Introducing the baby formerly known as Bo...

I'm a little late posting this, considering the boy will be four weeks old on Monday. In my defence, I've been kind of tied up with a newborn, so I think I can be excused.

The short version is that I went into the hospital on the 3rd of February. Induction was started via pessary and two days later, shortly before 5am, weighing 8lbs 7oz (so much for my predicted 7lber, but on the plus side, I basically was back to my pre-pregnancy weight simply by delivering the baby), Laurence John Henry was born.

The long version is long. And contains way too much information about my cervix, so if you're not into that sort of thing, just enjoy this photo of my son on his birthday.

I arrived at the hospital at 2.30pm on the 3rd, got hooked up to a monitor and then around half an hour later got pessary number one. Within a few hours of this I was getting waves of period pain which I didn't realise until I was hooked up to the monitor later on were actually contractions. At my first examination my cervix was too high to feel properly.

I took some paracetamol and something with codeine which eased them off for a while but they son came back with a vengeance and my second examination revealed the cervix was lower and the midwife could feel it starting to open. By the time I was being monitored with pessary number two I was having regular contractions which were registering around 30/40 on the monitor.

These of course tapered off during the early hours of the morning and virtually stopped completely which was disheartening but my third examination allowed the midwife to touch the baby's head so they'd obviously been doing something. I was later examined by a doctor (with the largest hands in the world!) who was able to tickle the baby's head (and what felt like my tonsils as well!) sand pronounced my waters ready to break.

I had a wait of about an hour to go to the labour ward and was expecting more of a wait to get things started once I was there, but things progressed pretty quickly.

I got checked in just before 5pm and we ran through the plan. My waters were broken about an hour later and I discovered the joys of gas and air. There was meconium in the water which changed our plans for immediately after delivery slightly (no delayed cord clamping or skin to skin until he'd been checked over) but they were happy with his heartbeat and everything at the time.

I'd planned to labour upright and on all fours as much as possible and did try both but couldn't get comfortable on my feet (and the gas and air made my feet feel sort of numb which was distracting) and all fours made the contractions feel different. In the end we adjusted the bed into a chair and I perched on the edge of it in a sort of squat for a lot of the time, occasionally turning round and hanging over the edge.

I'm not sure how far into things I was but it was a few hours from the start that I started to panic that the gas and air wasn't helping with the contractions so well. Although I'd said I didn't want morphine, I took it and the relief was immense. The gas and air started helping again and I was able to snooze occasionally as well. As the contractions the night before had kept me awake, this was very much needed. Poor Mr Click had even less sleep than me that weekend!

By the early hours of the morning I was starting to get an urge to push and an examination showed I was at 7cm. I had arrested to struggle with pain relief again and tried to decide whether I wanted an epidural. I was concerned about being stuck on the bed as I was back to experimenting with different positions so I was allowed to wait a little longer and have some more morphine.

I then panicked that I'd made the wrong decision as the pain got steadily more intense. This was due to his head moving right down though and it wasn't long before I had an uncontrollable urge to push.

I must have been pushing for about three hours in total. At 2.40am the midwife asked me what time I wanted him out by and I said 3am. Well, that didn't happen and neither did my next target of 4am.

This was easily the worst part of the whole labour (and that's including the multiple times I threw up thanks to a combination of not having my ondansetron and taking the morphine). I was in agony; the gas and air wasn't touching it to the point that I mostly gave up using it because all it was doing was making me feel fuzzy without taking away the pain. We cycled through a bunch of positions but they seemed to either increase the pain too much or dull it to the point where I couldn't push effectively.

Once again I ended up sort of sit-squatting on the bed. I was getting exhausted and miserable and panicky. The midwife basically told me that I needed to get him out or we'd be looking at forceps/ventose. That was probably what I needed because I started pushing like a woman possessed.

I was led to believe I would forget the pain but it's still very fresh in my mind. Somehow I knew I was going to tear but I kept on pushing and it all happened in seconds. One moment I was trying to get his head out sand the next minute it was delivered, there was a wet slithery feeling and suddenly there was a massive baby on the bed between my legs!

He was rushed off to be checked over because of the meconium. He was brought back to me briefly but by that point I was bleeding very heavily so he went to his dad instead while they tried to get my bleeding under control.

I'd torn very badly but I was also having a post-partum haemorrhage and my uterus wasn't doing what it was supposed to. The next thing I was getting whisked off to theatre and knocked out for a repair job. Mr Click and Laurie got a lovely long cuddle though and whenever Laurence is having a big crying jag, his dad just needs to speak to him to calm him down. It's amazing and I'm so glad they got that time to bond.

I wound up with a third degree tear and lost 1.8l of blood so needed a transfusion. The swelling to my nether regions was incredible, I've never seen anything like it! I spent Laurie's first day on earth with a condom full of cold water in my (super sexy mesh) pants to help bring it down some!

Hospital proved to be a bit of an ordeal. I'll maybe blog a little about our stay later. We didn't get discharged until a full week after we'd been admitted for the induction. This was both expensive (as Mr Click and my mum had to check into a B&B and then check out each day as they waited to find out if Laurie and I were going to be discharged, then check back in when we weren't) and incredibly stressful (which is really the last thing you need when you've j just had a baby).

All the same, Laurie is a little delight. After a shaky start, we've got the hang of breastfeeding. He's been an alert little boy from day one and in the last almost month had become even more alert and engaging.

On the whole he's very happy. He cries when he's hungry, if he's dirty or if he's not happy about the amount of attention he's getting. Once we got out of hospital he started sleeping like a dream, giving us 3-4 hour stretches at a time.

He's got really big hands and feet, is incredibly strong (he's been trying to hold his head up since day one and can push himself off your lap with his legs). His hair is incredibly soft, getting blonder by the day and he has this little widow's peak thing going on at the front. His eyes are blue and have been getting lighter since he was born; I can't wait to see what shade they end up.

He also farts like no one else I know!

We've stumbled over some hurdles since he was born. First there was my recovery, then he lost 11% of his birth weight so we couldn't be discharged (though since then we've established this was largely due to me, and so also him, being pumped full of fluids for twelve hours during labour so he was born all puffed up), then there was an extended period of jaundice which needed to be looked in to.

But almost a month into this parenting thing and I feel like we're doing a good job. I've got a handle on what he wants and needs so I'm hoping I'll be able to blog a little more frequently again but in the meantime if you're being a little more of a Laurie fix (and who could blame you, he's adorable), I post rather obsessively on Instagram at the moment.

A Year Ago Today

Dear Baby Bo,

Very soon I will be meeting you face to face. In a week's time your Daddy and I, sleep deprived and so in love, will be holding you in our arms and marvelling over every yarn, sneeze and burp. But a year ago things were very different.

A year ago today you weren't.

