Maternity Leave

And so now I'm on maternity leave. The time has gone by so scarily quickly that I almost feel dizzy. I had my last day at work on Friday and I spent Tuesday and Wednesday last week handing over to my maternity cover, Amy. She is really nice and I know she'll do a great job, but I can't help but feel sad to be passing over the reins to someone else. I'm nervous about my new job too, which I'll have for the rest of my life, of being a mum! It's all felt very final this week and I've been sad to say goodbye to Diane at work. For a leaving present I got a Sophie le Giraffe for the baby, which is like a dogs chew toy but for babies and is apparently one of the best toys out there for newborns. I also got a £65 voucher for Moors health and beauty salon in Colchester that I'm really looking forward to cashing in!

Last weekend I had my baby shower where I was spoilt rotten and got lots of beautiful gifts for the baby. The shower was at Maison Talbooth in Dedham on the 12th October and the 18 of us that came enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea. It was a wonderful, memorable day.

I think it's these photos my mum took which made me realise how big I have become! Not just my pregnant body, but my face and arms seem so swollen. The last few weeks of pregnancy are definitely tough because I feel uncomfortable about 90% of the time. The heartburn is terrible, I wake up every night with disgusting acid reflux that makes me feel so sick. The other night I had so much pain from acid indigestion that I had to wake up J at 2am who had to drive me to Highwoods Tesco to pick up some Rennie. Not surprisingly, he wasn't too happy...

So with just a few weeks to go, I'm now playing the waiting game. I woke up last night to use the bathroom and I was drenched in sweat. I started to panic thinking my waters had broken, but no, I had just got too hot. Then I started to feel some twinge like pains as I stood up - but no, labour had not begun. I now know that every twinge, cramp, ache or pain is going to bring about a flurry of questions in my mind. Am I in labour? Is this it? I also know that I'm going to have to ramp up my hypnobirthing practice as the nearer I get to my due date, the more daunting and scary it all becomes. J and I have been practicing the visualizations and I am amazed by the sense of deep calm I feel as he reads to me, but I need to get his voice recorded so I can hear him read the scripts out loud when he's not here.

My dear Dad also sold my beloved car, Otis, last week for me. I got a very good price for him but I was heartbroken to say goodbye. I had some adventures in that car...

So, to round up, my hospital bag is packed, the baby's clothes have been washed (twice - because I didn't know I had to use non bio detergent the first time), the nursery is painted and we're ready to go. Every minute of every day will just be spent now hoping and praying that our little one arrives safe and sound.