed that the doctor seemed to think it was routine to bring me in at bang on 40 weeks to eb induced even though I have had a healthy preganncy.
Hopfully baby Hood wil be either early or on time so we won’t need to worry.
Glad went well for yours
xxx
Hi hon,
Lovely blog I too remember how I kept looking in on the nursery seeing all the new baby things it’s just such a wonderful time, relish it! Re being induced as you know I was induced with Charlote not because I was overdue but due to having preeclampsia. Although there was intervention I still managed to have a drug free delivery which was amazing bearing in mind she did weigh 10lb5!! So it can be achieved, however, I agree with you, if everything is fine and there are no complications and if you and my little nephew!! Are monitored correctly then I don’t see why you should automatically be induced at 40 weeks just because of your age. Surely the decision should be made only if there are signs of any problems etc. or if he is overdue. They talked of inducing me with Zac if he went over more than 10 days and, thankfully, he was only 8 days late. I too cannot wait to meet my new little nephew, words cannot express how so so happy we are for you both. Lots of love Sal x