This is perfectly normal for most babies. Most babies don't exist a full year before they're born. But you're not like most babies and a year ago today the ball had well and truly started rolling on bringing you into the world, even though it would still be another fortnight before you as you really existed.

Traditionally you need two ingredients to make a baby, but you were cooked using an extra special recipe.

A year ago today we went to pick up some of the ingredients we needed to make you, and the following day I started with my first injection.

A year ago today the scan showed I had 16 antral follicles which the medication would grow (along with some friends they recruited along the way until I had over 40) and one of those would produce the egg that helped make you (and any little brothers or sisters you might end up with in the future).

A year ago today the parts that helped make you were just on the cusp of springing into being and now, a year on, you're just on the cusp of emerging into the world.

I can feel you squirming in my belly (kicking at your Daddy's hand the second he places it on my belly but being rather more nonchalant about your response to my hand) and I wonder if you have any idea of what's to come. This coming weekend is likely to be long and hard for both of us, but we've survived everything else so far, and we'll get through this as well. I can't wait until we can look into each other's eyes for the first time, instead of peeking in on you via television screens and I wonder what you'll make of me when I'm more than just a heartbeat, food supply and a sensation of the outside world.

I'm going to miss feeling you inside of me, but I can't wait to have you in my arms at last, I've waited a long time for this, Baby Boy.

See you soon,
All my love,

Your Mummy
Xxx

38 Weeks Pregnant

I know, I'm late with this week's update. For no other reason than the fact that I've been too lazy to actually post anything.

I've also been trying to get Baby Bo's bump to baby book updated and so the time I've been spending online has been used up comparing old blog posts, forum posts, social media posts and the like to make sure I'm getting my dates right for everything. As of yesterday I'm up to 25 weeks pregnant so hopefully by the end of the week I'll be ready to start filling it in for his birth!

The last week has been a bit of a long one. Last Friday, to celebrate the end of my first week off work (and since I was taking the time as holiday) Mr Click and I decided to go out for lunch. This plan was almost foiled when his phone decided to pack up.

Let me tell you, there's never a good time for your phone to die on you but roughly two weeks before your wife is die to have your baby is probably up there as one of the worst!

We established it was under warranty so arranged for it to be sent off for repair, but that left Mr Click with no phone at all. And no one on the island sold even the most basic of replacements. Scratch that, we couldn't even get a non-basic replacement locally. Thank goodness for Amazon.

I've been feeling really lazy this bit of the week as well. I've had days at home where I've spent a lot of time chilling on the sofa or in bed. I'm still getting bits and pieces done around the house but I feel like most of what needed to be organised has been (I could still do stuff in the spare bedroom but I'm not sure I've got the energy levels to start anything too in depth).

And I've grown massively this last week.

I don't normally do week to week comparisons, but I think you'll agree that this week's kind of called for it!

I especially like the way that the bump barely fits in the frame anymore. I think if I was to march into work looking like this now it'd make my colleagues eyes pop out. So much for the nice little bump!

Now despite being lazy for the latter half of the week, I was pretty busy on Monday (my first official day of Mat Leave).

We ordered some plastic storage drawers for the baby's room, to accommodate some of his bulkier clothes, so I made room for them. I also got distracted by the contents of my Scottish Baby Box (again) and had a go at playing with my fabric wrap for carrying the baby, with a little help from Teddy Henry, my very first bear, who had no complaints about the thing.

This is me rocking the jammies and unbrushed hair look. I've spent way more time in my jammies than I said I would during my Mat Leave. Okay, so it was only two days this week (Saturdays don't count) but it's easier than wearing the clothes I'm planning on taking to the hospital and then having to wash and dry them before the big day. At least that's my excuse!

Mr Click got in on the baby (teddy?) wearing action too:

I'm impressed at how easy the wrap is to tie. The thing is four times longer than me so I'm not sure how practical it'll be when we're out places and I'll be wanting to take it on and off; the Ergobaby we're planning to get in the next few weeks will be better for that. But for around the house and nipping it when Bo will be in it the whole time, it'll be perfect.

The aforementioned drawers also arrived, came home and freed up some space on Bo's shelves. I don't think I'll ever get tired of sorting through teeny tiny outfits!

As for Bo himself? He's all good. We had our last local midwife appointment before he arrives (unless he gets any funny ideas).

It was a general chat, an overview of what to expect at this week's coming 'sweep', the basic idea of what the induction will entail (a list of places where Mr Click could check in to be near the hospital while I'm induced was also provided so we got that booked), and then the routine poke and prod.

While the midwife was trying to check whereabouts his head was in my pelvis, Baby Bo stuck his bum right out. This massive bulge appeared in my belly, inches from my head, she said 'oh hello' and we all got the giggles. He really wasn't in the mood for being poked!

He'd not really moved any lower down since my last appointment. His heart rate was fine and he's still measuring on his roughly average growth curve. She estimated his weight at birth to be a little over 7lbs, though given that recent bump photo, I'm beginning to have my doubts about that!

And now we're heading into our final week countdown.

We're experiencing some bad weather at the moment so I'm hoping Bo sticks with the schedule and doesn't get any ideas about coming before next weekend.

Do you know how crazy it is to think I'm having a baby next weekend?!

By the time I next update the blog, he could be here!

37 Weeks Pregnant

Considering this week is supposed to have been a holiday, I've been incredibly busy for the 36th week of my pregnancy. Today I'm 37 weeks along and you can see I've grown quite a bit in the last 20 weeks!

I've just weighed myself and I'm roughly 11 stone now so I'm only a little over half a stone heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight! And Baby Bo is currently accounting for a little over 6lbs of that. Thank you, hyperemesis!

And now for our busy week:

Saturday
Mostly spent getting laundry done. I had a bunch of newborn babygrows that I needed to wash. One of them is an amazing red and white striped one which I ordered a hat to go along with.

Unfortunately I may not have got the size quite right!

Sunday
Mr Click was playing at church and since I'm able to go for long spells without throwing up now, I headed along too.

And warning, because this next bit is a little squicky.

When I went to the loo while we were there I noticed I had a little pink-coloured discharge. It wasn't a massive amount and there was no more when I checked later but I still gave the midwife a quick ring to make sure all was okay.

And it turns out that it's highly likely that it was a little show. Basically my body is getting ready to have a baby so delightful things are happening in the cervix region. I've not had anymore stuff since then but it did prompt us to head home and make sure that the hospital bag was well and truly ready, just in case.

Monday
My first official day off work! I planned to take it very easy.

Instead I got a call first thing to let me know that Friday's blood test results had come back and my iron levels were a little low. I would have to pick up a prescription from the Health Centre after 3pm and start the tablets straight away.

We had to head up to the Health Centre for something else so while we were there we asked about the prescription but as it wasn't ready yet they promised to call when it could be collected. So we waited, and waited, and waited.

