THE BIG 4-0

I turned 40 yesterday!

Yep I am officially a middle-aged woman. If something newsworthy happened to me today I would no longer be reported as a young woman, nor a woman in her 30s, I would be a middle-aged woman! Or, as in the case of a woman who drove her car over an embankment last week and almost landed in the Yarra river, a heavily pregnant woman.

I had been planning a big party for this Saturday, a kind of last hurrah before bub arrives, but I've decided that I just don't have the stamina at the moment. By 10pm I'm exhausted, my skin is so itchy I can no longer stand to have any clothes on, and my legs are kicking up a storm. Hmmm, a cranky, naked, twitching middle-aged woman who can't drink or dance - not exactly a party animal!

Anyway, I had a great day yesterday. My friends took me out to lunch then DH and I had a beautiful romantic dinner for two.

We are down to 3 weeks between Ob visits now. Last week I had more blood tests and another Gestational Diabetes test (the non-fasting one) which I passed. Fundal height measured 31cm, so a week and a half to 2 weeks ahead, but the Ob said he's not yet ready to call it a big baby. Which is strange, because every man and his dog I meet in the street feels adequately qualified to tell me I'm either having a ten pound boy, or there is another, ultrasound-shy baby hiding in there too.

We attended 2 classes at the hospital last weekend - 'Labour & Childbirth' and 'Early Parenting'. Both of which we found pretty uninformative. The hospital is meant to be Melbourne's best private maternity facility, and each of the 15 couples paid $170 for the day, you'd think they could at least ensure their facilitators turn up on time and include a tour of the facilities. A decent cuppa would have been nice too while I'm complaining.

Shock

I had intended to write a post today about how fabulous I am feeling and how excited I am about being almost 30 weeks pregnant.

Unfortunately we've just found out that Batman's (eldest stepson's) best mate's sister died last night. She hung herself. She was just 16 years old.

All 3 kids knew her really well. They are all devastated. It's going to be a long, sad and confused weekend...

Livewire

The belly shot as promised. This was taken while we were away last weekend. I am 26 weeks.

My baby is not even born yet and already s/he has been labelled. After seeing lots of movement on the ultrasound the Ob wrote in the file that s/he is a "livewire". Please don't think that's something you have to live up to bubby!

S/he does move around quite a bit at the moment I must admit. I can tell that she can hear things in the outside world now as everytime I tell someone she's moving and they want to feel it, s/he stops immediately. Also, while the builders were attaching the roof to our extension the other day they dropped a large piece of tin and s/he jumped in fright. Bad mummy laughed.

I have been feeling ok this week, not quite so exhausted as last week. We had a relaxing weekend away last week and I have been trying to take better care of myself. I scared myself badly last week with a few episodes of feeling faint and nauseous and teary, and then feeling Braxton Hicks contractions at the same time I almost lost the plot completely. The Ob thinks the faintness was probably low blood pressure but it measured fine at his office.

I have put on 8kgs in weight to this point so it will be interesting to see how I go in the third trimester. I haven't been doing much in terms of formal excercise, but certainly feel as though I am being very active everyday. My latest favourite passtime is shopping - I may be inside a shopping centre but I'm still walking, and carrying lots of bags could be considered lifting weights. It all counts doesn't it?!

Labour and birth discussions have begun. Hospital classes are booked in for late May and I have a questionnaire from the Ob to help us start thinking about a birth plan. Scary, scary stuff. Most women talk about how much more they enjoyed .s.e.x. during pregnancy, but my lady bits have clammed shut of their own accord since that first ultrasound, making intimacy extremely uncomfortable to the point where I am wondering how on earth this baby is going to get out! Please tell me this has happened to other people.