Boy Oh Boy

Not a lot to blog around these parts. Life is going along smoothly and therefore it makes for dull reading but happy days for us.

The princess seems to have settled back to a normal sleeping pattern, we still do get odd bad nights but to be honest we are very lucky as on her good days we get over 12 hours from her so I suppose it's all swings and roundabouts.

We have had a scan to find out the gender of new baby M and........ it's a boy!!!! We were gobsmacked to find this out as we just assumed it would be another girl but we are now so happy that we will have some balance to our home and that DH won't drown in a sea of pink, glitter and barbie dolls.

I had a consultant appointment yesterday which confirmed that all is going well with baby M and we had a good chat about the whole VBAC versus c-section isssue. The consultant that we saw has to be balanced and give us all the pros and cons and of course a c-section does carry all the risks of major surgery but very minimal risk to baby, therefore my decision is made - I will be going under the knife.

If I attempt a natural birth there is a risk (tiny but still a risk) that complications could arise and one of these is that my old scar could rupture, this is fatal to baby. It's a risk I just can't take and if a natural labour doesn't go 'text book' I would end up with an emergency section anyway. So it is better all round (apart from for me!!!!) that we schedule a c-section so that we can be organised with the Princess and baby doesn't have any risks.

It is all feeling very real now. All of my appointments upto the end of March are now booked and baby shopping is going well. The nursery is looking good and apart from a couple of little things we are just waiting for baby M to fatten up and build himself up to join our family. Are we excited? Very!

The next couple of months will fly by - we have loads of stuff going on, so the days and weeks will pass quickly. The Princess starts pre-school in a little over a week and although this makes me very nervous (I don't really like the idea of losing control and some of these kids she will be playing with are horrible, snotty little monsters - but hey!) I know that she will love it and that it will do her the worls of good. She is already incredibly sociable and very confident but I hope it will be an environment in which she thrives. Also, I get to put my feet up for two mornings a week for two months - bliss!!! Although saying that I doubt I will as nesting is kicking in and all I want to do is clear cupboards and wash windows - freaky I know but it'll take me another two years to get round to it again so I had better grab the opportunity whilst I can!!!!!

Growing Pains

For the past few weeks the Princess has been having night wakings which last for approx 2 hours at a time. During these episodes she usually complains of leg pain. We have dismissed her claims as an attention grabbing technique but it seems this is a common complaint amongst fast growing pre-schoolers.

She has suddenly shot up again and is looking very 'grown up' so maybe she is suffering with growing pains.

If at all interested go here to read more on this subject.

Good News Bad News

This week has seen me enter the 25th week of pregnancy, baby is now officially 'viable' - which basically means that if born now he or she would have roughly a 56% chance of survival. Each day that passes makes baby bigger and stronger and gets those all important lungs finished off. I visited the midwife today and all is as it should be so for now I can relax and enjoy the pregnancy.

The bad news is that today I dared to weigh myself. TWO STONE heavier than 6 months ago!!! That is scary. I promised myself that I wouldn't be such a bloater with this pregnancy but unfortunately it looks like I am going to be just as mammoth as I was in 2004.

I am going to try to eat a bit healthier but to be honest I think this is just how I do pregnant (not helped by a bit of Christmas overindulgence).

Going baby shopping htis weekend to start picking up a few bits that we need to get new. Luckily we did keep a lot of stuff from baby no 1 but it's amazing how much stuff still needs to be bought. Three mattresses for a start (carrycot, crib and cot) as this cannot be reused from last time and then there's stuff like a buggyboard and some new bedding, change mat etc etc not that I am complaining baby shopping is the best kind of shopping!

2007

So, it's all over for another year. Today we will start to dismantle the Christmas tree and decorations and return to normality (whatever that is).

The Princess has been sleeping terribly and last night we were up for a three stretch. We were all up, wide awake. There was a lot of crying (from more than one person) and lots of scary thoughts of a family of four being awake all night long in a few months time.

SO as of tonight we have to sort out this sleep issue. In my heart I think there a few issues, one being total overtiredness due to the festive fun and lack of naps and the other being an issue of control by the Princess, she wants to dictate our sleeping arrangements and as of today this WILL stop.

My back hurts, my belly is huge, I didn't get enough sleep and I wanted to start this year on a high!

On the positive side, I had a fab Christmas. I ate my (considerable) weight in chocolate, got some fabulous gifts and had the most special time with my family, so it's not all bad.

So forgive me for moaning about my tired state, but I am hoping this will be the last blog in the subject for a few months. I may be missing from the blogosphere for a while as the sleep thing will only get worse before it gets better but give me a week and I hope we will ALL be having beautiful dreamy nights.

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU TOO.