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Jan 19, 2012

Week 39 – still hanging in here

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Photo © English Mamma

How far along?: 39 weeks and 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: Probably around 10 kilos – maybe a little more. What I don’t understand is how this is possible. I will be the first to admit that I have not exactly been eating well in the past few weeks (far too much chocolate and too many sweet things) but I don’t seem to be putting that much weight on. I guess it could be that since I’ve stopped working out, all that lovely heavy muscle I have built up is turning back into fat…

Stretch marks?: Yep, still there and still horribly purplish.

Sleep: Well, that would be nice, but not really happening. During the day I am tired and even just taking Little O to preschool is a struggle, but the moment I switch the light off at night, my brain goes into overdrive, the heartburn/acid reflux kicks in and I am wide awake. None of this is helped by Little O waking two or three times a night and crying out in his sleep. Oh well, just preparing me for the sleeplessness to come, I guess.

Best moment this week: Sitting down with Little O and the three new books that we’ve bought him about the arrival of a baby. Since then he’s picked up the books again and again (mostly to point out the pages with “Cars!” on them), but I am still glad I bought them and that we’ve had some time to read through them and for me to ask him if he minds that we’ll soon have a little baby living with us. Not sure how much he really understands, but I guess it’s just good to talk to him about it as much as we can.

Worst moment this week: The nights without proper sleep…

Movement: Some days it all seems a bit quieter in there and I wonder “Is this it? Could today be the day?” (as I seem to remember Little O stopped moving so much in the days immediately before he was born), and other days, like yesterday, the kicking and squirming is very apparent.

Belly button in or out?: Still out, still horrid…

What I miss: Being able to get around without losing my breath and feeling exhausted. (Ha! Well, I guess that exhaustion of a different kind is heading my way, so I’d better just bite the bullet.)

What I am looking forward to: Tomorrow evening when three mamma friends come over here with takeaway for our regular girls’ night out (or in, in this case).

Milestones: Well, I think I was having some contractions yesterday evening, so I guess we’re heading into the final, final stages now. They stopped overnight though, so I think they might have been just caused by me doing too much walking and too much carrying of Little O yesterday afternoon. But still, a sign that we’re getting very close now.

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Jan 13, 2012

Week 38 – getting close

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How far along?: 38 weeks and 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: I think about 10 kilos in total. The midwife weighed me at my appointment on Tuesday but she was quite willing to weigh me fully clothed and wearing my big winter boots. I insisted on taking them off beforehand, but as this is only the second time she’s weighed me throughout the pregnancy, it all seems a little arbitrary anyway.

Stretch marks?: Not sure if there are more of them or if they’re just widening and darkening and merging together.

Sleep: Sleep? Really? Some people sleep through the night? That would be nice. What with Little O waking twice or thrice a night over the past couple of weeks and my aches and pains (including a sharp burning sensation in my lower back on Tuesday night that woke me up and left me unable to catch my breath), I’ve not really been getting too much sleep. Enjoy as much sleep as possible before the baby comes? Huh, what nonsense…

Best moment this week: The fun that Little O and I have had when I pick him up from preschool. I think that we are both a little calmer now when I pick him up: he’s at preschool for about an hour less a day (in the Stockholm area, once you are on maternity leave for a second child, your first goes down to part-time at preschool, which works out at up to 30 hours a week) and I am not working and so am not hurrying from the office, still fielding calls and replying to emails and jumping on the bus to get to the preschool in time.

Worst moment this week: The pain I experienced on Tuesday night…

Movement: There’s still a lot of movement from gyermek but it does feel more subdued than before – not so much space for the little one now!

Belly button in or out?: Out – bleurgh…

What I miss: A good night’s sleep (although that’s not going to change for a long time!) and being able to get anywhere at any kind of speed.

What I am looking forward to: Being able to return to the hairdressers and get my hair highlighted again. Had not realised how grey I was going until now… I guess I should just count myself lucky though, as my mum started to go grey while still in her late teens.

