One of these days...

Rolling with the homeys So I had my home visit today from one of the midwives and everything is going swimmingly. Frisky is behaving. Myself and the midwife had a great chat about all sorts of things. A few of the things she said made me realise how close I am. I'll be 40 weeks pregnant at my next appointment which is in less than a week! I am under strict orders to take it easy and surround myself with calm...
That will be quite a feat with the return of Mileelers and Vinnie's b-day all happening this weekend. I am very excited about seeing Mileelers!
I am also very excited about the fact that the woman I met for hot chocolate on Wednesday, less than 24 hours ago, is in labour! So much for me staying calm! I think I'll go and do some yoga!

Health Boards relieved of obligation to provide home birth funds SUPPORTERS of home births yesterday vowed to continue their battle to secure state aid for the service despite a Supreme Court ruling that relieved health boards of any legal obligation to provide home-birth mothers with financial help.

The court found that while health boards were required to make available appropriate medical, surgical and midwifery services, the obligation would be fully complied with by providing those services within the confines of a hospital.
Read more in the Irish Independent - Ruling hinders home-birth campaign

And after My new hairdo should not require cutting for a good while. My hairdresser tells me that my hair will fall out clumps after Frisky is born - can't wait. I'll be tired, sore and bald - hurrah!
Right I'm off to have a row with Tesco about diddling me. I hate the way when you shop anywhere they never let you see the itemised bill before you sign for the transaction.

Not there yet but as Iarnrod �ireann say getting there. This is how baby looks apparently and according to Eumom here's how Frisky's doing:

"Each day now, your baby is a little more prepared to be born. The nails on the fingers are long and will need cutting shortly after birth. When the baby is awake his/her eyes are open and he/she can discern light. "

."Your hair wants cutting", said the Hatter And so it will be this afternoon. Have to look my best for the baby. As you can see from this photo it is well past time that the mop was tamed.

As the song goes What a difference a day makes. I feel a lot calmer now that the bags are packed and baby stuff organised. I was reading all these questions somewhere on Monday night "If you went into labour now would you be ready?" style questions and I think I could answer yes on a practical level. On an emotional/ mental level who is ever ready for the upheaval?

My positivity I have to admit it waned a little last night as I think I suddenly got all the symptoms of pregnancy in one go. Someone came and nicked my feet and put these lumps of flesh on the bottom of my legs. And my hands are killing me too. But a bit of yoga and legs up on the wall and a lovely massage from Himself helped no end. Considering he had to go back into work at 9pm, massaging my back and feet was no mean feat (excuse the pun!). I also discovered stretchmarks on the underside of the bump - damnation!

L� �lainn T� an aimsir go h�lainn inniu. L� geal, gaofar. Chuaigh m� s�os go dt� na siopa� n�os luaithe. T� scoil gar d�r dteach agus bh� m� abalta na p�ist� a chloiste�il ag s�gradh. Am briseadh sa chl�s. Chuimhin liom laethanta mar seo agus m� �g. Bhraithfe� scaipthe, scuabtha agus ar sceitimin� ag rith is ag l�imt. An ghaoth ag breith ort is ag tarraingt ar do �ada�

Don't go changing Frisky isn't even born and already we are thinking about changing it. Our changing unit as they are known in the baby business arrived from Argos yesterday. Himself came home from work with his make and do hat on. Did the flatpack contain intelligible instructions? No! Did the flatpack contain any instructions? NO! Being in possession of broadband and enquiring minds we managed to hunt down the destructions online and now we have a changing unit. Fascinating I know.

Whodathought? If you had told me a year ago that I would care that there is 33% off Pampers in Tesco, I would have thought you were barmy. But I cared enough to go out and stock up. So, so sad.

For one night only If you have no plans for tonight (it's Monday for god's sake) tune into Network 2 at 11.55 pm and watch Lilbro in his debut film "Last Days in Dublin". It's a great laugh and is filled with a plethora of Irish stars and Grats' tash. Enjoy!

Autumnal Finally remembered to bring the camera with me while I was out and about. It was a gorgeous day: crisp and clean and bright. I had a lovely swim and then went across the road to Palmerston Park and took this photograph. Beautiful.

Coming to get you I met a friend of the family earlier today. She had recently been working in the Coombe and said you would be amazed by the number of babies that arrive when due. So I looked it up: Google Answers: Birth date versus estimated due date statistics

In sickness and in health A friend of mine spent the weekend nursing his sick girlfriend and it occurred to me that spending 24 hours or whatever in labour is a bit like being really sick for 24 hours. That sounds all wrong but what I am trying to say is you know when you get a really bad tummy bug or a flu and you feel just rotten for 3 days - 1 week and at the end the only reward is feeling well again? Well maybe labour is like that: you feel terrible, you can't sleep, you're in agony but it's eventually over too and at the end you get the reward of labour being over and the best thing ever: a baby!

Am I terribly naive?

Reunion I can't believe it is ten years since we finished secondary school but judging by a phone call and an email I recently received this is in fact the case. Plans are afoot for our school reunion at Christmas. Unfortunately as Frisky will be on the Grand Tour of Country Cousins at the time, I will have to give the reunion a skip. My boobs will be needed anyway.

Now I am really going for a swim...

Something for the babby I have just become an associate of Amazon.co.uk. If you are thinking of buying a book that I have read, please click through from my site and buy it from Amazon because then I will get Amazon tokens and I can buy books and CDs too. And then we will all be happy! HURRAH!

Belly up Isn't it strange that the very point that connected me to my mother for the first months of my life has completely disappeared - I no longer have a belly button. The only evidence of it's existence is my piercing. Weird.

Catch up We had a lovely evening catching up with Deda last night. Always brilliant and entertaining company, we had great chats. She is also looking forward to the imminent return of Mileelers so we should all catch up at the weekend again. Deda also brought some beautiful presents. She read here that I was looking for suggestions for music for the delivery: she gave us Rachmininoff, "Vespers" and "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom" which I am listening to at the moment. A good choice I think. She also gave us a great book by Ian Samson called "The Truth about Babies: From A-Z" - it is one father's list of thoughts on the arrival of his newborn and their first year in alphabetical order. For example, the entry for tupperware (Abs will love this!)

"We buy Tupperware. I thank God daily for Earl Silas Tupper and his flexible, lightweight containers. Leftovers can be tasty"

Which reminds me of one of the things I want to do today, which reminds of another and another. But first I will go for a swim.

Nappy brain I keep forgetting to bring the eencyweency camera with me so that I can capture Dublin in its autumnal glory for your delectation. Its autumnal glory is nearly gone at this stage. So more shots of domestic bliss - I won't bore you with the snaps of the new fridge. Tomorrow I won't forget and will take a stroll around the neighbourhood and post some shots. I can't wait to see what it can do in the daylight!

Pier pressure Himself and I had a lovely stroll along the pier in Howth after dropping the Corkonian and KH to the airport. I would love to be jetting off for a week in Madrid. The weather was so beautiful today here though that you could make believe you were on holidays - we even had ice cream.
Just waiting for Deda to arrive so it's been a friend filled weekend. And all of them bowled over by the bump - the Corkonian hadn't seen it since August!
After last week's hectic dashing around I feel a lot more prepared and will be able to take things a LOT easier this week.