35 Weeks Pregnant

And only one week left to go at work now! Yikes! I don't think I ever fully realised how scary that thought is before it got so close.

To put this into perspective, I started school at the age of four and a half and was in continuous education until I was twenty-three. From there I took over running the family business until a brief month long period of unemployment at the age of twenty-five when I got my job at my current place of work and I've been there ever since, celebrating six years service in August. I'm sort of institutionalised!

Technically my maternity leave doesn't actually start until I'm 37 weeks 3 days. I'm taking a week's holiday first and I'm both looking forward to it and feeling kind of nervous as well.

On the one hand, I'm really looking forward to having a little more flexibility to my days (at least until Baby Bo shows up). Sleeping is not one of my strong points at the moment and I've never napped so much in my life, which obviously isn't really an option when you're spending most of your day at a desk (despite my team leader's insistence that I go lie down in the Quiet Room if I need it).

The alarm goes off at 7am right now and we leave the house at 8.30am. And we're lucky that it's only about ten minutes commute to work. Most days I drag myself out of bed somewhere between 7.45 and 8am. After a full day at work I try to potter at much as I can when I get in because the minute I stop, I'm done for the day. There have been several occasions when Mr Click has sent me to bed at 5.30pm and that's where I've stayed (except for loo breaks) until the alarm the next morning.

Over the Christmas and New Year period I was asking at 7am for my tablet, snoozing til 9am while Mr Click took care of Tara and other stuff, then getting up for breakfast. I'd often have a nap after lunch as well. It's amazing how much of a difference those naps make to my energy levels!

People at work keep telling me I look tired and to be honest, I'm kind of used to that tired feeling so I didn't notice it too much, until going back to work after that break.

And I can see it in my bump photos for the last couple of weeks too. My eyes look tired and I understand why Mr Click keeps sending me to bed.

I'm not sure it really shows in these two photos but I think Baby Bo might be heading south ready for his exit at some point in the next 34(!) days.

A couple of people have commented on the fact that the bump has changed shape this week.

I think that might be partly my fault. On Wednesday I had the worst backache all day. I think Bo had moved and was stretching or pressing something. Mr Click insisted on running me a bath when I got in and it made a world of difference.

I ended up lying slightly towards my left hand side and when I came to get out my bump, looking down from above, looked like a lopsided 'n'. Bo had wriggled down into the bit which was under water.

It took a lot of prodding to get him back into a more comfortable position.

I've actually had a bath today and he must have remembered Wednesday night's bath because the minute I got in, he wriggled over to the left again! So I lay towards the right to keep him on his toes!

He's alternating super active days with quieter ones at the moment. When I say quieter day, I'm not talking no movement, he follows his usual pattern but is just more relaxed. Then the next day, like last night, he'll have a full on workout. Last night something that was either an elbow or a knee kept trying to poke through my belly button. Now, that's an odd sensation!

I've got a feeling that this coming week is going to be a strange one. It's a little weird to think that everyone else is going to carry on being at work, doing work stuff and I won't be there and involved. I'm hoping to make full use of my 'keeping in touch' days because I took on an extra role at work last year and I want to stay in the loop.

And of course I'll be back to visit everyone with an adorable baby in the next couple of months.

I'll let you know how this coming week turns out!