Milestones: Well, this is it, really. On Tuesday, I had my last pre-due date midwife appointment. My next one is booked for 31 January (6 days after they calculate that I am due) and if I’m still pregnant then, we’ll be discussing when they want to induce me (at 42+0 weeks here).

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Jan 9, 2012

Learned this week

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This week, I learned that…

  • or more accurately, remembered what Braxton-Hicks contractions feel like – urgh
  • a toddler’s night terrors are pretty upsetting for a parent to witness (and I only hope that Little O doesn’t know/remember that he has them)
  • my shopping time has now been shortened to 60 minutes max
  • one way to brighten up a cold (-8 degrees – brrrr!) Stockholm Monday morning is to research Italian holiday villas – roll on June and sunshine!
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Jan 6, 2012

Photo 366 challenge – days 2-5/366

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Hmm, of course, I had forgotten that 2012 is a leap year, so there are in fact 366 days this year… And then I see from others’ tweets that there is actually a site called 365 Project. So, now the question is whether I want also to upload the photos there. On the one hand, there is the likelihood that I will, in fact, frequently, forget to upload the photos there as well as here (especially with the imminent arrival of gyermek in the next few weeks); but on the other, it’s a great way to see the photos of others and also to interact (and isn’t that what I said was what I loved about the internet?)…

I’ll ponder it a little longer, I think.

In the meanwhile, here are my photos from the past few days.

Day 2:

Photo © English Mamma

Not for this year, unfortunately, as Little O is still too little and as gyermek will also be too small for us to undertake a five-hour car journey up north, but the plan is definitely to resume the annual family ski trip in 2013. Woo hoo!

Day 3:

Photo © English Mamma

Little O’s artistic skills are starting to bloom. Today was a quiet day as I was hit by a 24-hour stomach bug and so he and I just lazed around indoors after he finished at pre-school.

Day 4:

Photo © English Mamma

A new purchase – wondering if organising stationery is part of the nesting process?

Day 5:

Photo © English Mamma

So, it has finally snowed properly here in Stockholm (although today is warmer, with no snow, and so most of it has now melted away). We headed to the playground with Little O and met up with friends so the toddlers could play together.

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Dec 30, 2011

Week 36 – So near, yet so far…

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Photo © English Mamma

How far along?: 36 weeks and 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: Who knows! What I do know is that I feel huge and only getting bigger each day…

Stretch marks?: Oh yes, many. Luckily, I cannot see them too often as they’re hidden away down underneath my belly.

Sleep: Random. Some nights are good, others bad. Generally, the good nights follow on from a bad night, because I am exhausted and just crash out.

Best moment this week: Husband and Little O returning from their extended break down in southern Sweden.

Worst moment this week: The usual aches and pains that come in these weeks and the point on Tuesday when I thought I was about to go into labour all alone in the apartment. That was a scary moment.

Movement: Oh, oh, yes. This is one very wriggly little baby, even in that cramped space.

Belly button in or out?: Almost fully out. Let’s say no more about it.

What I miss: Oh so many things, but mainly being able to move as freely as I could before. I am trying to walk as much as I can, but I am oh so slow these days.

What I am looking forward to: A fun New Year’s Eve night. We had originally planned just to spend the night in, but yesterday a friend arrived on our doorstep to invite us to their place for the evening – lovely.

Milestones: Reaching “full term” (ie 37 weeks) in only a few days. According to Baby Centre, I can now give birth at any time. And it really feels like it.

