Pregnancy week 30 - Summer

Hello,
This week i have mostly been e-baying. God i forgot how addictive it is. I now contantly have my ebay summary up on screen in the background to keep an eye on items i am bidding on - its so sad!
Anyway down to business. I had the all clear from the diabetes tests so thats a definate plus point. I have my next appointment with the midwife on Monday, i think i have to see her every 2 weeks now until the baby arrives.
I have booked up the other anti-natal classes (the ones where you practice breathing and discuss the drug options etc). The first one is on the 4th July and i am really looking forward to that, so is Phil strangely.
Phil went away last weekend fishing so i thought i would take the opportunity to get a few things done around the house and pack my hospital bag (the one you keep by the door ready to grab when you go into labour) but to my annoyance i got very little done. Phil had left my dad with strict instructions to not let me overdo it (he knows me so well!). My dad even had to escort me to Tescos and would not even allow me to push the trolley!
I got too tired to do most of the jobs anyway and by sunday night felt a bit off colour again. I did start my hospital bag though. I printed a list off the internet of the basic things you will need and there is so much. My bag is huge but i can happily say that most of it is for the baby like a pack of nappies, cotton wool, baby wipes, baby grows, towels, blankets... the list goes on and on. But the list of things i need to pack for me is horrible: old knickers (as they will get ruined - nice!), breast pads, an old nightdress that will also get ruined, maternity sanitary towels, two towels (preferrably dark colours as they will also be ruined) and they also suggest you take ear plugs and an eye mask as you will probably end up on a noisy ward full of screaming babies. Its safe to say i am now in full panic mode! All of this did however give me an excuse to splash out on all knew toiletries and stuff which is nice. Anyway its basically ready now i just need to make sure it is kept somewhere Phil can find it and that on the day he does not forget to grab my make-up bag too. I could not imagine being parted from my make-up bag especially with visitors coming to see me and the baby. I also don't want my baby to be frightened of me the first time she sees me.
Speaking of seeing i came accross an interesting fact the other day that i would like to share with you. Babies can see when they are born (in fact they can see inside you from around 30 weeks pregnancy) although they can only see a very short distance. Children do not form full 20/20 vision until they are around 8 or 9 years old. Honestly i read this from my pregnancy development website and have since read it on a few other sites. Fascinating stuff.
I am feeling much brighter recently but still get very tired very easily. My ankles are still swelling like balloons but i am starting to get used to it. I am extremely pleased to announce that my belly button still has not popped out!! It has definitely evened off though (its like i don't have a belly button at all). Hopefully it won't suddenly pop out in the last few weeks as i am definitely growing bigger at a very fast rate.
Strangely i had expected to have alot of back pain by this stage with the extra weight. My back has always been fairly weak due to an incident when i was younger. I was in a park with a boy from middle school (Gary Sherlock for those of you that care) and we were on the seesaw, he thought it would be hilarious to jump off while i was in mid air but i neglected to see the funny side when the seesaw came crashing down at full spead and jarred my back. I couldn't walk (or even breath) properly for a little while after and have suffered with a bad back ever since. It gets much worse on cold days or days when i have overdone things a bit but during pregnancy it has been pain free (apart from early on when i threw it out cutting the hedges but that was my own stupid fault).
Anyway... Have you been watching Eastenders??? i can barely bring myself to watch it now as i just want to cry every time Dawn says her baies name. Phil is adament he does not want to change it as he has really got used to the name now so i think he will get his own way on this one. Curse Eastenders.... damn you, damn you to hell!
Not much else going on this week really. Its my friends 30'th birthday at the weekend and we are popping over to her BBQ (weather permitting!) which will be nice as i haven't seen her since being pregnant so its been a long time. Next week will be much more eventful as i have my midwife appointment, anti-natal class and my friends wedding.
Speak to you next week
Mum to be
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Pregnancy week 29 - Summer

God week 29 already...
First things first - the diabetes tests. Midwife came on Tuesday morning to do the tests and hinted that she now thought i did NOT have diabetes but to wait until the results come back as i could be borderline. I have spent most of this morning trying to get my results but my doctors are being a nightmare and won't tell me anything. They basically said "there are no notes attached to your results so assume they are clear". When i pushed them on this and asked if that really meant i had the all clear they panicked and said they couldn't really tell me anything which is awfully unhelpful. I have had to call the midwife to get her to sort it out for me - just waiting for her to call me back!
