Heat and fat feet! 30+5

I am now heading towards 31 weeks pregnant and Summer has certainly arrived. Its been 33 degrees today, which when your the size of a double Decker bus, is quite a challenge.

So i have officially left work, it feels so strange that I'm not going back for months! I can see there being several occasions where i wake up in a panic thinking I'm late for work! Leaving work has proven quite an emotional experience. I was rather overwhelmed to receive several wonderful gifts and cards from all of my friends ( I'll put pictures on later). I really am going to miss them all. I'm arranging a 'leaving meal' for Friday night, we always have a good time when we all get together so I'm really looking forward to it!

Iv tried to make contact with a few friends to try and arrange some get togethers, but only heard back from one so far, so I'll try sending some messages out on facebook and see what i can do.

Pregnancy-wise there isn't a lot to report at the moment really, baby is still in there, and still wriggling away. The kicks and wriggles are really quite strong now too :)

My feet are beginning to swell which isn't pleasant, and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get in and out of Adams car unassisted. The sleep situation still isn't brilliant, but at least now i don't have to be getting up for work, so i can pretty much snooze whenever i feel like it.

This week is proving a bit of a challenge as Adams gone to Portugal to referee a huge football tournament, which is a really big deal in his career. There are teams from all over the world, and he's getting to meet some pretty important people, so its really exciting. However, its the longest we have ever been apart and I'm finding it really difficult! He's only been gone for two days and i feel like its been a lifetime. Not that i have ever not valued him, but its really making me realize how much i depend on him, especially at the moment. He's my best friend and I'm feeling completely lost without him. It was quite worrying this morning too, i received some messages from him and he was really not enjoying it to begin with, they weren't feeding him and his accommodation is what can only be compared to that of an animals! I hate knowing that he's being treated badly over there, it makes us being apart even more unbearable. He's text me again this evening though and he seems to be settling in a lot better now. He's done 5 matches today so he's going to be exhausted! Apparently a lot of the Portuguese Referees have left, and most of the Italian ones have gone on strike, so i think they are going to have to really look after the ones who remain! I'm so proud of him and cant wait to have him back, only 5 days to go!

I'm trying to find little things to do each day to keep me busy and stop me getting bored. I had a wander into a little nearby town today and picked up some things for my hospital bag.

* 30 Maternity pads (ew)

*200 nappy bags

* 40 Breast pads

* A roll of cotton wool

I'm just trying to pick up little bits at a time now, but i get paid tomorrow so might be able to pick some more stuff up then. Iv got a nice little pink suitcase, so I'm going to start putting things together tonight.

My mum and I went to a car boot sale yesterday morning and got some incredible bargains!

*An 'I love my bear' moses basket and stand

*Sheets and blankets

*Toys

* Tiny baby vests.

So we are getting more and more prepared now! We had the nursery carpet fitted on Thursday too, it looks beautiful and i cant wait to get everything in there (even though the furniture could be another 10 weeks!) I've got a nice day planned tomorrow, I'm getting up earlyish and heading off to my friends baby shop. I'm going to have a look for some of the things we still need and hopefully have a nice catch up with her. Then I'm heading into town to meet another friend for a drink.

I'll pop more photos on later :)

Love love love xxxx

More baby stuff..

Watch it grow..

Bump at 5+6

Bump at 13+4

Bump at 17+3

Bump at 23 weeks

Bump at 23+4


Bump at 29 weeks

Bump at 29 weeks!

The end is near. 29+5

Well i have finally come to some decisions. Deciding when to leave work has proven pretty tough for me. I've decided to just do what everyone's telling me to and call it a day. I'm at the hospital for another scan tomorrow, so wont be getting to work until between 12:30-1:30, then I've got two full days, Wednesday and Friday, then two hours on Saturday, then I'm done!

Iv got my three weeks holiday starting on Monday, then my maternity following straight on from the 19th July. I will be 34 weeks pregnant when my maternity starts, so using 6 weeks before my due date, which is a lot more than I'd originally hoped. Two main things I'm trying to focus on though:

1) There is a very high chance that the baby is going to be early, so i might not end up using 6 weeks before the birth anyway.