Eventually after 3pm I called only to be told it had been sent down to the chemist that morning. Luckily I was able to get them picked up, rather than having to wait til the following day like normal.

I can't say I'm a fan, but I'm definitely not feeling as tired as I was before I started on them.

Tuesday
I had a day at home by myself. A very snowy day at home by myself. I did have a visitor in the form of the plumber but other than that it was a day spent washing up (and having a massive allergic reaction to Persil washing up liquid), general housework and nesting.

Wednesday
It was even snowier and we had to head to the mainland for a consultant appointment and growth scan.

Right before we went in for the scan Baby Bo was having a great wiggle and hiccups. In the scan he was measuring well on track (I think his head looks massive!), his abdomen was fine, his legs are still a good length, the fluid level was good, the blood flow through the cord seemed okay but the sonographer kept going back over his heart.

Then she said she had to go and get the doctor to check something. This was worrying and my heart sank as I started running through all the things that could be wrong, imagining having to be rushed off to Paisley or something.

It turns out that his heartbeat was looking a little irregular, but it was likely to have been from his activity levels and hiccups before we went in. He was also practicing his breathing so he was moving which made his heart tricky to measure on the scan.

It did buy us an hour's monitoring in Day Care:

His heart was fine but he'd worn himself out from the excitement of it all so he wasn't moving much. In the end I needed to have the registrar jiggle my belly around to wake him up. He wasn't particularly impressed with that, so then woke up and had a good squirm. All was fine and we were good to go.

The registrar arranged for me to go back in another couple of weeks for a sweep. She said we'd then be able to talk about my induction then. I mentioned that I'd hoped we'd get a date a little sooner and she asked if I meant sooner than 39 weeks. I think at that point I'd asked for induction at 38 weeks I might have got it.

Instead she went away and arranged for my induction on the 4th of February. So the wee man has 16 days until his eviction papers will be signed! Scary stuff!

Thursday
I basically spent the whole day chilling in bed. Despite my assertion that I'd get up and dressed everyday I was off work... well... I didn't.

It's been a busy week and I'm heavily pregnant. I think I can be excused one day of leisure.

Really need to get on with organising my hospital bags for the induction now though!

I'm having a baby in a little over two weeks!

36 Weeks Pregnant

I'm writing this, sitting in bed, chilling and watching the first episode of Minder (Mr Click's latest choice for Saturday morning viewing). Yesterday was my last day at work before Baby Bo is born.

It was also the day I hit 36 weeks and had another midwife appointment. All in all it was a pretty busy day.

And I did it looking like this:

It's funny looking at this photo because I'm not sure I actually feel as big as I look. I keep catching sight of myself in mirrors and windows and doing a doubletake because surely that's not me.

The midwife appointment went well. Despite the massive bump, Baby Bo is measuring smack bang on the average line for growth. My belly measurement was 34 weeks which is consistent with where I measured at my 28 week appointment. I'm curious to see where his actual measurements at next week's scan put him.

And he's definitely getting ready for the off.

Last week I said I thought he was starting to drop. This week I know he definitely is, though he's still able to get those long legs all up in my ribcage.

His head is down in my pelvis and he's still in his comfy spot along the right hand side of my bump, bum up on the right, feet off to the left (sometimes he stretches them out the side and sometimes tucks them up under my ribs). I thought I heard the midwife say this was an LOA presentation but on reading up online it's actually ROA which isn't a bad spot for him to be in, except there's a risk of him rotating clockwise and going back-to-back during labour.

We chatted a little more about my birth plan, then about recognising the signs of post-natal depression and things you can do to help, and then a little about breastfeeding. It turns out that we can borrow a breast pump from the local midwives which is fantastic news and something I may well take them up on should the need arise.

Then it was back to work for the rest of my last day.

As far as last days could go, it went well. I was worried someone would get it into their head to make a big fuss and I really didn't want that. I did have a fairly steady stream of people coming through to wish me good luck and give me hugs which was nice.

It felt a little surreal walking out the door at the end of the day, knowing that was me done. I mean, I'll be popping back in during the next few months and I've left the two teams I'm involved with my contact details in case I'm needed urgently for anything, but otherwise I'm focusing on my new job as Bo's Mummy.

At the same time, walking out the door sort of felt like walking out the door on any other Friday. I still feel like I'll be walking back in again on Monday (which given my baby brain is actually a definite possibility, I did inadvertently steal someone's lunchbox on Thursday night when I took it home thinking it was mine).

I shouldn't be back on Monday though. I've got a week's holiday booked, and it's a pretty action packed week as well, what with a plumber visit, a hospital visit and a lunch date planned. And then I'm officially starting my maternity leave.

I still can't quite believe it. I waited eight years for the chance to go on maternity leave. I stuck with the job through some pretty tough times for the guarantee of that maternity leave. And now it's finally happening.

It still doesn't really feel real!

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!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

Hope you're all recovering from last night and are ready to face whatever 2018 decides to throw at us.

Amazingly, I stayed up for the bells, without even having an afternoon nap. I have gone on to sleep almost right through the night and only really woke up when Mr Click brought me my breakfast at 9am, and if you put me back to bed right now I'd probably sleep another good couple of hours.

Bo is obviously confused by my strange waking habits. I got a few good rib kicks at about 6am when he was clearly baffled by my return to bed after a loo trip, but barely a peep out of him since, aside from some little bum wiggles. He's only a very little guy and the excitement of his being in 2018 is a little too much for him.

I can't help but think back to this time last year. I got my period and so began frantically calling the hospital to get started on our final round of IVF. At the time we weren't openly calling it our final round, but we both kind of knew it was. It was our last NHS go and while there was the option of going private again, we had bought a new car so there wasn't really the prospect of paying privately until we'd finished paying for the car, and that wasn't likely to be for a couple of years.

We didn't really discuss it, but had last year's cycle not worked, we'd have had to make a really big decision about whether to throw more money at more treatment, or whether to accept the hand we were being dealt and try to move on workout any more IVF.

I'm so glad we've not got to make that decision. Ultimately we'll have to decide about using our frozen embryos (at £1000 plus meds per shot, so somewhere in the region of £2000+) and those little guys need to start paying rent this year (£250 per year storage costs) but at least for 2018 we have someone else to focus on, and aside from the storage bill, those things will be put off until 2019 at the earliest.

2018 is the year of Baby Bo.

Last year I kind of fell off the bullet journal wagon, thanks mostly to pregnancy exhaustion and then hyperemesis. But I'm picking it back up again now in the hopes of getting well organised for the baby coming.

Last year's word of the year was SUCCEED and my first three points on the list were:

• Successful IVF/ICSI
• Healthy baby in 2017
• Frozen embryos for the future

There were other items on the list, many of which I've failed at (knitting, writing and Welsh spring to mind), but those three were the most important points.