The hernia has been ok but mainly because i have been under the strict eye of my husband who won't let me do anything (or at least he wouldn't last week - this week both my husband and dad have quickly forgotten and i am the scivvy again!). But as long as i don't overdo it i can keep the pain to a minimum so thats good.
On to the most annoying and upsetting thing that happened this week. On Tuesday night my entire world came crashing down and now i am stuck in a dilemma! For those of you that watch Eastenders you will be aware that 'Chav' Dawn went into labour on the tube on Tuesday night but more importantly was that before that happened she told a lady what she would be naming her baby... To my utter horror she said the one name in the entire world that i have picked to call my baby!!!
No joke - i was almost crying as this will have a significant impact on whether i still use the name or not. Me and my family are really attached to this name now but with the kind of influence a programme like Eastenders has on the public i am now worried that lots of people will now also use the name and it will become a very popular (and perhaps common name). I big part of the deciding the name was that both myself and my husband have such traditional names and throughout my life there has always been so many people around that share my name. I had 3 Katherine's in my class at school, i worked with 3 Katherine's at my last job and in my current job i have worked with 5 in total. Sound silly and people are probably saying so what but at school to save on confusion they named me Katherine 1 and in my working life i have had to use the shortened version of Kat more and more. I just really liked the idea of giving my child a name that you wouldn't come across so often.
Trouble is i am so attached to the name now that i am not sure if i want to change it. What do i do?????
The wardrobe is finally put together and all the clothes are hung up and waiting to be worn. The entire nursery is set up ready for use now. The nappies are in place and the blankets are all washed. Its getting really exciting now. My cousin gave me a load of girls clothes the other day (which practically filled the wardrobe) and it is just so funny to think that something that small will be wearing them soon. Even Phil got a jittery when he saw the room completed.
Phil is going away this weekend on a fishing trip so i am planning to catch up with a few people i haven't seen for a while which will be nice. My friend Jason had a little girl a few weeks back so i plan to go and visit them. I am also planning to start getting my hospital bag ready. I have printed a list off the internet which gives you a basic run down of the stuff you will probably need - think i will need a truck as there is so much stuff.
Oh, sold the Aerosmith tickets on ebay in the end. Phil made a loss but its better than completely wasting them. Really don't think it was such a wise move to think i could stand around in a park all day. On the subject of tickets i have done something really dumb!! remember i mentioned the play that Orlando Bloom was appearing in well i bid on some tickets on Ebay (row E) but have now realised the day the tickets are for is the same day as my friends wedding... As irony would have it i am still the highest bidder (although there are still 4 days left) so i can only hope that i am outbid otherwise i will be trying to flog these tickets next week too.
We are planning to have a week off together in July (our last break before the baby comes) and decided that as its our wedding anniversary in July too that we are going to London to watch Wicked and stay in a hotel up there and make a night of it. I am quite excited.
The heartburn is getting much worse and i have to be sure that i don't eat too close to my bed time otherwise i am up all night with it. Speaking of bedtimes i am rudely awaken every morning at about 4am as i need to have a wee!
The final complaint this week is my ankles. They are swelling up so much. Phil and i both really pannicked last week as we both thought my feet were going to pop as they had gotten so big. It seems to get worse towards the end of the week and all i can really do is to put my feet up and hope they go down. It sometimes gets to the point where it hurts to walk as the skin is stretched so tightly. I cannot take my shoes off until i am certain i will not need to go out again as i would never get them back on again.
So to sum up i am still none the wiser about the diabetes although it looks unlikely now, the hernia is under control, Chav Dawn stole my baby's name, i am somewhat sleep deprived, my ankles look like a 90 year olds, I am an idiot when it comes to buying tickets (mainly due to my crap memory) but the good news is that I ONLY HAVE 2 MONTHS LEFT!!! YAY!!!
Believe it or not i am in a good mood and am getting more and more excited by the day. I just want to meet my daughter.
See you next week
Mum to be
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Pregnancy week 27 & 28 - Summer

Hi again,
You may be confused as to why i didn't write a blog last week and why i am doing this weeks early. Well lets just say its been a very eventful few weeks. I have been somewhat poorly and now know why.
