33 weeks, 5 days and counting...

We've been slack again with updating this blog but with good reason: we've had some busy weekends the past few weeks and I was also sick for a week. Don't worry, I didn't catch swine flu so all is good. Just a cold/virus giving me lots of mucus which makes me snore at night so David has been sleeping with ear plugs!

So what has kept us busy the last few weeks? 2 weekends ago we attended my colleague Suzanne's wedding. It was a great day with all the bells and whistles of a typical Lebanese wedding. It has been a long time since either of us have been to a wedding so it was a great experience for us. It was also a really long day and I suspect that my cold/virus was caught somewhere along the festivities.

Last week we finally got around to putting the baby cot together. It now sits proudly at the end of our bed (see photo) and we can already imagine how we can keep an eye on baby from the comfort of our bed. I also took advantage of the warm and sunny weather (21 degrees in the middle of winter, crazy!) to wash all of baby's clothes, sheets and towels. So now we're pretty set to go.

Yesterday we had another appointment with midwife Alex. Everything's going well with baby (my tummy is measuring just right) but she did have a hard time trying to figure out baby's exact position. For 5 minutes she poked and kneaded my tummy with the utmost force to the point that I almost begged her to stop. She thought baby may have been hugging its face with its hands so it was hard for her to feel the head. She assured us that baby still has enough time and room to move into the right position (upside down) for the birth and for the last 2 appointments it has been in this position so there's no need to worry. But she did mention that baby felt a little 'posterior'. This means baby's spine is lying on my spine which could make it very painful on my back during delivery. So far I haven't had much back pain so fingers crossed that baby will be facing the right way when it comes to the big day.

Today I attended a breast feeding class. Although most of the information was already covered in our classes with Taryn, it was good to get another perspective. Overall I feel quite confident that I have all the information I need to give it a good start, the rest I'll have to learn with our baby as every child is different. There are also refresher classes available after baby is born and a 24 hour free call line, so I feel very well supported.

On Saturday we'll be doing an all day first aid class designed for babies and children. It'll probably be the last bit of official learning we do before baby arrives, and definitely one of the most important classes.

So we're now at 33 weeks – I feel well in general, have put on a massive 15kg+ but everyone assures me that I don't look it. I do feel less and less mobile and there are more aches and pains everywhere. I don't have any noticeable swelling but somedays I can't help but feel a little 'whale-like'. Baby is as active as ever. And as there's now less room we can sometimes feel little bumps from its hands and feet. It should weigh around 2kg by now (so where's that other 13kg?!). We have started to call it by the 2 names we've chosen, alternating between boy and girl. Although David would still like to Google them first to make sure they're not names of convicted criminals or other nasty characters!

Hope you're still enjoying reading our little thoughts and updates. We hope to continue writing for as long as possible :)

Until next time...

Love,

Viv