2) This is the most important time for me to be looking after Button. As nice as it would be to have lots of time with together after he/she is born, its more important that i take care of us now.

I have been looking forward to this time for ages, finally coming to the point where i can finish work for potentially a year, and have lots of exciting time getting things ready, and spending time with my little person. Now its coming down to it, i actual feel quite sad about leaving work. I really do love my job and the people i work with, and I'm just realising I'm going to be spending a lot of time alone over the next few weeks. I'm really going to miss all my friends from work, and i know that some of them aren't going to be there when i get back, which is hard.

I've been thinking a lot over the past few days though, and I've decided that I'm going to try and spend a lot of the time before the baby arrives, visiting friends and seeing people i haven't seen for a long time. I'd like to try and rebuild relationships that have fizzled slightly over the past few years. It would be nice to have plenty of people to spend time with while I'm off, especially as i have a few friends who have babies too. I want to aim to try and get out of the house at least once a day with Button, even if its just for a walk round the village. I plan to do lots of little trips, into town, swimming, to the library and parks etc. It'll be good exercise, and good to socialise and teach Button lots. I don't want to be just stuck at home whenever i can help it.

So, approximately 21 hours of working left, before i officially become a full time mummy :) Exciting/Scary/Amazing times ahead :) xxx

Drama at 29 weeks

I am now 29 + 2 and we haven't heard anything about my tests as of yet, which i can only assume is a positive sign.
We've had a bit of bad news today though, Adam had a phone call from the furniture company, and apparently our set is out of stock. They are getting it back in, but we might not receive it until the end of August! I'm really disappointed because I'm almost 100% sure that Button will now be here before we have any of the stuff. I was looking forward to spending my early weeks of maternity leave getting the nursery perfect, with everything ironed and hung up, and everything in place ready. I hate the thought that the nursery could still be pretty much empty when we bring the baby home.
More bad news I'm afraid. We have just found out that my Auntie is seriously ill. She lives in Norfolk and we only saw here a couple of weeks ago. She was full of life and so excited about Button, and my sisters upcoming wedding. We found out a couple of days ago that she was bed ridden at home and not good at all. Today we have found out that she is in hospital and her heart is failing. The thought that there is even a possibility that she might not be here for the wedding, and Buttons birth has hit us hard. It all seems so sudden. Its made me feel like i now almost want to find out whether Buttons a boy or a girl just so i can make sure she knows.
My Grandma has been really poorly too, and has been rushed to hospital in the early hours of the morning twice in a week, and kept in for a couple of nights each time. They don't even take her to the local hospital either, she has to go to the main City hospital. She's out again now, and has been round for tea with my Grandad tonight, and they both seem their usual chirpy selves, but it certainly has been a worrying time.
I got to work this morning and was instantly red hot. The bands i now have to wear round my stomach really don't help with the heat, and they are giving me a nasty rash. Also, over the past couple of weeks i have been getting really breathless, and the tightness of the bands doesn't help with this either.
I was instantly finding the heat a struggle when i got to work this morning, i kept sipping water, and tried to sit in front of a fan whenever possible, but i was literally sweating! At about 10:15 i had quite bad Braxton Hicks, and had to stop what i was doing and sit on my own for a minute and take deep breaths until it eased off.
About an hour later i suddenly seemed to get an extra rush of heat and went to sit down for a minute. I started to get really breathless and my vision went all dark, then i got pins and needles in my hands and my tongue and the next thing i remember is opening my eyes, panting for breath and seeing Amber hovering over me and putting my legs up on a chair. I think i was laying on the floor for a few minutes, and another couple of first aiders arrived and Laura phones and Ambulance. I got a really painful tight feeling in my tummy and i remember wondering if this was the start of labour. I suddenly became desperate to get the bands off from around me as it felt so tight. So they cut them off and the pain eased. A few minutes later the paramedics arrived and put me up on a stretcher trolley. They fetched me more water and we phoned Adam to let him know i was being taken to hospital. He phoned Abi and she set off to meet us at the hospital. They wheeled me out and put me in the back of the ambulance. They asked me loads of questions, stuck wires all over me, a clip on my finger and a blood pressure band round my arm and a thermometer in my ear. They pricked my finger and tested my blood sugar and then headed off to the hospital. When we got there i had two nurses checking everything again, they stuck more wires to me and took my temperature and blood pressure again and then fetched a Doctor. The doctor asked more questions and felt the baby etc, they tested me wee and found Protein yet again. After a couple of hours we set off home. They told me to try and take it steady and to keep as cool as possible to prevent me from overheating. I felt exhausted by the time we got back and headed straight to bed.
Its left me feeling a bit unsure about my maternity leave again. I still would absolutely hate to have to leave really early, because i want as much time as possible with the baby, but its starting to feel more and more like my body is screaming at me to slow down now. I have still got three weeks of holiday to take, but even if i started now, id still only be 33 weeks when my maternity would start. This would be fine if i knew for sure Button would be early, but in the unlikely event that Button was 2 weeks late, i would have been off for 9 weeks before he/she arrives! I really don't know what to do for the best. I'm having a meeting at work on Tuesday, after my hospital appointment to discuss what the best option might be, so hopefully this will help. So things are quite stressful at the moment, but at least we get to see our little one again on Tuesday!