Last week i was severely hit with nausea, dizziness and a number of other ailments that i probably shouldn't have kept to myself. I have also been getting a strange pain in my tummy next to my belly button. This pain has gotten gradually worse over the course of about 3 weeks and secretly i was really starting to worry about it. I found myself on the internet looking up my symptoms and coming up with all sorts of silly things.
Anyway yesterday i had a routine midwife appointment and told her all my symptoms. Funnily enough after having an excellent bill of health up until this point everything started to fall apart and they have discovered two things wrong with me and both sound far worse than they actually are (honestly).
The first is that my urine sample has shown up high levels of sugar which means i have gestational diabetes. I have to have further tests next Tuesday to find out what level i have and how serious it actually is. It will almost definitely just disappear after i have given birth although it does leave you with a higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes later in life. It will simply be a case of working out a stricter diet and stop skipping meals etc. The implications of this on the baby are still very under-researched and the main thing they will check is the size of the baby as this can cause her to be a large baby (in some cases too large which will result in a ceasarean). But as i said i do not yet know which level i have and it is very dependent on that. Considering i have been absolutely healthy up until now means it is looking good for me.
The second thing they have discovered is that it is highly likely i have a stomach hernia! This will explain the pain i have been getting next to my belly button. Unfortunately for me there is very little they are willing to (or can) do until after the baby is born. So i just have to put up with the discomfort and pain. After the birth these type of hernias quite often sort themselves out but if it doesn't i will probably need to have it operated on before i have my next child. Again i don't think it is worth worrying about at the moment as there is nothing i can do.
My husband is being an angel and won't let me do anything now. I am under strict instructions (from him) not to lift anything and that includes simple things like doing the washing. I know he means well but i can see that this is going to get annoying. I think he is finding this all a bit difficult as i never ever get ill or at least if i do i tend to just carry on and not really tell anyone so to see me so vulnerable i think is difficult for him. He told me yesterday that for the first time ever he had spent the whole day worrying about what might happen to me or the baby and it really scared him. I honestly do not think anything bad will happen and i don't think you can really think like that anyway but it certainly makes you evaluate what is important in your life. He is being so attentive and considerate - i just hope he knows that i do really appreciate it.
Anyway i had to get all of this down while it was fresh in my mind. For the first time in weeks i actually don't feel particularly ill and i am sure its because it is all a bit clearer in my head now and i can stop being paranoid.
Lets move onto brighter things. Had a nightmare over the last two weeks trying to get the wardrobe & drawers delivered for the nursery. It finally came yesterday. I put the drawers together and they look fine although Phil was very cross as i should have been resting. I will probably have to wait until the weekend to get the wardrobe put together as Phil won't let me do it myself.
We also popped into toys 'r' us and got a cool changing table with shelves which transforms into a baby bath. Its on wheels for ease of use. Its so cool but we have put the wheels on slightly wrong and it is a bit wonky at the moment - the baby would probably roll right off it! Its easily sorted though.
I think thats about it for now. Next week i will be able to update you on my glucose tests.
Oh before i go i just want to say a massive congratulations to my sister for passing her degree and to my brother for passing his driving test. I am very very proud of you both as they are both huge achievements.
See you next week
Mum to be
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Pregnancy week 26 - Summer

Hi all,
Its been another slow, uneventful week..
I have stupidly worn my heals again today for the first time in weeks and realised that it wasn't such a bright idea as my feet and back are now killing me. It has also highlighted how much my ankles have swollen as i can't even do my knee length boots up! Funnily enough one ankle/ foot is much more swollen than the other which does look really funny. The only way to ease this i have found is just soaking my feet when i get home from work in a bowl of warm water with bubbles. While on the subject of feet i am on the brink of giving up wearing socks as i am now really struggling to bend that far to put them on. At the weekend i had to get phil to tie my shoe laces as i just couldn't stretch over the bump. I have figured out a way of doing it although it is very awkward, i simply put my foot on the third step (on my staircase) and push my knee out to the side this way i can lean forward quite far.
