That’s right folks, I’m at the 30 week mark (as of Monday 12th
March) and little Blob is growing strong. Well, he certainly feels strong!
My current obsession is watching him move – I find it
mesmerising to see my bump dance around, especially as I can feel it happening.
Part of me can’t wait to meet him (so near and yet still so far) but part of me
is sad the pregnancy will be ending soon because it really has been magical.
We’ve been very busy the last few weeks, trying to get the
house to a state where it will be totally ready for Blob to arrive, and we’re
almost there! Only thing left now is to sort and tidy the study. It’s been used
as a dumping ground while we decorated everywhere else, so it needs to be put
back into a usable state so that my poor husband can stop having to work at the
dining table.
As far as preparing for the baby himself to arrive, there
isn’t much more we need! The chest of drawers/changing table (which belonged to
Blob’s Grandma in her childhood bedroom) has been restored and painted. The
rocking chair we found second hand for £30 has been taken apart, re-glued and
screwed together, sanded (by me – I helped!) and painted. The only thing left
that we really need to do in his room now is paint a shelf and put it on the
wall!
I even have my hospital bag pretty much ready to go.
A few people have told me not to worry about getting the
hospital bag ready yet, and advice online says to have it by 36 weeks, but I
know a few people who have had their (perfectly healthy) babies between 33 and
36 weeks, so I wanted to be prepared from 30 weeks just in case.
On a less fun note, it’s currently a Thursday morning and I’m
sat on the sofa at home. This past week, I have been so utterly and completely exhausted
that I spoke to the doctor about it yesterday. I know tiredness is a normal
part of pregnancy but I’ve barely been able to make it through each day at work
and driving home has actually felt unsafe.
The upshot of my conversation with the doctor is that she
wants me to take the rest of this week off work to properly rest and she is sending
me to the hospital for some blood tests.
How on earth am I going to make it working up to 38 weeks,
if this is how tired I am at 30 weeks?
I understand that maternity leave/pay is something that the
government and employers need time to sort out, but I’m starting to think that
you have to make the decision too early. The letter with your maternity leave
start date on it needs to be submitted to employers by the 25th week
of pregnancy, but that is still within the time when most people are feeling
ok!
I can’t say I felt the 2nd trimester ‘glow’ but I
definitely felt physically alright at week 25 and had no idea that the extreme
tiredness I felt at the start of the pregnancy would come back with quite such
a vengeance! At that point, I felt I could easily work right up to 38 weeks.
Now, I’m not so sure how easy that will be.
While I don’t want to have too much of my maternity leave
before the baby is born, as that will take time away from my time with him, I’m
starting to wonder whether I should bring my maternity leave start date
forwards a bit, to maybe 36 or 37 weeks. I want to be well rested and ready for
him, not exhausted and stressed.
It’s worth thinking about.
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