Week 39: Pre-labour, False starts & other end of Pregnancy Surprises!

Hello Everyone,
Really sorry I've been quite slack at updating the blog. This past two weeks have been something else! it all started on the 12th April, I woke up feeling really heavy on my lower half, by 10am I was having contractions every 15 minutes for about 30 seconds. My back was excruciating. I bounced on my birth ball till about 2.30pm when I rang my hubby to let him know, He got home for 3pm, ran me a bath. I actually got some relief & went to nap. However, once I woke up, they had disappeared! From then on, every evening like clockwork, I'd get contractions that keep me up all night but by morning...nada!
It was so frustrating! So we started to focus on natural induction methods to see if it helps the contractions progress. We tried:

Hot Curries: nope, just gave me heartburn.
Raspberry Leaf Tea: it did soften my cervix some & as a uterine tonic, it did give me more contractions so hopefully it'll help me push more efficiently.
Sex: for the prostaglandins & extra oxytocin - it did work in a way, started contractions that were  5 minutes apart lasting 90 seconds, although it hasn't really stepped it up from then.
Walking: I walked 3 miles on the beach, did work too but again same length.

So basically, I've been on tenterhooks the entire time thinking "Is this it?!" it didn't help that on Wednesday, We had a false alarm on the waters breaking front. My midwife reckons I don't know the difference between Urine & Amniotic fluid. So Lil Bean ran out of time as he's being evicted tomorrow.

The good news is that even though they gave me a Bishop score of 2 on Wednesday, I know he is ready to come out as my body has clearly been gearing up, he is 4/5ths engaged & I lost my mucous plug.

So I'm still going through it even as I type! But I'm off to the hospital in the morning so latest by Wednesday he should be here! I'm so excited!

I shall be tweeting through out the process so if you'd like to follow lil bean's arrival, follow me on @pinkpoetlikeme

Recipe: Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri

This is for all the preggos out there! I won't lie to you, after 9 months of being completely teetotal bar a cheeky sip of baileys at christmas, I began to literally stare at the lovely bottles of zinfandel rose at Tescos. Now don't get me wrong I was NEVER a big drinker. I only ever had the one glass of whatever but I suppose when you know you can't have something, it makes you want it more. I missed going to have cocktails so the other day to celebrate the official start to my Maternity Leave, Hubby & I made the wonderful cocktail that is the Strawberry Daiquiri.Virgin of course. Boy was it delicious!


To Make enough for two you'll need:

•  3 fl.oz lime cordial,
• 6oz strawberries & 
• a teaspoon of sugar,

pop in the blender &  blend with cracked ice - enjoy!


A really quick easy recipe especially as summer is on the horizon!

The Babyshower!

So I had my baby shower almost 3 weeks ago! I can't believe how fast time is flying! It was a wonderful day. My friends really pulled out all the stops!
The week before was spent trying to find a nice dress to wear to the party. I found the one in Newlook as usual - They are ace this season in Maternity wear!

My hubby was holding a Man Shower at our house so mine was held at my friend's house. The first thing I saw when I got in was the beautiful cupcakes they had made. I truly felt that they were way too pretty to eat!

I loved the fun games like baby pictionary,& the more serious stuff where the mums present gave me advice & as for the presents boy, my kid is one loved boy.

 My favourite present has to be this quilt my best friend made for him.  one of my best friends moved away last year to Norfolk & one of my other friends went up to see her  and brought back her present in there was a card with top tips for labour, her final one made everyone laugh " push like you are going for a poo!" 


To top it off they made me a memory book just like at my bridal shower with messages for me & even got my hubby to put a message in. I was just so overwhelmed with all the love in the room! I feel very lucky that my son is coming into the world where so many people already love him. I'm one happy mum to be!


Right now I'm 36+6 days, only a few hours from being at term. There is a sense of excitement in the house because I have been having pre-labour signs for over a week & even if he doesn't come soon, I know that I'll be meeting him before the month runs out because the doctors want to induce me at 39+1 - Easter Tuesday. Everytime I get a braxton hicks that is more than 30 seconds long my hubby pipes up with "This could be it"!


Frankly, although I'm getting really uncomfortable and would love for him to come out naturally so we can avoid the cascade of intervention that we face with an induction, I don't want to pile my hopes up just to have them dashed! Plus a wise woman once said to me " Don't Worry - God knows your baby's birthday". That's all I need to know.