And I think I did succeed. I mean, okay, so Bo wasn't actually born in 2017 (thanks to his short stint in stasis), but he's been healthy for the duration of the year, so I think that counts for something.

Having a word of the year helped keep me focused and positive, even when it was tough to find something to be positive about. So I've selected a new word for 2018:

I'm going with GROW this year. I actually settled on this as my focus word way back in about September or October.

And the number one point on my list? Grow into my new role as a mother.

I'll let you know how that goes.

34 Weeks Pregnant

Hope everyone's suitably recovered from Christmas. :-)

Yesterday I hit 34 weeks pregnant which feels like one of the final milestones before the big day.

These milestones have really helped keep me going through the pregnancy, particularly in the beginning when things were so rough. First there was the viability scan at roughly 8 weeks, then the 12 week scan (after twelve weeks the chance of miscarriage drastically reduces) when we officially announced what most people already knew, then 14 weeks when I was officially into the second trimester, 16 weeks (actually 17 weeks in my case) when we heard the heartbeat on the doppler, then 20 weeks for the next scan (and prospect of finding out just who might be in there), 24 weeks for viability (after which if the worst happened then they would attempt to treat the baby), 28 weeks for the third trimester starting, and now this week, where Baby Bo could come any time and although he'd be classed as preterm, he's mostly done baking and the risk of problems dramatically reduces again.

These milestone weeks have been like little stepping stones for me through the last almost eight months. I guess the next one will be in three weeks time when I hit 37 weeks at which point Baby Bo can basically come at will. Except we're kind of hoping he doesn't since I'm due to be induced and him waiting until my induction date will reduce the odds of needing to take a helicopter to the hospital! I'm well aware of the fact it cost the NHS somewhere in the region of £5000 to get him in there, I'd feel kind of guilty about costing them another £5000 to get us to the hospital to get him out!

Our Christmas was lovely; quiet and simple, just what I needed this year. I got far too used to having afternoon naps the last few days which I was slightly worried about for going back to work post-Christmas. It was all okay though. I'm still feeling really tired come mid-afternoon/evening time and the insomnia has ramped up another notch so I'm lying awake for several hours most nights which is obviously contributing.

I seem to have got a handle on those low blood sugar dips though (probably helped by the copious amounts of Christmas treats floating around at work). Since my midwife appointment two weeks ago, Mr Click is being most fastidious about making sure I'm eating regularly and I'm doing my best to just graze continually through the day. This may be a difficult habit to break once Baby Bo arrives.

Speaking of Baby Bo, as you can see above, he's growing at an alarming rate. I'm beginning to wonder if he might turn out to be some sort of giant baby. He seems to be everywhere at once in there!

As far as I can tell, he's still head down, his back is positioned up the right hand side of my bump, with his bony little butt just under my ribcage on that side (apart from when he stretches when it'll vary from sticking out my right side, up into the ribs, ouch, or directly up the top of my bump). His feet are off to my left and can be anywhere from the middle of my left hand side to right into my ribcage. Sometimes when a little foot sticks out I tickle it by tapping my fingers on it and it shoots back in again. Sometimes it'll pop back out a moment later like he's playing a game with me.

He also responds to me when I sing along to music. Poor kid. I think he's telling me to shut up. I sincerely hope he inherits his dad's musical talents! He does seem to enjoy music though, especially stuff with a good beat.

Still hates the hand drier at work though and the fire alarm. I'm clearly an evil mummy already because I think it's adorable when I feel him startle in there. I'll enjoy it now because it'll be less enjoyable when these noises set him crying in a few weeks time!

Aside from Christmas, one of my favourite moments this week was when Mr Click woke up for the loo roughly an hour before the alarm went off. Of course then I was bursting as well, so once we were settled back in bed, we snuggled up and chatted for a while. His arm was resting across my belly and for the next hour Bo played a game that could probably be called 'kick daddy out my way'. He was having a proper little party in there. And as I've said before, he hates people invading his space!

It was just a lovely moment between the three of us and I'm looking forward to many more early morning cuddles with my boys in the weeks and months to come.

Merry Christmas from the Click Clan!

Hope you and yours have had a great day if you're celebrating today.

It's been fabulous here, but now I'm ready for bed (and I had a nap this afternoon)!

33 Weeks Pregnant

Thank you for all the lovely messages about Dodger. It's been a difficult week but I know letting him go was the right thing to do. It's just taking a while to get used to having three big squishes and no little squidge in the house.

It's also been a really busy week on the pregnancy front as well! I actually joked at work this week that I was getting them used to the idea of me being on maternity leave by hardly being there this week since between appointments for Dodger and then Bo and I, it feels like I've barely been there!

Monday was my midwife appointment 2.0 and it turned out to be with my favourite midwife, L. Sadly (for me) she's off on maternity leave herself soon. That was an interesting conversation since Mr Click and I hadn't even realised she was pregnant. She's due about ten days before me!

In short, all is good with both me and Bo.

In long, there was a slight concern about my blood pressure, until she realised that my last reading (taken during my Glucose Tolerance Test) was actually low for me and compared to my regular results my blood pressure was actually spot on.

We got to listen in to Baby Bo's heartbeat. I'll never get tired of hearing that sound. He's obviously getting more cramped in there because it was the first time he's not kicked at the doppler at this point. He's head down with his bum up on the right hand side (his back is on my right too) and his feet off to the left; I usually feel little heels sticking out at the top left of my bump or to the left hand side.

He measured slightly below average on the tape measure, my bump came in at 30 weeks (instead of 32+3), but the midwife wasn't concerned as I'd got a growth scan already scheduled that week and she said it could just be the way the baby was lying.

Then we had a nice long look through the notes I made last week on my birth plan. L was pretty impressed and we discussed certain bits in more detail before she encouraged me to write them up in my actual maternity notes. We had a little chat about the stuff we had organised for the hospital bag as well, they just need packing but since the bag we need is in use over Christmas that'll get done next week.

Wednesday then saw my scan and consultant appointment.

This was a routine growth scan as the IVF placed me into the high risk category (along with the hyperemesis and a couple of other things). In some cases IVF/ICSI babies have been noted to measure small so it was good to have a sneak peek into how Bo was getting on.

Sadly no photos from this one but to be honest, there wasn't a great deal to see anyway.

Baby Bo was still chilling in his head down position (here's hoping he's comfy and stays like that until it's time for his escape). This actually made it tricky to get the measurements they were looking for at a couple of points.

My son's pertinent measurements are a head circumference of 312.2mm, an abdominal circumference of 282.9mm, a femur length of 63.8mm and an estimated weight of 2084g (which is about 4.6lbs). That puts him actually just above the average line on the growth curve, with legs which are just under the 90th percentile for his age. I knew he had long legs!

If he keeps going like this I think we'll be looking at a 6.5 to 7.5 pounder which suits me fine, but we've got another growth scan scheduled for January just to check up on everything.

