36 Weeks Pregnant

This afternoon we had my 36-week midwife appointment--Richard came along to this one, because we were talking about our birth plan. The midwife was happy with the plan & discussed all of the various contingency options, so we're feeling pretty confident & well-informed now. Baby's growth was still on track (and still head down!) and I'm still doing well, so they'll see me again in two weeks. At the end of the visit, she instructed me to call Maternity Assessment if labour starts or anything else happens before the next appointment--that made it all seem very real!

I'm definitely starting to feel like I'm full-term (very close!). Not quite waddling yet, but baby feels really big in there & it's getting harder to get comfortable. I have to elevate my feet often, take naps occasionally, and I have to sit up straight when I eat or drink anything. Those pregnancy yoga videos on YouTube have been so helpful, especially for my lower back. Last week I got my hair trimmed & some side-swept long bangs added--it feels much lighter & healthier now, and I'm glad they were able to take the split-ends off without losing too much length. 

Now that we're done with setting up the nursery & shopping for baby, I've still got a few weeks left to do other fun (but much less important) crafty things, like embroidering muslin squares! Such a first time parent thing to do, I know, but this kid is going to have really cute burp cloths!

Temple Newsam Gardens

Biscuit loves this box--she sleeps in it all day and drags her toys in & out of it. So cute!

She also likes to position herself in doorways--such a little fluff!

This weekend we went to Temple Newsam and had a lovely walk around the gardens

It was sunny but really windy, so we spent some time in the greenhouse

Ducklings!

34 Weeks Pregnant

 

I had another midwife appointment this morning and everything still looks good! Baby is measuring right on target (34cm at 34 weeks), which is a relief because last time it had measured 2cm ahead and this week's measurement makes the growth chart look more normal and consistent. I'm sure the baby will still be around 8 lbs, I'm just relieved it's not looking like 9+ lbs--and as long as my measurements stay normal, I won't have to go for a growth scan or be induced. I'm also relieved that baby is still head-down--so far, so good! According to my various websites/apps/books, the baby is about 5 lbs and 20 inches long this week.

We were so excited about the arrival of the royal baby this week! We were having lunch at Pret downtown and Richard thought we should check the news, just in case (we knew Kate had gone into labour that morning)--he pulled the BBC up on his phone and it had just been announced 12 minutes before! Like most people, we'd been hoping it would be a girl. I was glad they picked the name Charlotte, as it's a name that I like but would never use (it's the double t's, just like in Bettie). She looks a lot like Prince George (same big cheeks, very good coloring for a newborn) and Kate looked ridiculously good. I know it's just jealousy speaking but I don't approve of her looking that good--it creates unrealistic expectations for the postpartum period, a time when women should be focused on recovery and wearing loose, comfortable clothing and disposable panties, not Jenny Packham and heels. I wonder if they were trying to just keep all the media stuff quick & get it over with, so she could go home and recover in peace?

Tomorrow is the UK General Election! We've been watching all of the debates and following the campaign news all month (the election cycle is very short, only a month compared to the years of campaigning in the States), but it's still too close to call. Just about the only thing anybody can predict with any certainty is that it's going to be a hung parliament, just like the 2010 election. It's been fun to look at the campaign signs and posters people put up in their yards when we drive around--our neighborhood is mostly Lib Dem, which is more to do with our MP than the party (he's voted against the party line on the big controversial issues that hurt the party's reputation, like tuition fees and the bedroom tax). When we were down in the Birmingham area to visit Richard's dad, for example, we saw a lot of Labour and some Ukip, but on the road to Harrogate we saw a lot of Conservative posters. We really didn't see many signs on the way to York, but the surrounding farms were Conservative and in the city we saw a few Lib Dem ones. Such a mix--who knows what's going to happen?!!

Sunny Bank Holiday in York