Love love love xx

Just so you know...

A mega short blog post just to inform everyone.. We've ordered our furniture today!!! I'm so excited i could literally explode! Its only going to take 2-4 weeks to be delivered too, so with a bit of luck it might arrive on my week off! That would make it the best week ever, i could properly get everything sorted.

Just incase you cant remember how utterly beautiful it is, here are the pictures again.

Eeeek! Things are seriously starting to seem real now!

28+6

Its 4:40am and yet again i have been up for well over an hour. I'm at work today though so going to try and get a bit more rest before i go. I do find that when I'm struggling this much to sleep, often i am better to get up for a while and potter about or get something to eat rather than just laying there in bed.

I am nearly 29 weeks pregnant and so much has happened in the past week. I went from work to my usual antenatal appointment with heather on Wednesday at 11am. When i got there i discovered that Heather was off sick, so i had another midwife instead.

I got in, and did the usual blood pressure and urine tests etc. There was still protein in my wee, so it has been sent off to the lab yet again. The midwife listened to the baby and took my blood, then spent a while looking at my growth charts. She was quite concerned and said that i needed to be seen for my growth scan, and to be monitored more closely by the hospital.

I booked another appointment with Heather for three weeks time, and went outside to find out how i was going to get to the hospital. I phoned Adam and my mum to let them know what was happening, mum was going to be at work for a while longer, so Adam came and fetched me. We got to the hospital and headed straight for the scan department. It was lovely to see Button again, we saw all his her tiny little fingers and toes, it was magic!

When we first went into the room the Sonographer asked us if we knew the sex, and we told her we didn't. After a few minutes of scanning she said 'I just need to get a measurement of her legs'. My heart stopped, i looked straight at Adam, wondering if he'd noticed. I waited a few minutes to see if she said anything else, and then i asked her so say (without giving it away) whether she had been able to tell the sex. She said she hadn't looked, so that she wouldn't give anything away, so i assume it was just a passing comment.

She took all measurements and baby seems to be the perfect size, apart from having a slightly tubby little tummy, but nothing above average, and more to the point the head circumference is perfect :D (sigh of relief!)

We came out of the scan, and the sonographer disappeared for a few minutes to make a phone call. She came back and told us that we needed to head down to the Pregnancy Assessment unit.

When we got there, they asked me to lie on the bed, and they strapped two monitors around my bump, they then put a little button in my hand and told me to press it every time i felt the baby move. She left me there for a while, and we could hear Buttons heartbeat and all the kicks and wriggles which was lovely.

We could here Lois, the midwife on the phone just outside our curtain. She made me panic a bit because she was talking about me, and using lots of medical terms that i didn't understand. We then heard her say 'i need a doctor to come and explain everything to the lady and explain why we've got to do it'.

