28 Week Bump

I was looking at my bump photos from when I was pregnant with Freyja and I'm much bigger now at 28 weeks than I was with Freyja at 30 weeks (but still smaller than I was at 37 weeks, thank goodness - I'd have been worried about what I was going to give birth to otherwise!) People keep telling me I look all neat and tidy (though definitely bigger than last time), but I feel huge and heavy. It probably doesn't help that I can't stop eating cakes!!

Here I am at 28 weeks:

Ha Ha.

I had the most charming comment left on my blog today:

'I should get out more If I were you......... if you've got that much time on yer hands to write this stuff yer kids are probably suffering'

Funnily enough, it was left on a post I wrote about morning sickness - when 'get[ting] out more' was the last thing on my mind...

Myself, I wonder about the people who have the time not only to read but also to comment on blogs they obviously aren't interested in.

...Neither does my Toddler

After about 3 weeks of brilliant sleeping through behaviour (most of the time) she's back to waking up and this time we've had a few nights where she's been difficult to get back down as well. Sometimes she doesn't really seem to be properly awake but is crying out and I have settle her back down. Other times she wants her books - at 2.30am.

God, I'm tired.

My Baby Never Sleeps!

Not Freyja (though she has her moments...), the new one. Having refused to move for over 2 hours at my 20 week scan, and me not feeling any movement until quite late for a second pregnancy, it's now like a 24 hour party in my tummy. I'm being kicked and booted most of the night and early morning, and a fair amount throughout the day as well. It also seems to just move around a lot so I get this weird rolling sensation.

It's completely different to how it was with Freyja. She was not very active at all - I'd get a flurry of movement around 9pm but other than that she didn't do much. And now she's a little live wire, so I'm not too worried yet that all this activity means anything much...

This pregnancy generally has been quite different to my first. The obvious one is that I'm much bigger. Freyja was only 6 pounds 10 ounces and I didn't really show until quite late on. With this one, although I didn't have a bump, I couldn't fit my normal trousers within only a matter of weeks. My bump is a bit different too - I carried very low with Freyja but I'm little higher this time round - I think the baby is sitting further up because I'm definitely feeling kicks higher up nearer my rib cage this time. I felt sick for the first 4 months with both pregnancies, though this time it was more constant and lasted all day and all night. I was less desperately tired in the first few months this time, but more generally tired all the time. In fact, thinking about it, I don't feel I have bloomed at all. Most of the time I feel like an 85 year old woman, I stiffen up throughout my pelvis when I sit down for too long, I keep getting an awful ache and crunching sensation in my groin and generally I'm achy and tired. I've also been feeling nauseous again in the last week. No heart burn or indigestion (yet) though, which I was also lucky enough to escape with Freyja too.

I think partly I just want the pregnancy over this time and I want to have my new baby. The first time it was so new and exciting and I think I could have happily stayed pregnant for ever, with Freyja safely curled up inside me. This time, I just want to meet my new baby, find out if it's a boy or a girl, introduce Freyja to her new brother or sister. Oh, and have a lovely glass of wine!

Just been to a proper birthday party - at Dulwich Park cafe, with balloons, hats, cake and ice-cream. And tears, of course.

It was ace.


And quite a few people did ask me what had happened to Freyja's nose....

Bashed Up Nose

Yesterday, my poor Freyja was sporting a rather unattractive swollen, red nose. She had been sitting on my bed and I asked her if she wanted to come with me to make the bed in the spare room. She told me she'd rather stay where she was so I said 'you must call mummy when you want to get down'. She nodded and I took the risk.....

.....all of 30 seconds later I heard howling from the bedroom and dashed back in to see her collapsed on the floor on all fours, bleeding from her nose. From the looks of it she'd gone face first. She yelled for ages and ages and I felt awful and guilty.

Anyway, she recovered and I started to see the extent of her nose injury - the right side of it was swelling up and it looked like she had carpet burn on it. It didn't hurt her when I touched it and an hour or so later she was pressing it against the window watching for her grandparents who were due to arrive, so I took it (after a phone call to check with Adrian - who knows from personal experience about broken noses) that it wasn't broken.

She's had to endure lots of Rudolph jokes but despite the state of her nose, she insists it was actually her knee that she hurt when she fell off.

This morning the swelling has gone and it's just a bit bashed up looking. We're off to a birthday party at Dulwich Park today. She looks gorgeous in her dress. Shame about the nose....

Another winner from IKEA

My friend Harriet called me from Ikea a few weeks ago. She was about to buy an easel for her daughter and wondered if I wanted her to get one for Freyja too. In the last few months Freyja has got quite into her drawing and as it cost a grand total of £14 I said yes.

Well if it hasn't turned out to be one of the best £14 we've spent. The easel is brilliant! It is white board on one side, black board on the other and you can get a scroll of paper to go in the middle which can be laid over either side for painting. I highly recommend it for any budding artists. Or perhaps just to prevent further scribbles appearing on your dining table...

Here is Freyja in the middle of one of her masterpieces. Apparently it is of herself, Adrian and me:

Happy 2008!

Ah, 2008! New year, new you! Or in my case, new year, new baby.

I don't mind January - I like the thought of a whole year ahead, a fresh start, unspoilt and with everything to look forward to. Plus, I know so many people with January birthdays - my mum, my brother, most of Freyja's friends, quite a few of my friends and my husband - that I can't really be too miserable about it.

I had a very enjoyable, (mostly) alcohol free New Year celebration spent at home with a few friends, so I've been feeling relatively lively today. I like to rid the house of all traces of Christmas as soon as possible in the new year so today has been spent cleaning, tidying, putting decorations away and generally getting the place back to normal. After a wonderfully busy festive season, I do now feel like I've got my house back and it's lovely.

Until next week anyway, when my parents arrive and all Freyja's unopened Christmas and birthday presents from them come out.