My least favourite part of the scan was when they needed to check the position of the placenta. At my 20 week scan it was showing as being 'low lying' so while it wasn't completely blocking the exit route (placenta previa), there was a chance it would get in the way and cause problems with a natural delivery. In that case we'd be straight to c-section, do not pass Go, do not collect £200. Obviously, as D-Day gets closer, this was something that needed to be looked into.

Unfortunately Baby Bo was using it as a pillow and wasn't in any hurry to move. So he was just as stubborn as at my 20 week scan. After pressing the ultrasound scanner into my groin several times trying to use it to move the baby's head (which hurt and which Bo wasn't too pleased about judging by his squirming), she tipped the bed right back so my feet were in the air and eventually, after more poking and prodding, managed to get the placenta checked out.

It's moved up so it's no longer classed as low lying, so yay! It's off to my right hand side and wraps around the back, and is evidently pretty comfy now Baby Bo is head down.

The consultant appointment afterwards was fairly brief. I'd been hoping we'd get our actual date for induction but she was in a bit of a hurry and said we'd discuss the full birth plan at my next appointment in four weeks time. She did confirm that at some point between the 2nd and 9th of February I'd be getting induced, but we've not narrowed it down to a single date yet.

The wait until my next two appointments (on the 12th and 17th of January) seems like ages away, though I'm sure on the other side of Christmas they'll look a lot nearer.

This week we've also stocked up on nappies, got me measured for new maternity bras (still smaller than my pre-pregnancy ones, in fact I'm just a couple of pounds heavier now than I was when I got pregnant), and made plans for ordering our Ergobaby carrier in the next couple of weeks.

Oh and we went to my work's Christmas night out, where I dressed up with zero stress because I have exactly one dressy maternity top so there was no question about what I would wear. And I was home by 9.45pm (at one point I turned to Mr Click to tell him I was feeling tired, expecting him to say it was after 10; it was five to nine)!

So yeah, pregnancy is still kicking my butt in the tiredness department, but I do think I'm rocking the bump:

I feel like I'm even catching myself developing a bit of a pregnant waddle at times. Bo likes to stretch up into my ribcage, which is really uncomfortable and often the positions which relieve that give me backache so I'm switching between whichever seems the least uncomfortable at the time.

He's loving Christmas music, though I'm slightly disappointed in him that he seems to be a fan of Cliff Richard (seriously son, you can be into anything you like; sports, dancing, competitive ironing, whatever, but please not Cliff Richard)! He's definitely a musical baby; I Am Moana gets him kicking, as does me singing You Make It Feel Like Christmas (though the latter might just be an attempt to shut me up).

I'm really looking forward to seeing if his musical tastes are different when he's on the outside! We may have to go back to playing Christmas music in February to keep the baby happy.

On which note, Happy Christmas Everyone! Hope you have a lovely holiday.

P.S. Mark, I got your comment, just wanted to say thank you and let you know you're awesome. :)

32 Weeks Pregnant

It's been another busy week in the Click household.

Our Dinky Dodger rat hasn't been feeling too good.

At the start of the week he just wasn't himself. I suspected the start of respiratory failure and we made the decision to keep him comfortable and let him slip away peacefully if it came to it.

Well, Tuesday night he developed a distinct wobble and head tilt so we knew we were dealing with another ear infection. We had a big event planned at work on Wednesday so I'm sure I made everyone's day when I called in to say I was going to be late for a rat related emergency. Especially as I had the money we needed for part of the event safely locked away and I was the only one with access to it!

We took both Pocket and Dodger to the vet as it's cold in Scotland right now and the best ratty hot water bottle is another rat. Pocket is so bumbly and easy going that he makes for a great cuddle and travel companion.

Dodger got an antibiotic injection with a follow up scheduled for Friday afternoon, when I conveniently had past of the day booked off.

Friday was supposed to be another midwife appointment at home which seemed like a nice way to mark reaching 32 weeks. I was looking forward to hearing Baby Bo's heartbeat again and finding out which way up he's currently settled in. On Thursday he felt almost breech, now who knows? It feels like there's an octopus in there!

We got the living room organised and tidy for putting up the Christmas tree so getting things ready for the midwife wasn't that big a deal but we got up early so we could get the vacuum round and wipe down the shelves in the boys cage. I also had a cup of tea to prepare for the inevitable urine sample I'd be asked to produce.  Producing pee isn't really an issue for me, it's just producing it in the quantity needed for the midwife to test and send away! I spend about half my time taking trips to the loo for the tiniest dribble, only to make a return visit some ten minutes later for another one. I'm blaming Baby Bo for this!

Thirty minutes before we were expecting the midwife my phone rang, to let me know the ferries were disrupted, she was tuning late and had an urgent visit to do mine. Could we reschedule for the afternoon?

Mr Click and I had things to do down town so we agreed, I did some hasty wrapping and we headed off to post gifts, grab some lunch and do half a dozen small jobs before rushing home for the appointment.

Thirty minutes before we were expecting the midwife my phone rang, to let me know she was still tied up and wouldn't get to us as scheduled. Could she come a little later?

We explained that we had a poorly Dodger to take to the vet at 4pm. She said she'd try and get to us before 3pm which I wasn't overly keen on because I wanted to discuss birth plan stuff and didn't want to feel rushed.

Luckily she didn't get to us in time so we took Dodger to the vet. Side note: he's been fluctuating, sometimes seeming like he's doing better, sometimes seeming a lot worse. I don't know if he's really feeling the effects of these antibiotic injections but we've reached a point now where we're not sure he's going to make it through the weekend. I'd love to be proved wrong but I've got a sad feeling be won't be sharing Christmas with us.

Back home I called the midwife to let her know we were in. She was the only one on that day and was still tied up with visits out to people so wasn't in the hospital. She promised to call when she was and I was optimistic that we'd get a visit that evening.

5.30pm my phone rang to officially cancel my appointment. Initially she wanted to reschedule for the following day but that was Mr Click's birthday and we had plans which I just didn't want to have to reschedule after an already disrupted day.

Turned out that this appointment never actually needed to be a home visit since I've already had one of those. And for a brief moment I did almost get another blood test scheduled until we realised it was the one I already had redone on the 23rd of November! I do like our midwives but sometimes the system seems a little disorganised.

I felt really bad for my midwife though, she was so apologetic. I'm sad I won't get to see her on Monday. There are a couple I like more than the others and she's one of them. Knowing my luck on Monday I'll be seeing the one who is permanently obsessed with how dry my lips are; my lips are ALWAYS dry! I live in Scotland where it is cold, I work in an office with crazy dry heating, and I can't help but pick at them which does nothing to improve the situation. In the grand scheme of pregnancy issues I've experienced, it's really a non-issue.