I looked straight at Adam, panic stricken. I had no idea what they were going to do to me and now felt petrified.

Lois came over to us, she sat down at my bedside and put her hand on my leg. She explained that the scan had showed that iv now got a lot of fluid again, and that there were a few tests they had got to do to make sure everything was OK. She said that the doctor was coming to talk to us, and warned me that some of the things that the doctor was going to say to us would sound quite scary, but we should try not to get too worried.

The doctor had a very strong accent, and spoke very quickly, and i was trying so hard to concentrate on everything she said, but really struggled to get my head around a lot of it.

She basically said that because i am measuring at 7 weeks ahead of what i should be, and because my 'fluid levels' were at the limit i am now at risk of premature delivery, as the membranes could just give, so basically my waters could break at any time. At this point, i was trying to digest all of this, but the doctor went on to say there are other risks, such as my cord could drop low down and i could end up having to have an emergency cesarean. (Which has always been one of my biggest fears). I was told that I'm going to be very closely monitored from now on, with extra consultations and scans every couple of weeks.

I had to go back on Friday for a series of other tests. They have tested for gestational diabetes, TB, Toxomaplosis, Rubella, Common colds and some other bits and bobs, and general infections. I had to do a 14 hour starve, and have a further two blood tests! So i am now awaiting all of these results, as well as my urine ones too!

I now have another scan booked in for next Tuesday to monitor how things are going.

After speaking to several people, we have come to the decision that it would be in mine and babies best interests to bring my maternity leave forwards. Which i really didn't want to do, as id rather have more time with the baby at the end, but i have been rightly reminded that now is the most important time for me, and the baby, to make sure we are both as healthy as possible, and its more important for me to ensure that every things going right now. So i am meeting with Shawna today, and possibly making my last day 15th July, instead of 3rd August. Two weeks of that is holiday so its still not massively early, just more than i had originally planned.

Its 5:35 now and I'm going to try and get another hour and a half sleep before work. I'm hoping its going to be a calmer Tuesday than usual though, as we have only got one clinic running, compared with the usual three.

They are really looking after me at work now, and making sure i spend the majority of time sitting down to take the pressure off my bump.

So in conclusion, I'm feeling very strange after the weeks events, i cant believe that the baby could literally make an appearance at any time! When i think of it like that i feel so unprepared. I'm going to make a start on getting my hospital bag ready now just in case. We went to the hospital last night for an antenatal class (which wasn't on!) and were given a tour round the birthing suites. They are lovely and have made me feel more excited about the big day.

I'll make sure i keep you all up to date with any news!

Love love love xxx

Who needs sleep? 27 +3

Well, its 5:15 and i am sitting here apparently physically unable to sleep any longer, even though i didn't settle down until 1am, and have already been awake for an hour! This however though, is considered a very successful night!

We are currently on our final morning of our little holiday to Norfolk, which i want to talk a little bit about, as it is our final holiday without having our miniature human with us. (Obviously Buttons with us, but currently not causing us a great deal of trouble.)

We set off at about 5:30 on Wednesday night and arrived at about 8:30. We had pizza and chips and a catch up with my dad, and his girlfriend Sue and then chilled in front of the telly for a while. I got a little overheated so headed out onto the balcony with a drink and one of my pregnancy books which was beautifully relaxing.

That night i hardly slept at all. which was a difficult result to say i was in one of the comfiest beds iv experienced for a long time. I was wide awake until about 5:15am (as was Adam, trying to help get me to sleep bless him) and i finally nodded off, but was tossing and turning before waking again at 8am.

There was a problem this month with my pay, it was the first month of me being activated on a new payroll, and there had been a problem which meant that i didn't get paid when i should have done, last Friday. However, i had been promised that i would receive the money by Thursday, so we'd set off to Norfolk penniless ( Abi had to bring us as we didn't even have the money for petrol).