As you have grasped by now the bump is still getting bigger. It is at the stage where it is starting to get to me somewhat. I am having absolutely no luck in finding a flattering dress to wear to my sisters graduation & my friends wedding in July. It is soul destroying to go from shop to shop passing the beautiful dresses at the front of the shop to get to the frumpy maternity wear at the back. Smock tops are everywhere which is useful for me but at the same time they are not dressy enough to wear to a wedding. Before anyone starts suggesting really good websites i must also point out that i am restricted somewhat by price as i refuse to spend £60 - £90 for a dress i will only fit into for the next 3 months.
My hormones are definately starting to take over my emotions as Phil is my witness. I have cried alot this week mainly for no reason or silly little reasons. It is extremely hard not to just give in and burst into tears at any given moment.
The wardrobe for the nursery is arriving tomorrow and i have already been to tesco to get some mini coathangers (in pink & purple - god its started already). Apart from that i have eased up somewhat on buying baby stuff. So as i got paid last week i am going shopping on saturday - think i will pass by the baby section in toys R us. My mum bought lots of cute pink clothes last week. I will certainly be able to fill the wardrobe!!!!!
I am starting to get constant thoughts of the birth now. I'm getting slightly freaked out by it all. Funnily enough it hasn't bothered me at all up until this week. But with only 14 weeks to go and being told that technically she can come at any time from now really i suppose has flung me into the realities of it all. I should start to get Braxton Hicks (fake contractions) very soon which i am suspecting will freak me out alot. Started thinking about what i need for my hospital bag. To be honest as long as i have my make-up and hair brush i will be happy though.
Nothing more to say I'm afraid except is it just me or is everyone on the planet pregnant at the moment???? It just seems that everywhere i look there are pregnant women waddling about. Perhaps it is just my heightened awareness of it - who knows.
Anyway i will go and peal these god awful heals from my feet now.
See you next week.
Mum to be
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Pregnancy week 25 - Summer

Hello again,
I saw the midwife on monday and it turns out i am suffering from this doming thing i mentioned last week. Its nothing too serious but i have to be extra careful and try to not make it worse. The only way i can do this is by not lifting much and making sure i get out of bed the way i was shown. It is just about not putting too much pressure on my tummy muscles.
It seems the morning sickness is back... Only in the evenings though thankfully. I am constantly tired again and no amount of sleep makes me feel any better. I also feel quite sick in the evenings (possibly worse than in the first 3 months). I have also started to lose my appetite again - although i am forcing myself to eat as it is crucial at this stage that i get all the goodness i can to pass onto the baby. I can only pray that this is not going to be the way i feel until the end. It will hopefully just pass!??!
We went to Phils parents 20th wedding anniversary party at the weekend which i found so tiring. I completely understand that people want to ask me lots of questions about being pregnant and the baby etc but my god after 4 hours of talking about nothing else and answering the same questions i was ready to hide somewhere. Perhaps its just that for me it feels like i have been pregnant forever now and i worry that people have forgotten who i am. I don't want to be seen as the pregnant one. This may not make much sense - i will try to explain.
I am fairly fun loving and absolutely love to go out on a friday or saturday night drinking pints or double vodkas (might even throw in some sambuka for good measure). I used to have fun wherever i went and had quite an active social life. If i wasn't at the pub i was meeting a friend for coffee or going to the cinema, the theatre, concerts even frequenting theme parks quit alot. Since being pregnant i can't think of anything worse than sitting in a pub and am starting to avoid group gatherings of any kind as people only really seem to talk to me about the baby (maybe they feel they have to). I have no interesting stories to tell in conversations anyway as i have been sober and hiding away since January. So perhaps i have nothing better to talk about myself than being pregnant.
I just can't wait to remind people who i really am and what fun i like to have and how sociable i can be. In saying that obviously my life is going to change considerably anyway as i will have a child which will mean my priorities are going to be very different but i still want to keep some of my own time and not forget that i am still only 25 and should enjoy it. The bottom line is that i think i am going stir crazy and i want my identity back - i am Katherine Henden not Katherine the pregnant one.
This probably coincides with me feeling like a complete whale. I have my sisters graduation and a wedding to go to in July and i am getting a bit depressed about what to wear. I know this is a very girly thing but its even harder when you are smuggling a massive beach ball up your top!!
