Baby Update - Check Please!
I’ve got another potentially contentious post in the draft state - my reactions and thought to yet another BBC News Online article, this time on the increased materialism of childhood - but in the mean time a quick update on the baby status.
We are now 6 weeks away from the official expected due date of the 11th of April. This is the week 40 date. In general I tend to get told, oh they can be up to 43 weeks (eek!) first babies are always late etc. etc. However, anything from about week 37 is considered full term and I know of plenty of first babies who came either bang on time, or up to a month early with no ill effects.
I am at the stage where I want this baby out as soon as possible. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, I’d like to be able to sleep, yes I know babies will wake you up during the night, but when I can sleep I’d like to be able to sleep, not find myself rolling back on to my back and waking up about 6 times a night.
Secondly, we really want to start interacting with the hyper bundle of arms and legs which is currently infesting me. I am surprised that even at this stage the midwife asks if I’m feeling the baby move, its the only thing I can feel. Believe me the feeling of toes sliding up one’s chest towards the sternum is not very pleasant nor so easy to ignore, but she seems to get a kick out of it. Yes the pun was intended. Most evenings are now spent in a rapt stupour watching the strange Alien-esquw movements of limbs around the bump, is she doing an ultrasound of her own? Even now there is large amount of foot work going on, and I expect at any moment to have a strange Xenomorph-Anne Miller hybrid pop out and start tap dancing around the living room. “Oh why can’t you behave?”
Thirdly, as far along as I am I’m not sure that I’ve had any Braxton Hicks contractions or if I have I haven’t really noticed them - years of horrible cramps means I have a rather hight pain threshold. And I’m a teeny bit worried that I’ll ignore alot of the first stage of labour because I don’t think it hurts enough. I’m not trying to be macho at all here, but I honestly can deal with a significant of cramp-like pain. Also, if I am anything like my mother, I might have to have my waters broken, so I may not have that clear sign that things are about to get going. I’m not at all worried about the giving birth part, I’m more worried that I’ll be silly and leave it too late and Jon will end up delivering a baby in the bathroom with two cats watching him. At least, however, the local ambulance station is just down the road and around the corner…
Tags: baby