I had been told on the phone that work had been battling to ensure my pay would be in by Thursday, otherwise it would be an additional 10 days! When we all got up on Thursday morning i checked my account and there was still nothing in it. I usually contribute largely towards the mortgage and bills, and so Adam had paid everything out of his account, which left that empty too. We then both had direct debits taken out, which left us both overdrawn, so we will both be getting bank charges. I ended up in tears, as i thought we were going to spend the entire holiday not able to do a thing. Dad and Sue were out at work, we were only be going to see them in the evenings, so we would have literally been stuck in the house with nothing to do. I checked the bank again at 12pm and there was still nothing in there. I decided we might as well have a walk to the seaside, even if it only ended up being literally a walk. Abi had got a bit of money that she said she could lend us, but i was worrying that any money we could borrow should probably used for the final bills which will be coming out on Monday, rather than ice cream and arcade games.

It took about 40 minutes to drive to the Sherringham, we walked for a few minutes before heading to the nearest cash point. Thankfully, my money had gone in just after 1pm, which has meant that we have finally been able to enjoy the last few days of our time off worry free.

We pottered in and out of a few seaside gift shops and bought a little picnic from a local bakery. We then headed down and ate our lunch on the seafront. The weather was beautiful!

We walked around for the rest of the afternoon pottering in and out of shops and soaking up the seaside atmosphere hand in hand, before heading back to dads.

We had a delicious steak for dinner, and then piled into the car and headed out, dad was treating us to a trip to a 'cinema with a difference'. We arrived at an old fashioned looking building at around 8pm, it was beautifully decorated inside, with old stone walls and mahogany counters. We collected our sweets, and tickets for 'Pirates of the Caribbean 4' and headed into the bar. After a few minutes we took our drinks, (which was a pint of larger in the cases of dad, Adam and Abi), and headed into the theatre with our 3D glasses. It was a tiny little room, unlike any Odeon. Adams pick 'n' mix had vanished by about the third trailer!

I think Button got a bit over excited by the exciting music that accompanied the film, as he/she was bopping about all over the place in there!

We got back at about 11:30, dad and Sue headed off to bed and the three of us sat in the lounge with a drink for a little while. I slept amazingly well, and got about 7 solid hours, which is a total record from over the past few weeks!

We got up yesterday morning at 9:30 and headed out at

about 11. We drove into Norwich city centre for a wander around the shops which was lovely. The first shop i saw when we heading into the centre was a giant Mother care! We spent ages in there. There were some beautiful things. It was lovely to see Adam (and Abi) getting excited over tiny little outfits.

One outfit that i have been admiring for a while, is a little 'Humphrey's corner' dress. It isn't cheap, but i have decided that if Buttons a girl, and they still stock it by the time she arrives, mummy will definitely be treating her to it!

We walked around the shops for a couple of hours, before setting off to spend the rest of the afternoon in Great Yarmouth. When we arrived there, we had a game of 18 hole Pirate themed Crazy Golf, which was amazingly fun and took quite some time to complete! Button got quite competitive!

We then walked around the amusements for a couple of hours. Adam won £15 on a fruit machine and Abi and I got hooked on a duck-themed 2p machine, and won 3 rubber ducks and one fluffy duck, for Button.

It was past 5pm by this time so we nipped across to a stall, Adam got a giant ice cream, i got a Slush and Abi got a Hot Chocolate and we headed back to the car.

We got back to Dad and Sue and had another lovely meal with them before chilling out on the sofa for a couple of hours. We said our goodbyes to dad at about 9:45, and they headed off for an early night, as he was out for work at 4 this morning. At 10:10 Adam and I decided to head out for a romantic stroll to check out the little local pubs in the village. We walked for about half an hour and then found a lovely little pub with a live band, and pretty lights outside. We bought drinks and sat out and chatted about our plans for the near future.

After some lovely long conversations about money, parenting and labour etc we headed across to a kebab shop over the road and got Adam some supper, (which i happily stole half of).

We got completely lost on the way back and ended up wandering around chatting for around and extra 45 minutes! We headed off to bed when we got back, and Adam read his 'A blokes Guide to Pregnancy' book for a while.