I did take a photo of the Bump though. I keep getting told I'm small and neat, which I kind of love because I think my bump is adorable, but I also feel huge when I see pictures like this:

I'll let you know how my appointments go next week. I've also got my scan coming up and a meeting with the consultant who'll hopefully tell me more about being induced!

In the meantime, keep thinking good thoughts for our Dinky Dodge.

31 Weeks Pregnant

I mentioned last week how busy I was. Well, my weekend only got busier!

Last weekend was probably the busiest I've been in one go since the start of this pregnancy. I guess I kind of warmed up to it with the visit from my mum, but a lot of that busy was midwife appointments and we did have a bit of downtime in between. No so much last week!

After meeting up with my cousin and her kids in Glasgow on the Friday, it was time to do some local shopping on the Saturday. My work has a raffle for staff members in the run up to Christmas and I've been one of the people organising it.

And I needed a haircut.

So I killed two birds with one stone, so to speak, and wandered around town picking up the vouchers I'd ordered. We also dumped a car load of stuff in to charity and had lunch out. It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday.

Mr Click and I are talking about making a weekly lunch date when Bo is born, perhaps sampling different cafes each week. It'd be a nice excuse to get out the house and a good way to show the baby off too.

The evening was spent decorating our Christmas tree and being generally festive.

I have to admit, I got a little emotional decorating the tree this year. I pulled out a bauble with Tara's teeth marks in it, from the first year we had her when she liked to help herself to shinies from the tree. And that set me off, just imagining next Christmas, decorating the tree with our ten-month-old chewing on the decorations instead. I could just imagine him sitting on the floor, nomming on a bauble and finding the whole thing highly amusing. In my head he's got these big blue eyes, his dad's slightly sticky out ears, sandy blonde hair (but not a whole lot of it) and a big, dribbly smile. It'll be interesting to see if he looks the way I imagine him to.

I'm looking forward to this Christmas, but I'm looking forward to next Christmas more!

We have got Bo's tree ornament for this year as well:

And then there was Sunday, which started like a normal Sunday but then we headed home early for the Mount Stuart Christmas Fair. The Community Band were playing at it so we took an opportunity for a wander round.

I'd have liked to have seen more of the fair but it was pretty busy, I was tired and wanted a sit down, and every few steps we bumped into someone who I hadn't seen for months who had to tell me how well I'm looking. It's true, I am looking a lot better than I was, but the feeling tired and wanting a sit down didn't really put me in the mood for having variations on the same conversation a dozen times.

The band played in the (freezing) marble chapel and it sounded great. Baby Bo went wild for some of the songs, which was kind of distracting. I spent as much time watching my belly as I did watching the band! All I Want For Christmas is a particular favourite of his. In fact, I made an effort to video the performance and watching the video back it occasionally jumps, those were the moments my son laid a particularly good kick on my arm!

As of yesterday, I'm feeling pretty big and I know I'm only going to get bigger from here on in.

I also took a photo of myself in just my underwear when I borrowed the shower at my in-laws' house this week. Pregnancy has made me feel surprisingly body positive and I'm toying with the idea of writing a blog post about my feelings there. I have a lot of feelings about my body right now and it's just a question of forming them into actual words.

Yesterday also saw us take a Snow Afternoon when we woke up to a fair covering of snow, made it down the hill from our house and realised getting home could be problematic. Mr Click made the executive decision to come get me from work at 3pm so we'd be attempting it in the daylight rather than the dark. After our second attempt to go home (I left my phone playing Christmas music to my colleagues, baby brain, and we had to go back for it about five minutes after leaving) we made it to the house and had a much needed relaxing afternoon.

I've washed a bunch of sleepsuits and three more blankets so now my thoughts are turning to the hospital bags. I really need to get those sorted in the next couple of weeks. I'm kind of holding off until my consultant appointment when we should find out when to expect the little guy, but perhaps Bo won't get that message and I don't want to be panicking about packing a bag whilst panicking about preterm labour.

Plus this week I've had a stinking cold. Bo's been fine, apart from winding me up with a quiet day when I spent much of my time second guessing whether I should call the midwife, only to have him spring to life each time I thought maybe I should. He's been rocking and rolling ever since (and is having a good squirm as I write) so it's nice to know I'm the only one who's been suffering.

This weekend is going to be spent resting, wrapping presents and, of course, getting more laundry done. I have a feeling it's going to be a good one.

30 Weeks Pregnant

Friday was a busy day for me (actually the start of a busy weekend, in fact). My cousin flew into Glasgow with her kids, the youngest of whom is 15 months old and I'd never met before, so we arranged to meet up with them to have a catch up and some retail therapy.

I'm still (still!) suffering from insomnia. On a good week I'll sleep through the night maybe once or twice. The rest of the time I'll be awake anywhere between 12/1am and 4/5am. And it'll be wide awake time, usually with a couple of little dips where you feel like you might nod off, but somehow never quite get there.

Thursday night/Friday morning was one of those ones. The alarm was set for 6am and I was awake from 3am! Somewhere around 5am I realised sleeping just wasn't going to happen and gave it up completely.

Luckily I did have a snooze on the train on the way into Glasgow. My loving husband helpfully took a photo of us both to share on Facebook!

It was much needed though and gave me the energy I needed to get through the day.

I was hyper aware of the fact that I'm still getting blood pressure/blood sugar drops. I've had a couple of moments in the last week where I suddenly feel incredibly tired, then my arms and legs get heavy, I get a sort of tunnel vision sensation (not sparkles like high blood pressure but just a general sense of not being able to focus properly), nausea and a feeling like I'm about to pass out. It seems to happen when I'm being very busy or rushing around and haven't eaten for a while.

I had one earlier in the week on Wednesday after feeling pretty uncomfortable all day. It felt like Bo was trying to dislocate my right hip from the inside (we know how much he hates my right leg, clearly he wanted rid of it). I was stretched and achy and generally felt sore.

I was also supposed to be decorating the Christmas tree in our room but I just couldn't summon up the energy to stand up. At one point I gave myself a little pep talk in the loos because I knew if I had a funny turn people would be concerned and make a fuss and I really didn't want that. So I, foolishly, said nothing, even though everyone kept asking me if I was okay (clearly I wasn't looking my best either).

When we got home I had a bunch of things to unpack while Mr Click did the washing up, then we headed up for a shower. In hindsight I should have had something sugary and a sit down because by the time I got to the top of the stairs I felt all swimmy. A couple of minutes later I was having a full on puking session.

Lesson learned. Eat more sugar and tell your colleagues when you're feeling like crap and should probably go home early.

For our trip to Glasgow I took precautions. Regular breaks, agreeing to taxi rides when necessary and I carried a pack of sugary sweets with me for an instant energy burst when needed.

