Thirty Four Weeks!

Thirty four weeks pregnant – can you believe that? That means only three weeks until full term and only six weeks until her due date! So that means she could come any time between three weeks from now and eight weeks from now if we go overdue!

The last few weeks have treated us fairly well. Amy has put up the last few bits of furniture in Eden’s room and on the weekend I’m hopefully going to start washing some of her clothes. I also want to make a start on our hospital bags, so they’re ready to go when they need to be. I adore the nursery. Even though she won’t be sleeping in there for about six months after she is born, it’s such a lovely room and I can’t wait for it to actually be functional! I’m so proud of my lovely wife, as it really is all her work. I just go in there and shuffle things around! But yeah, it’s just about ready now!

I had a midwife appointment last week. My BP is still a little high, but it’s still on the “borderline” level so no further action required. Just monitoring and continuing with the aspirin daily. It has gone up a little since earlier in the pregnancy, but that is expected. No headaches, no blurred vision and no swelling or protein in my urine, so they’re not worried. The suspicion is that I likely had high BP before I got pregnant, but it was never diagnosed. All the rest of the checks with the midwife were just fine. Eden is still very much breech, which is typical! In about two weeks they will start discussing options if she is still in that position and we will begin the walk down c section road. To be honest, I don’t see her moving at this point, but you never know! She’s been a drama llama up to now, so no reason why she won’t surprise us all at the last minute! We have a growth scan on Monday, so we can confirm her exact position then.

I did end up in the antenatal day unit again the other day. The night before I had had a gush of something. I wasn’t sure if it was pee or what, but as I needed to pee at the time I assumed it was. I did put a pad on for a few hours and it had nothing on it, so I thought nothing of it. The next afternoon, though, I felt like hell. Really hot, feverish and just generally unwell. I did worry that the two things might be related, so I called the maternity helpline for advice and they said to go up and get checked out. Amy met me in reception and we went up. The midwife put Eden on the monitor for twenty minutes and as suspected, she was doing just fine – kicking away with a lovely strong heartbeat. I then had to endure a very dignified (pppppffffttt!) speculum exam and it was confirmed that my waters were indeed intact which was great news, The only thing that came up was that I had +1 glucose in my urine and again, my BP was a little high. So, the midwife ordered bloods for liver and kidney function, glucose and a full blood count. Glucose came back at 4.6 (between 4 and 8 is what they want to see) and everything else was just perfect. Apparently my iron level was very good too, which is fab.

SIL, Julia Murney and Me

Last week we also went to see one of my favourite Broadway people, Julia Murney, in concert. I was really impressed as Amy had contacted the venue (The Hippodrome in Leicester Square) beforehand as we were worried that seats weren’t reserved. She had explained that I was very pregnant and would it be possible to reserve a seat even just for me. The management were AMAZING and reserved us a lovely table for both shows – yes we saw both. Losers! Anyhow Julia was fabulous as always. Amy and I have seen her live a few times in the US, both as Elphaba in Wicked and as… erm… herself, but it was a first for Amy’s sister. Me and Sarah (Amy’s sister) used to listen to Julia’s album when it came out in 2007, so it was like coming full circle!

For Eden. Insist on 2… Julia Murney

Eden also very much enjoyed the shows, kicking throughout. I’m not shocked that this child already appears to be a bit of a fan of high notes and belting… We met Julia between shows and got a copy of her album (I had lost mine… shame… shame) and Amy requested she sign it to Eden. When we explained that Eden was our expected baby girl she congratulated us and asked when she was due. When we said Christmas day, Julia leaned down and gave my bump a pep talk about not settling for one Christmas/Birthday present. I have to say it was one of the bizarrest things that have ever happened to me. Then she signed the album “For Eden, Insist on 2… Julia Murney” and told us we get to explain that to her when she’s older. Awesome!

We also purchased a stroller in the last couple of weeks. I actually had my eye on the Cosatto Supa Stroller in “Flamingo Fling” with all its beautiful pink goodness, but then I was walking through London Victoria Station with Amy and we laid eyes on the funkiest stroller I think I have ever seen! A quick Google told me that this was the Cosatto Supa Stroller in “Foxtrot” and it was also last year’s print… and very much out of stock EVERYWHERE of course. I did manage to find one place where it was in stock, though, and promptly ordered it, only to discover a few hours later that my order had been refunded as the business no longer exists – fun! We had a look on Gumtree and there was someone selling one for about half of the retail price nearby, so we enquired if it was still available. It was! And it is in excellent condition too. How do I know this? Because it’s in my house! We snapped it up so fast! It is suitable from newborn, but we already have a travel system for when she’s small, so this will be more of a lightweight buggy for when she’s kind of six months plus. Eden’s high chair also arrived, which is also Cosatto and is in their “flamingo fling” print. No pictures as we haven’t put it together yet, but the box is very exciting! Again, something that we know she doesn’t need yet or for a while, but it’s helpful to have ready.

Oxford Street Christmas Lights

So, that’s the 34 week update. It seems like five minutes ago that I peed on a test and that faint line came up, so it’s madness that now we are basically on the home strait and waiting to meet her. Up until now I haven’t been uncomfortable and I have been mostly complication free, so fingers crossed that continues for the next six weeks or so! We are getting close, because the red cups are out at Starbucks and the Christmas lights at Oxford street are on! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…