I'm not sure yet what we are doing today, i was hoping to build sandcastles at some point, but the weathers not looking too sparkling. On our way home later, we're calling in at Grantham to see my Grandparents, who we very rarely get to see these days. I think we're having dinner there. Adams been tracking our family tree, and has managed to get back to 1550, so he's very much looking forward to long discussions with my Grandad.

I don't know how last nights lack of sleep is going to affect me today, I'm feeling pretty exhausted, and its still only 6:15 so i might head back to bed and see if i can grab another hour, although at least I've got the 3 hour car ride to possibly get some rest this afternoon.

I really am starting to worry about going back to work now though. 2-3 hours sleep a night isn't such an issue when i can rest throughout the day, but I'm dreading how I'm going to feel adding a full time job onto that amount of sleep deprivation. I also now weigh approximately the same as 12 double Decker buses, so I'm having to rest after every few steps at the moment, and I'm finding myself a little breathless at times too.

I'm trying to keep a positive mind with the work thing though, after all, i love my job and the people i work with and its only another 7 weeks of actual work! I'm sure it'll fly by. I'm still quite glad about the choices iv made regarding my maternity leave. I'll be working right up to 36 weeks, using two weeks holidays and then starting maternity at 38 weeks! Which means I'll have lots of time with Button when he/she is here.

Just to confuse everyone, I'm now going to take my blog post back to Wednesday afternoon, before we set off on our little Holiday. We spent most of the afternoon at the hospital for our two appointments. I had my Physiotherapy first, which was useful in some ways, as i was given bump support bands and exercises to try, but i didn't really gain as much as I'd hoped for. I got no answers about the RLS, and no answers really as to what can help with all the pain, but hopefully if i persist with the exercises, they'll help to ease it in the long run.

Secondly we had the all important visit to the hospital midwives, to get my bump remeasured. Bare in mind that two weeks previous, i had been measured at 29-30 weeks, i am now measuring at 35! It was another different midwife today, who confirmed that my tummy muscles are 'incredibly strong' and so therefore its hard to feel where the baby is. She did however manage to tell us the position of the head, which is still incredibly low.

She decided that it is probably for the best that we arrange a growth scan, to see if Button really is a little porker, or if I'm gaining lots of fluid, or if its just a generally big bump. She said one of the main concerns could be that I'm developing/have developed Gestational diabetes, so its quite important that we get everything checked out. It'll be lovely to see the baby again anyway, as long as the sex isn't revealed!

The midwife told me that id be receiving a phone call with my appointment for the scan, as they couldn't fit me in that afternoon. Shortly after we left, i had a phone call asking if we could make it on Friday, when i explained that we were away she said she'd try for another appointment and call me back, which she hasn't done. I'll give them a ring on Monday morning and chase it up.

Well, this has probably been one of my longest ever posts! Its now 6:31 so at least iv killed some time of being up alone. One positive thing about the lack of sleep is that i definately feel i'll be ready for all the night feeds, i'll be pretty used to only having a couple of hours a night by the time Buttons here!

I'm going to attempt to get comfy and sleep a little bit longer now, as i imagine Adam and Abi will probably snooze for another couple of hours yet.

Love love love,

Mummy Elce and Baby Button xxx

An actual little person!

Ooo, i just wanted to share this picture with you. i found this on the Internet when i was going through one of my pregnancy websites. This is a picture of a little one, who was born at 27 weeks, which is what i am now. Although there is no way i would be hoping for an early arrival like this, i find it amazing to think that my baby already looks as 'real' as this. It brings a tear to my eye every time i see it, and makes everything seem so real. I cant believe how amazingly formed it is already. I swear I'm going to pop, from having to much love for my little Button :')

Once again, please feel free to leave comments, at times it very much feels like I'm nattering away to myself. I know there's lots of you out there, my page view stats have reached over 5000 now! So get interacting! :p

A nightmare 13 weeks?