It did the trick and I only had two dips in my blood sugar which were resolved with a hot chocolate and three fizzy laces, respectively. I think because I'm aware of what causes them now, I'm better able to handle them when I feel they're coming on and can nip them in the bud when I start to feel tired or heavy, and before I get to the 'oh crap, I'm about to pass out' phase.

There was a lot of sitting around chatting in Glasgow, which was just what I needed. But we got some shopping in too.

I managed to pick up some prizes for a Christmas thing we're doing at work that I've been organising (also a possible culprit for Wednesday's funny turn, I've been crazy busy getting things organised for two different projects, plus my actual work). And we visited the Christmas Market where I picked up this year's snowflake ornament for our tree:

It was at a stall with lots of sparkly jewellery but it caught my eye and I just knew it was the right one for our tree this year.

Tiring though the day was, it was lovely to have a catch up with family (who I'd not seen for three years!) and compare notes on baby bumps.

My cousin thinks I've got a very compact baby bump and looking at it, I'm inclined to agree. It's all in front and, since he's not dropped yet, still pretty high. Mr Click had said that from behind I don't really look particularly pregnant, though I've not had him take any photos as evidence of that.

In hindsight standing in front of the red wall whilst wearing a red top for this photo was a bad idea. I sort of blend in, but there's definitely no denying that bump now.

My t-shirt says 'Baby Bump's First Christmas' because I wanted people to know that's a baby in there rather than too many mince pies while I'm Christmas shopping. But I truly have to admit that I highly doubt people would have thought anything other than baby when they saw my belly!

29 Weeks Pregnant

At some point in a little over 70 days I will be having a baby. This is kind of a freaky thought.

I have to say, I've reached a point (which I didn't think would happen four months ago) where I'm actually loving being pregnant. I felt so rotten and awful in the beginning, I worried I wasn't bonding with Bo at all, that I was just going to feel ill the whole way through and would just have to get used to being miserable. But then I started feeling him move and something seemed to change.

Now it's like he's something which is entirely mine. Mr Click gets to see and feel the kicks, but I have to tell him when they're coming or he has to just be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. But I know Bo. I can predict when I'll feel him and what will set him off wiggling. There's something so enjoyable about feeling him move, even if it is in the wee small hours of the morning, and knowing this is just been us.

It's going to be so strange not to share my body with him when he's born. And even stranger to share him with other people; at the moment when the hand drier at work startles him, I'm the only one who knows and reassures him, in February everyone will know when he's startled and anyone could step up and calm him.

So yeah, I'm going to miss being pregnant in 10-ish weeks time. But I'm looking forward to meeting my little guy and getting to know him in a whole new way.

This last week has been really busy, what with my mum coming to visit. I've also been really busy with work as well. I'm not complaining at all, it's been lovely having mum up and I've only got a little over 30 working days till my Mat Leave starts!

Last Saturday we finally took a trip into Glasgow, something I've been wanting to do for about two and a half months. We looked into baby carriers and have settled on the Ergobaby 360 which is a little costly but which ticks all our boxes for what we need. It was kind of weird seeing Mr Click wearing a baby carrier. Exciting too!

We then took a stroll down Buchanan Street to visit Primark on Argyll Street. At which point I realised I need to be aware of my limitations because no sooner had I stepped inside the warm and crowded shop, I felt really faint and had to have an impromptu sit down on the floor. It passed quickly and I relocated to the footwear area (where there were seats) and ate some sugary sweets while Mr Click went off to find the tops I wanted and my mum kept me company.

I think it was in part because of the heat and also because at work I graze all morning and I'd not eaten much that day, so my blood sugar must have dropped. I did figure it would bode well for my glucose tolerance test later in the week, since if my blood sugar was dipping like that, it probably wouldn't come back too high.

The glucose tolerance test was Monday, but I'll blog a little about that in another blog post.

I'll wrap up this post with a truly cute photo. I've been a little anxious about how Tara is coping with all the changes in our lifestyle both now and in the future. She's put up with Mr Click spending more time running after me, she's had fewer walks and trips out than she would like, and we're slowly filling our house up with lots of interesting smelling goodies which so far she's been allowed to sniff but not play with.

But I think she does really love the baby, since whenever we let her back up on the bed this is what she has to do!

Surprise Baby Shower

I have a sneaky, sneaky family and even sneakier friends.

I've mentioned that my mum was visiting last weekend. Since I'm doing much better at not throwing up now, providing I remember to actually take my anti-emetic on time, we've been able to do a whole lot more than during her last visit (when I was 11 weeks pregnant and essentially spent most of my time throwing up).

We'd had a midwife appointment and a meal out on the Friday, a trip to Glasgow for some clothes shopping and to look at baby carriers on the Saturday (which was great though I did overdo it a little and had to sit on the floor of Primark after coming over a bit faint), and on Sunday we planned to recover and take a walk in the afternoon.

I suggested we stroll along the beach at Scalpsie or Kilchattan and my mum jumped on the Kilchattan suggestion. Both mum and Mr Click seemed very keen for me to wear one of my new tops from our shopping expedition the previous day, which was a little odd but I figured they were just both pleased for me to have clothes that fit me again. Mr Click was out playing at church but when he returned he seemed very insistent that we had to leave for our walk pretty soon. Again, a little odd, but once he plans to do something he likes to get it done. I figured he was worried we'd change our minds and not go for a walk after all.

As we headed towards the beach my mum piped up from the back asking 'could we stop at Kingarth'. Again, a strange request, since we'd only traveled about five minutes from home, but I guessed she might have needed the loo.

We pulled up and I spotted my friend's car and speculated that she'd come out for lunch with someone, after all it was her birthday the other day, so that would've made sense. Mum disappeared inside and returned a few minutes later, this time asking me to join her. I was baffled but followed along, wondering if she was trying to make plans for accommodation when Bo is born, or perhaps for family members coming to the christening.

Inside there were a large group of friends and work colleagues. I was kind of baffled and for a moment I thought my mum was bringing me in to see them. It took a few seconds to realise they were all there for me!

I was totally and utterly spoiled. And it turns out that one of my friends had organised most of it, with help from my actually-quite-good-at-keeping-secrets husband, and had even got it arranged for when mum was visiting. Suddenly lots of little things fell into place, like the random insistence on me wearing a new top out and all the people asking what I still needed to get for the baby; one of the things they'd considered getting for us was the cot, until we got that ourselves!

We had presents and afternoon tea. Baby Bo is so well loved and spoiled already. He's got even more clothes, a whole hamper of baby essentials, and even more goodies from his Naini (she already came with blankets, muslins and handmade clothes); this included the essential parenting handbook 'Dr Xargle's Book of Earthlets'.

And then there were the games. We played guess the baby food (all desserts, thankfully) and tried to identify the substances in several nappies (there was some anxiety as the person who organised that one does have a young grandson and we were concerned the nappies looked a little too genuine). And stick the dummy on the baby.

