Last

Last day of endless sleep ins.

Last day of heartburn (please!).

Last day of wondering Jack or Sophie?

Last day of being completely lazy.

Last day of needle pricking.

Last day of worrying about the birth.

Last day of childlessness.

At last!

Nearly

So 3 sleeps to go.

I'm enjoying a few lazy days - not doing much at all.

Michael, Yan & Ayisha have arrived & we are just hanging out & spending time together.

Ayisha is such a happy, smiley baby. I hope our baby is just as good natured.

Darren finishes work today for a 2 week break. I wish he could have longer off, but it's not possible. He is getting a little quieter about the baby stuff. And has said on a number of occasions that he hopes he will be a good dad. I told him that the fact that he's even worrying about being a good dad means that he is aware of dad stuff & will be fine. Plus he'll just do what I tell him anyway!

We are both nervous about Monday night. We plan to have an "us" day on Monday - movies & a nice meal probably. I can't decide what I want to eat. I also want to check I've got everything packed for the hospital. I finally got my birth plan printed out - but for some reason I'm thinking it won't even make it out of the bag. I'm trying to get into my head that things will just flow & all will be fine & before we know it I'll finally be holding my own baby.

Bring it on!

24th!!

Oh my God! Official inducement date & time - 7pm Monday the 24th of May.

I'm alternating between excitement & stress!

I've said it before but I feel like I peed on that stick 2 days ago & now this baby is only about 11 sleeps away!!

All the material stuff is ready - I've made up the bassinet, the clothes are all washed, everything is put away in labelled baskets. I've even packed a bag for labour, a bag for the ward & a bag for the baby.

But I"M NOT READY!!!!!!!!

I wake up & the first thing I see is that bassinet & at the moment I get to use it to put the clothes on that I took off last night! In a very short time it will contain a little being that I'm COMPLETELY responsible for!! I sometimes freak out that I've got a mortgage & a real job - how do I bring up another whole person???

I want my child to be confident & happy & feel loved & wanted & content - how do you do that & instill a sense of responsibility, empathy & understanding for others. I don't want some little spoilt brat that people talk about when we leave. How do you ever say no to the child you've waited 10 years for???

This is going to be hard.

Showered!

Here are a bunch of shots that Cindy took at the baby shower.

I had a fantastic, special, wonderful day.

I feel loved & spoiled by everyone's best wishes & generous gifts.

Darren & I & our baby to be are very, very lucky to have the friends & family that we do.

Lots

I went back to the endocrinologist on Monday the 19th & he is happy with how things are progressing - I still haven't put on any weight at all - & I still find that hard to believe! He said my numbers are doing what he expects & my dosage of insulin will continue to rise as the hormones do.

I then went over to the Ante Natal Assessment Unit for them to check my blood pressure again. Expecting to do that once & then leave - not quite what happened! Mum & I got there at 11am & did not get to leave until 2.45pm! Talk about monitoring! They strapped me to the monitor again & took my BP about 6 times - every time was normal. So while it was boring & frustrating - I definitely cannot knock the amount of care they are taking to make sure all is ok - and they fed us lunch.

I had my last week at work - so grateful to not be hearing that alarm anymore - it was just getting too much after being up all night peeing & with heartburn. It's extra good now that the weather is cooler & the cats are sleeping in also - some mornings I've woken them up! They are still getting used to the new cat door though - we have to have it propped open a little bit still.

My last day at work was marked with a lunch.

My Team minus Andrew...

Sonia, Sneedha, Patty, Dunia & Andre.

Parthi - not always this happy...

Igor - not always this cranky...

Amanda & Angela - nice face Ang!

Amina & me.

The gorgeous looking & tasting cake.

On the 24th we went to Amina's housewarming & flashback party! Caught up with old workmates & had a great time reminiscing & eating Amina's great food - oh my God - so much food!!!

Matt, Angela, Gregg, Cathy, Johnny...

Amina, Jessica & Alicia.

Anzac Day was spent at the folks place, with the Morphis, Patterson, Langsam & Musico lot. Always nice to get together with everyone & just hang out & eat of course!

Monday of the long weekend Darren got a massage lesson from Jess - she thought it would be a good idea for him to learn some massage techniques to use when I'm in labour. He did a great job & I had a few moments were I couldn't tell if it was him massaging or Jess! I'm really happy he wants to do this also - I feel like it will mean he is more involved than just holding my hand. We are having another lesson this Monday. Yeah - I get to have another massage - without labour pain!

The rest of my first week off has been spent cooking & freezing meals for after the baby comes. I've done stacks already & I even found a recipe for Brunswick Stew which we first had in Virginia with Aileen - we loved it - so Darren said I had to make it. I hope mine tastes as nice. Apparently it was traditionally made with squirrel & onion - we just went with chicken.

On Thursday Jess was my taxi & took me to the clinic. We had to wait for ever. But now I've pretty much got a definite inducement date of the 24th of May. Baby's belly is getting big - which is a symptom of the diabetes, so he said they would induce 2 weeks early not 1 - & that means the 24th or maybe the 25th - either way that's 3 weeks away!!! It feels like I just found out yesterday that I was even pregnant!

THEN on Thursday night we went to trivia & raffles as usual & to my surprise my Tassie Aunties Kathryn & Mary were there to surprise me. I had been told they would not be able to make it to the baby shower. So it was a great surprise. I got all shaky & surprisingly cried! I'm so glad they came.

Friday I spent at Mum's hanging out with the relo's. Then Darren picked me up & went to Randwick to have some pregnancy photo's taken. It was definitely odd to be poking my belly out & trying to make it look big - instead of trying to hide it. We took heaps of shots, & I really hope that I don't hate all of them. Part of the photography package is a newborn photo session. So we are going to wait until we have the baby then go back to look at the before picks the same time we get baby photo's done. We took some with booties on my belly - so have to wait to see whether we want the pink or the blue!

I'm so excited for the baby shower tomorrow. I can't wait to see everyone & get to celebrate. I know I've said it before, but I just feel so lucky.