While i am on a downer i will also tell you that the pregnancy glow has definitely disappeared and my hair & skin are disgusting again. In pregnancy you can suffer from this thing called Chloasma which is basically patches of skin that just darkens. Typically i have this under my eyes so i just look dreadful at the minute. With the power of makeup i can make myself look almost normal but its extra effort i could do without! In case you hadn't noticed i am also incredibly grumpy recently. Not a clue what triggers it sometimes it is nothing at all i will just feel really grumpy and snappy. Pretty sure its a hormonal thing. I really must pull myself out of this though.
Anyway on a lighter note i got to hear the baby's heartbeat on monday and when i told the midwife it was a girl she said she pretty much knew that anyway as it was definitely a girls heartbeat. As i have explained before a girls heartbeat in the womb is over usually 140 BPM and a boys is below this, my baby's is around 144 BPM.
On a completey different note Phil has been trying to sue a well known travel company for the last 3 years over a nasty accident that could have killed him on our honeymoon. He finally heard back this week that it looks like it will go to court very soon and i will have to give evidence. I am a little worried about when i will be summoned as i don't really fancy going into labour while on the stand!! Perhaps they will take pity on me and pay up the compensation we are claiming!!
I think i will use this bank holiday weekend to really relax and try to lift my spirits a bit. If i had the money i would whisk phil off somewhere for the whole weekend like Venice or something like that - but the River wey will probably have to do for now.
Thats all for now - i promise i will try to come back in a better mood next week.
Mum to be
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Pregnancy week 24 - Summer

Hi all,
Sorry this is a day late but i had warned you it probably would be.
So yesterday we went to the first antenatal class. I was by far the most pregnant woman there. As i have explained previously there was a mix up and i should have been to the first class ages ago so i was not too surprised by this. The other women were between 14 - 18 weeks and most of them were not even showing. The midwife holding the session was great - very funny but obviously loved her job. We discussed various things like posture, how to sit at work and how you should lay in bed to how your internal muscles are changing and why. We also practiced our pelvic floor excercises which was hilarious as she made Phil join in (men have a pelvic floor too you know). I should also point out at this stage that there were only two guys there, phil and another lad the same age named freddy.
I didn't really learn anything i didn't already know or hadn't already experienced but i think phil found it all quite interesting. She went over some stuff about stomach muscles and a common problem woman have nowadays is that the bottom stomach muscles are worked on to the point where they are too strong. If they are too strong they do not have any give in pregnancy and that is why so many women today grow to the front and not much at the sides. This lack of stretch causes the long muscles that run side by side down the front of your tummy to split in the middle and cause a dome effect. This is when you tense your stomach muscle there is a strange dome like shape that appears down the centre of your tummy. I have this. Not sure how serious it is yet but i have to show my midwife on monday and she will advise me of ways not to make it worse. I wouldn't have known about this if i hadn't have gone to the class so it was well worth it.
It was meant to last 2 hours but we were actually in there for over 3 hours... we were all talking too much i think. As predicted Phil was the teachers pet, she definately took a shine to him. He did ask lots of questions but i was very proud of him and i am sure the other women were slightly enviouse of how much he wanted to learn and be involved.
Class 2 will be much more interesting as we will be discussing labour and breathing etc.
I actually feel like a whale now. I am doing that pathetic thing of struggling to get out of chairs and groaning when i have to lug my fat tummy anywhere. Can't walk too far as i get so out of breath - apparently the uterus is starting to squash my lungs a bit so breathlessness is very normal and will get worse.
Started to think about when i will leave work. I only need to give them about 4 weeks notice so its still quite soon but for my own piece of mind i want to have a date to work to. Adding on my rmaining holiday etc it looks like i will be leaving on or around the 17th August (only 3 months time) its all so exciting.
Oh - my Aerosmith tickets turned up this week. I think i must be mad going to stand about in Hyde park watching them while being extremely huge!!! They are worth it though.
Also i have been informed this week that Orlando Bloom (my future second husband) will be appearing in a play in London - have to have tickets!!! He was quoted as saying "I'd like to live a proper family life - with a partner and kids. That's what it's all about, isn't it?" Yes Orlando, that is what its all about and i already have a baby on the way!!!! (Phil - I'm obviously only joking.... There is no way Orlando would actually be reading my blog).