There was even cake, made by my friend with an icing bunny on top. It was a fantastic afternoon.

I never really imagined I'd ever get to have a baby shower, it was something I liked the idea of but just didn't think it would happen. I vaguely at one point thought about trying to get my friends together to meet my mum while she was visiting, but sort of ran out of time to follow through on that idea.

It was great that she was able to come along and be involved. She even got a sash all of her own. I know she enjoyed herself and I definitely did as well.

Now I just need to find somewhere to keep all our new goodies.

28 Weeks Pregnant: Hello Third Trimester!

I'm so late posting this week, I'm going to blame my mum for that (hi mum!) since she's visiting this weekend and spending time with her has kept me busy and is kind of more interesting than blogging.

Friday just gone saw me hit 28 weeks which means I'm now officially into the home stretch. Third Trimester! It's scary to think how little time we have left now. It's like I've finally gotten used to being pregnant and soon everything is going to change again.

I'm truly loving my bump. I've been one of those women who just can't keep their hands off it, especially since Bo is pretty active and seems to expect some kind of response whenever he makes a move in there. I'm not loving the weird shape of my belly button so much, but it's a small price to pay for this gorgeous, round belly I've got now.

My Ovia Pregnancy app informs me that Baby Bo is currently the size of an echidna which is a painfully spiky animal to be considering in relation to one's reproductive organs!

He's certainly feeling a lot bigger these days and should be clocking in around the 2lbs mark by now. I'm more aware of body parts than I have been in the past. One day last week, after sorting a bunch of baby clothes onto his shelves, I wound up with a little foot using my ribcage as a footrest. Four hours later, after feeling something akin to heartburn in my lower ribcage, I was able to get him to shift it by lying on my side in a warm bath. I angled the side of the bump he was occupying so it was out of the water and he snuggled down into the warm bit. Instant relief! I'm going to have to get them to install a bath for me at work!

As I mentioned, mum's been visiting, and as I had a midwife appointment on Friday I invited her along. Mr Click has been to every appointment along the way for the IVF but I think he finds the midwife catch up appointments a little boring, apart from hearing Bo's heartbeat. He's deaf so he misses a lot of what is said, and there's lots of talking about various bits of my body that he's sort of excluded from, so I gave him the day off from this one and took mum instead so she could listen in on her grandson.

It ended up being a longer appointment than I was expecting. Up till now my appointments have consisted mostly of checking my blood pressure and heart rate (always higher when I'm at a medical appointment), doing a urine dip (finally got the hang of not producing ketones), checking whether I'm still throwing up (only when I forget to take my ondansetron), and then running through a little check list of how I'm feeling, how the baby is doing and topping up any bits and pieces I need like leaflets or vitamins.

This included all of the above but also my anti-D injection and a discussion about the birth and breastfeeding.

The anti-D shot is because I've got Rhesus Negative blood and rather than checking what blood type Mr Click is and trusting that the Glasgow Royal injected the right sperm into my egg, it's more fun to stab me with a really big needle and inject something stingy into my arm! It's basically to protect me, Bo and any future offspring against complications arising from my body becoming sensitised to Rhesus Positive blood.

I was under the impression I'd get two of these shots during pregnancy but it turns out they were giving me the full whack in one go. I'm grateful for this because it's not a particularly pleasant injection, though it's probably comparable to others I've had along the way. More stingy than the Clexane I was on, probably on a level with the Prostap.

One of the downsides to IVF treatment is that you get very familiar with needles and when the midwife brought it out I recognised that it was a green coloured needle. Those are the thick ones I used to draw up the liquid out of a vial before switching to a finger orange one for the actual injection. The anti-D injection is intramuscular so is done with the giant green needle. I felt pretty bruised afterwards and it bled a bit (because the big needle punches a sizeable hole in your arm), but otherwise it wasn't too bad. The midwife kept warning me it would hurt and apologising but it really was no big deal; getting a Prostap shot to my bum then having a bumpy ride home was still more unpleasant than this one.

We chatted about my hopes for breastfeeding, which was kind of good to have my mum there for, since she's done it twice herself. I want expecting the little pop quiz from the midwife about why breastfeeding was good for the baby but I rattled off what I knew about boosting his immunity, giving him the right vitamins and all that jazz. I feel confident that it's something I'll be supported with along the way and that they'll answer any questions I've got along the way.

We chatted about skin to skin after the birth as well, and how Mr Click can be involved with that. Probably the one bit of the discussion he missed out on in this appointment, but he'd already told me he wanted to do it so I knew his thoughts and feelings. He's also expressed a wish to stick at the head end of the bed when his son's born so we spoke about that too. I'm comfortable with him being wherever he's must comfortable during my labour, providing that's conscious and in the same room as me. Him getting squicked out and fainting if things get a bit gory won't do anyone any good!

That kind of led nicely to our discussion about the birth when the midwife checked I was aware that it would be likely I'd be induced at 39 weeks if labour didn't happen naturally by then. It wasn't news to me, but it's kind of scary to actually hear someone else say it.

The main reason for this is because of the IVF treatment. With a 'normal' pregnancy there's a margin of error for when the vast was conceived and how old the placenta is; in an IVF pregnancy we know virtually to the minute. After 40 weeks of pregnancy, IVF babies have a higher rate of complications, which isn't fully understood but is thought to be due to a combination of factors; the placenta gets older and doesn't function as well because the baby is almost done using it, women who have had fertility treatment may be older so don't have age on their side, other factors which caused the infertility might come into play (we're well aware of my endometriosis and the clotting issue that could have potentially stopped the placenta from working in the first trimester), among other reasons. All this means that the closer we get to my due date, the safer Bo will be outside of my body.

The other issue is because I've been flagged as high risk, I'm not allowed to give birth on the island. We have a tiny community birthing unit (one room, plus another with a birthing pool) and they just don't have the tools and equipment for dealing with a complicated labour. The last thing anyone wants is for a helicopter to take them to the mainland while they're in the throes of labour and things have started going wrong.

I'll be giving birth in the consultant led unit in a big Glasgow hospital so it's better that I'm booked in there for a specific date than potentially having to make an hour and a half ferry and road journey, or use the aforementioned helicopter. We should find out more about the specifics at our December consultant appointment.

The midwife had a good poke at Bo and figured out that he was chilling in a had down, bum up position. His heartbeat was just fine (I think measuring between 126bpm and 155bpm while she monitored it); he got a good solid kick on his old nemesis, the doppler, too. It was hard enough that my mum saw it move from across the room. I had my belly measured too and clocked in at 27cm, putting Bo squarely in the 50% percentile.

And that was pretty much it, apart from me asking the midwife about my glucose tolerance test and her realising that I did need to do one and it should have probably been scheduled for that day's appointment.

I did that yesterday in the end, but that's for another blog post.