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Dec 28, 2011

Learned this week

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This week, I learned that…

  • baking macarons is still fun but also still time-consuming, with still a lot to learn
  • I am starting to understand Twitter a bit more now
  • gyermek is a very active and wriggly little baby – cannot wait to see what that translates into after birth, given that Little O is a little ball of energy but did not move this much when I was carrying him
  • the apartment feels very empty without said little ball of energy… Roll on tomorrow when he and Husband arrive back home!
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Dec 17, 2011

Week 34 – slow moving

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Photo © English Mamma

How far along?: 34 weeks and 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: Still fluctuating weight but no one else seems that concerned,s o I guess it is fine. That said, my colleagues all think I look enormous already and one of the preschool teachers asked during the week how many days over I was now. A little worrying as I still have six weeks to go – and six weeks with a lot of growth!

Stretch marks?: Depressingly, yes. But I’m back using the almond oil again, so hopefully I can keep an extra ones at bay!

Sleep: Less and less. Although part of that might be because of problems that are cropping up at work, rather than pregnancy.

Best moment this week: Christmas rather than pregnancy related. On the way to Little O’s preschool Christmas concert, three teenage girls started singing Jingle Bells in harmony on the bus – it felt like such a Christmassy moment. Then, the Christmas concert itself was just adorable. Little O did not contribute much – he spotted me immediately, ran to me and would not leave my side to rejoin his classmates, except to join in the clapping at the end of the songs. All the older children sang their hearts out and the littlies sat, stood, cried and laughed at the front of the stage and were just so very cute in their little costumes,

Worst moment this week: The problems at work… I only have a handful of days to go but there seem to be so many things that I need to fix, and every time I cross one item off the To Do list, five others arise.

Movement: Ohhhh, yes. The midwife has confirmed that gyermek is head down now and all I can feel are hiccups deep, deep down and a little foot that likes to kick, kick, kick on the same, same, same spot. We wonder if this means another active little one is on its way.

Belly button in or out?: Out. End of. Don’t want to think about it further. Bleurgh…

What I miss: Being able to bend down, crouch down, look down comfortably. Being able to eat without heartburn and/or acid reflux.

What I am looking forward to: Stopping work, sadly enough. I am just too tired and too emotional these days.

Milestones: Apparently, I have missed a few, and according to Baby Centre’s checklist, I should already have made my birth plan and packed my hospital bag. Oops…

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Dec 11, 2011

Week 33 – raspberry leaf tea time

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Photo © English Mamma

How far along? 33 weeks and 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: I think I’ve put on about seven kilos but as I’ve said before, it’s all a little vague.

Stretch marks?: Thanks to the light over the full-length mirror having gone and having to use a table lamp on the floor, I can now see a lot of new stretch marks on the base of my bump – damn you, cruel uplighting!

Sleep: Not the best quality sleep these days. And Thursday night/Friday morning was interesting, to say the least… Little O has always been a great sleeper, but we had the single worst night with him. He woke at 00.45, shrieking. We bought him into our bed where he proceeded to start dozing off, then cough and wake up every ten minutes for the next three hours until Husband finally hit on the idea of a little bit of Calpol. Little O then crashed out in a heavy sleep until nearly 7am, but he lay starfished between us, his feet in my face and his head burrowing into Husband as we clung to the opposite edges of the bed…

Best moment this week: A Christmas get-together with friends yesterday afternoon – four little ones and a slightly bigger one running around and around till they exhausted themselves while we sat and chatted and ate. So much fun that we’ve decided to do it again soon.

Worst moment this week: Thursday night (see above)! A terrible shock for the parents of a good sleeper…

Movement: Yes, lots, and lots of hiccuping very low down. (Gyermek’s head is deep, deep down, according to the midwife; although I could have told her that already without having to be examined. The hiccups make me feel like gyermek could make an appearance any time now!)

Belly button in or out?: Too unpleasant to even think about. Luckily, it’s now disappeared into the no man’s land that is the bottom of the bump.

What I miss: Being able to bend over or bend down.

What I am looking forward to: The Christmas concert at Little O’s preschool on Thursday afternoon should be fun.

Milestones: Gyermek dropping into position is the biggest one that I can think of. Starting to feel a little more real now.

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