Back to reality, Phil bought a nintendo Wii a couple of days ago which is brilliant. Hope none of my neighbours could see into my living room as i must look like a right idiot pretending to play golf & tennis etc.
I have nothing else to write I'm afraid.
I have a nice evening to myself tonight so i am thinking a long hot bubble bath, some dairy milk whole nut (large bar of) and some Daniel Craig and that is my evening sorted.
Catch you next week.
Mum to be
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Pregnancy week 23 - Summer

GGGRRRRRR. How annoying, i typed up my blog yesterday and went to post it and i got a message to say that blogs were down and when i tried to get back  to what i had written it had been wiped!!!!!! so i have to type this up again which is very uninspiring.
Another busy week for me which included a weekend of shopping. I popped into Aldershot on saturday morning to get some flat shoes to help with my afternoon shopping with my mum. Thank god i got them, what a godsend. I think the heals are out for the next 4 months now. I got some lovely black sequinned ballet pumps.
Anyway popped out shopping with my mum in the afternoon and got loads of baby stuff. I was mainly looking to start my stockpile of nappies, wipes etc and although i did get alot of that stuff i also got a bit sidetracked and got some really cute girly things. I always said that if i had a girl i would not dress her in pink and be really girly as i was always and still am a bit of a tom boy. But i got a bit carried away with little pink socks and one t-shirt that says "daddy's princess" and one that says "if you think i'm cute you should see my mummy" - how true (that was a joke!!!!). Primark is amazing too, i managed to get two of the softest baby blankets i have ever felt and they only cost £3 each - bargain.
We then went to a massive mothercare in brooklands and found an excellent baby starter kit. It cost me £25 and has a little of everything i need - nappies, cotton wool, wipes, muslin cloths, nursery scissors etc. It even had a tiny soft hair brush. It all comes in this really nice bag which i will probably get a lot of use out of too.
I also bought myself a maternity bra. Why the hell was i avoiding getting one??? they are so comfy i am not sure i will ever go back to a normal one, although they are not that attractive and maybe my husband will have something to say about that. The one i got kinda reminds me of the crop top bra's i used to wear when i was 13.
Enough of the shopping talk. The baby seems to have started some kind of sleeping pattern which is great as i get a break from all the kicking. Oh and Phil has finally managed to feel her kick which is amazing everytime as i think it makes things more real to him. His little face lit up when he felt it and every night when we go to bed he cuddles up to me and feels my tummy hoping to get one last feel but she is usually sleeping at that point.
Ok, when i started these blogs the one thing i promised was to give a completely honest account of pregnancy (including the not so nice stuff). That was sort of the main point as there are things i am finding out that people didn't tell me about and i think everyone deserves the right to know what to expact. So this bit is probably gonna get me some stick of my mates but so what i can handle it! The main thing that shocked me is the bleeding... I get constant nose bleeds but not so much that it runs out of my nose, more the kind that you have to pick the dried blood out of your nose. I also have to pick it every day otherwise it actually hurts. Apparently it is very normal to produce more snot than ever before and get nose bleeds so its nothing to worry about. The other thing i have neglected to tell you up until now is about the bleeding from the back passage. At first i was in a state of panic but after reading up on it it seems it is very common and it is more surprising if this doesn't happen to you and is more than likely hemmeroids. No point seeing a doctor as there is nothing they can do about it. Also do not forget to do your pelvic floor excirsices regularly as if you do them you are less likely to tear in child birth (that remains to be seen!!). If you don't know what pelvic floor excersices are then look it up as i am not going to explain it here.
Right, thats the embarrassing bit over with. Everyone seems happy that we are having a girl and people who do not know the name keep bugging me to tell them (i won't). You will have to wait and see.
People keep saying that she looks really fat in the scan picture but i must point out that she is actually poking her chest out as she would not stop wriggling around. I was born around 7lb and so was phil so fingers crossed that my daughter will be around this size too (daughter - that sounds so funny to hear me say it).
Next Thursday we have our first antenatal class so my blog will probably be sent on the friday again. I am hoping that phil won't be the class swot and embarrasse me but unfortunately his track record points to it! Oh well i will have plenty of funny things to tell you from the class i suspect.
Anyway best go - and hope this one gets posted!!!!!
See you next week
Mum to be
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