Maternity Heaven

Well what a change. Maternity leave really is quite wonderful - and it's such a lovely luxury having N at home with me too. It's been brilliant so far. I'm not fooling myself too much, I know that later on I'll be having to take it easier as Pot gets bigger and more unwieldy, but for the moment it's at that nice size where yes, it's big, but it's not interfering with sleep or movement particuarly. My hips are aching a bit and my feet get sore and achy very easily, but generally speaking it's more comfy than I was anticipating.

Leaving work qas quite weird - the last few days were manic, and went more quickly than I'd thought they would. I got lots of flowers from suppliers, Warner were really lovely and got me a room thermometer, grobag, cuddle robes, a toy and a really cool jungle themed baby gym mat, exactly the one I wanted! Work really came through as well and got me babygros and £100 of JL vouchers. People wrote lovely things in the card too - I was really touched.

And then yes - freedom! Saturday we did the JL nursery advice service tour, which I would heartily recommend. Really, really useful, informative, and not really a pushy sales pitch either. We got a lovely moses basket with a stand, a fab maternity pillow for me, and a couple of other bits and bobs, so the vouchers didn't last long! Bought some more maternity clothes in Gap too, bought some kitchen things in Lakeland plus more kitchen stuff from JL. The kitchen is looking fantastic, just can't wait to get the flooring in and everything finished with the downstairs loo as well.

Sunday I drove down to see L&S and Miri - she's adorable! Definitely has Liz's eyes and mouth, and she was really well behaved. Then went over to see Nicky and Sam as he's been taken to hospital on Thursday with suspected meningitis or encephalitis, but after lots of tests including CT scan and a horrible sounding lumbar puncture, he was given the all clear and they reckon he just bumped his head really hard in the night and had concussion. Poor thing - and poor Nicky, she was so worried. Had a nice afternoon with them and got home about 9.

Monday was lovely nothaving to get up for work - we had a long, lazy breakfast of fresh coffee and croissants over the crossword, then did some general housey stuff, laundry etc. N went off flying, stopped off at Southend - I sorted stuff in the nursery, did more laundry and washing up, baked some lovely apple and cinnamon buns, and other such domesticated things. Lovely stuff - did lots of price comparing between JL and Kiddicare and decided it was definitely worthwhile going.

Tuesday we went to Kiddicare! lovely poached eggs to start the day, then up to Peterborough, only took just over an hour which was brilliant, makes it very easy. We got EVERYTHING! Well, not quite everything, but we got pram, car seat, all the breastfeeding equipment we could possibly need, cellular blankets, a toy... loads. Plus a couple of freebie things (thermometer set, first aid kit) Nearly coulnd't get the pram as they couldn't find it in the warehouse, but they did eventually so now it's all in Pot's room. It made it all very real wandering around - N got quite emotional at one point and nearly set me off. It would seem that it's quite real, we honestly are having a baby... yikes! But we are so, so excited about meeting Pot. 6 weeks today is the due date - 34 weeks pregnant. Gosh. Anyone would think we have a clue about what we're doing!! Well maybe not, but we're both very happy and relaxed, and life feels extremely good at the moment. Long may it continue - hang on in there Pot, no early arrivals please - lots still to do!