OK, so, pregnancy is still without a doubt the most beautiful thing i have ever put myself through, and i know that this tiny person will be worth every single ache and pain that will be put my way. I also know that there are a lot of ladies out there who have terrible pregnancies, with sickness and pain from the word go, and have much more reason to grumble than myself. I wouldn't change being pregnant for the world, but certain aspects of it have become a little tiresome over the past couple of weeks, so i am going to allow myself this one blog post to be a little more negative than my usual posts, just to get some things off of my chest.

So, i am 27 weeks today, some sources tell me that i have now entered the third trimester, some say that isn't for another week, so that's all a little confusing.

Over the past two weeks i have had a new problem to face, i have developed quite intense RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome). Its the weirdest thing to try to describe. It starts off with just the urge to stretch my limbs (a similar feeling to when you first wake up), not at all painful. The feeling then gets more intense and more uncomfortable and takes over my legs, arms, hands and shoulders. All of these muscles begin to feel tickley, then achy then tight, almost like they are all having individual contractions, and cramping. Literally the only thing that stops the pain is to move. Then, as soon as i stop the pain returns. Its the most frustrating thing in the world, especially as it happens mainly in the evenings, when I'm tired and wanting to sleep. I feel so exhausted, i am just not sleeping at all, and when i do, its not good quality deep sleep as I'm waking up every few minutes in pain and trying to get comfortable. The past few nights have had the exact same pattern, me in tears throughout the night, midnight walks round the block, 2am baths and 4am dancing and yoga sessions whilst talking to the cat downstairs. Adams been amazing. He's walked with me and cuddled me and rubbed my back, and hasn't gotten at all frustrated with the amount of tears he's had to put up with.
It worries me slightly though, I'm off work on holiday at the moment, and I'm wearing myself out. But at least while I'm off, when i can sleep and get exhausted in the early afternoon i can just lay down and try and get an hours rest where ever possible. When i go back to work next week its going to be so hard, to have around 2 hours sleep per night, and then have to get up and face a full day at work is going to prove difficult I'm sure. I just don't want to end up feeling shattered by the time the baby comes. Also, i have read that RLS can last for approximately 4 weeks after birth, this scares me immensely as i know that once the baby is here, i will need every precious second of sleep i can get.
On the rare occasion that i don't suffer with RLS in an evening, there always seems to be something to disrupt my sleep now, but i guess that's just part and parcel of the last trimester. Being woken 12-14 times a night by frequent toilet trips, immense thirst, leaking breasts, leg cramps, itching skin and backache is no ones idea of a good night in. Before pregnancy, if i woke up in the night with cramp in my legs, i would do one of two things, reach down and pull my foot backwards, or leap out of bed and stretch it out. Neither of these things are even remotely possible for me now, my feet have never felt so far away and i practically need a crane to get out of bed, and certainly cant do it at any speed!
I'm not the kind of person who insists they need their 7.5 hours per night in order to survive, i can wake at 7am on my days off and quite happily plod on with the day, but i think 2-3 hours a night would prove a little tough even on the liveliest of people.
I'm visiting the hospital again today, in fact, i will probably be there for the majority of the afternoon, as i have physio at 1, and my measurements with the midwife at 3. I'm going to mention the RLS at physio and hope that there is something they can suggest. We are then off for a couple of days at Norfolk with my dad, which i am so excited about. We can take Button to the seaside!
This blog post has probably not even been worth writing, i am even wondering whether to post it at all. I really don't want to seem like iv got a negative outlook on everything, i know some people would give anything to have what i have right now. I wanted it for long enough myself. No matter how bad things feel at any particular point, and how far away 13 weeks can feel when your sat in a bath at 3am with only a cat for company, there isn't a second that goes by when i don't know (be it deep down at times) how truly lucky i am.
The main purpose of today's blog was to help me shake my grumpiness of a bad night off, and be able to enjoy my day with my wriggling tummy and wonderful husband, and i feel that i have achieved that.
Every time i feel those little wiggles, everything just melts away and nothing else matters. One little kick makes every ache, pain, cramp and craving completely and utterly worth it, and every sleepless night is one closer to spending sleepless nights with my little pumpkin!

Apologies once again for the rant.

Love love love xxxx