Week 28 : Only a little?!

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 21

I love you because... you are a little kinky!"

What does he mean, "a little"!

Week 28 : No comment

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 20

I love you because... put up with my family."

Kris was coming home from uni today - we had arranged to pick her up at 1.00. True to form, I quickly got a phone call from her saying she had arrived late at the station, jumped on the train and it had pulled away before she realised it was going the wrong way and she was heading to Edinburgh! I soon got her heading in the right direction and found the best train to get her home and so we just need to pick her up at 2 instead. We arrived at the station early as there was suprisingly little traffic so we sat and had a latte and Kris was along presently. Her first comment was to call me a tellytubby! Hurmph! This was better however than her next comparison to Mario - the things I put up with, just because I have dungarees...

We chatted all the way back to Mum's (despite JJ's attempt to kill us all at one point) and then spent a couple of hours chatting to mum and dad. Dad made us some lunch despite having already eaten himself and JJ set up the wii so Dad could play with the Wii fit. We soon headed home and I played with the monsters while JJ replaced the hard drive in the sky box with a massive one. Once it was done we went from having 16% free to 87% free, which was nice.

Week 27 : Romancing the Stone

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 19

I love you because... you humour me and my attempts to be romantic."

He is actually very romantic, just not in the conventional sense, mostly because I really don't appreciate the normal run-of-the-mill romantic gestures.

Anyway, I gave him a lift to work in the morning and stopped off at the parents office just to say high and then headed home. It was only a few hours before I then had to set off to pick him up again. On the way home we had to stop off at mum and Dad's (house this time) as I was desperate for a wee and John managed to fix the setup of the TV, rerouting ariels so that they could get terrestrial AND digital where previously they could only get digital. We then headed home, picking up chinese on the way and watched Elf which we hadn't seem before and was very funny.

Week 27 : Present tantrum

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 18

I love you because... you tell me to calm down when I have road rage"

Tonight we made syrup for JJ's festive favorite - long island iced tea. JJ then decided to wrap my pressies and put them under the tree, but it took all evening and a lot of "sampling" of the LIIT so the evening ended with me having a tantrum. To be fair, I am on my own the majority of the time and to spend the evening on my own when I had been sick all day was just a bit too much to bear for my pregnant little mind. What is more, he then had the cheek to say that he would need a lift to work in the morning as he had drunk too much that night and wouldn't be sober enough to drive... *sigh*

week 27 : Of which there are MANY!

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 17

I love you because... you put up with my manic rants"

week 27 : YAY FOR CHRISTMAS FOOD!

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 16

I love you because... you drive me home after a night out"

Generally while listening to a cacophany of "I luuurve you.... Leave me, I am useless... hic"

Anyway, JJ had the day off today as I had a diabetes appointment. I had to not eat after 10 the night before and then the next morning drink a lemony sugar potion. We then went to the hospital (and arrived very early as we had thought there would be more traffic) and they took my blood and then I went and wooofed down a bacon butty. Ahhhhh - so much better...

We waited a little while for the results and YAY! my blood sugar levels were spot on normal so no diabetes and I can eat all the mince pies I want! (Well, maybe not all but still - YAY!)

By that time it was a bit late for John to get back to work so we decided to do the christmas food shopping. We spent WAY too much money and bought way too much food but it was quite good fun and it wasn't until towards the end that I really flagged. We have decided on chicken cotlette with pigs in blankets and cheese (mice?) in blankets, in a white sauce with brocolli in white sauce, raum spinat, mash potato and roast potatoes and parsnips and to follow golden syrup sponge (JJ is having jam) with custard. I suspect we may explode...

Week 27 : Christmassy midwife

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 15

I love you because... you know how to make me feel better."

Blowjob...

Midwifes appointment today - I headed for the doctors at 10 got there and found my appointment was in the afternoon. *sigh* I was just about to set off to doctors a second time when I got a call to say the midwife couldn't make it and I would have to go to the hospital instead. As I have no way of getting there easily I rebooked for next week (My appointment was supposed to be that next week anyway but I was told to book it for this week so I didn't come in on christmas week).

When John got home this evening we popped up the christmas tree - we had to remove a section of the sofa in order to fit it in! We went a bit over the top with christmas chocolates this year - we bought some in Germany, then forgot about those and bought more in the local garden center so so far there are only half of them on the tree. The tree looks really good this year - John spent ages positioning the lights and we popped the decs on with a new angel on the top - it is metal and quite swish (I didn't like it at first but now it is on the tree it looks good). It has cut out bits so JJ popped lights up inside so it twinkles with the lights. I'll post some pictures when I am more organised...

Week 27 : Cakey goodness

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 14

I love you because... you you let me laugh at your silliness."

Of which there obviously is not much...

Tonight all the neighbours got together at Phil's to decorate the cakes that we had made last previously. There was a bigger turn out this time - the steeds, the woodgers, all the munneries, Mum, Dad me and JJ. Mum supervised in the kitchen (not a phrase that gets said often) and made the marzipan and icing then we all got stuck in and decorated the cakes. Soph and Claire had a beheaded snowman on theirs, steve embedded a gnome in the side of his so it looked like it had been fired from a canon, John did a much maligned penguin face on the top of his that I thought looked great and everyone else ridiculed and I found an astronaut at the bottom of the decoration box so made a christmas tree alien to go with it. I was a bit miffed though when I realised not only could I NOT EAT THE MARIZPAN (a fate worse than death) but I also couldn't eat the icing either! Very annoying! Anyway, it was a good evening and I was pooped by the end of it.

Week 27 : Final third here I come!

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 13

I love you because... you laugh at my silliness!"

And boy does that mean laughing a lot.

Anyway, depending on which book you read, today (or next saturday) is the start of the last trimester. I am so fed up with being pregnant, I can't wait to have this baby!

The weather over night was absolutely awful -very very windy and stormy - I had to switch off the mega-sonic woof woof as it was so loud that it was setting it off. I headed for Brighton to pick up JJ and the weather was still awful and in a couple of places the motorway was so flooded traffic had to creep along. Once I had found him in a starbucks, we wandered a bit further down the road, leaning into the wind the whole way and found a little cafe to have some breakfast in. Once suitably fed, we headed home, JJ snoring most of the way while I drove.

Week 26 : Little does he know...

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 12

I love you because... you will make an excellent mother."

It was himselfs christmas party last night and he was staying over night so I dropped him into work (he would go on after work with the others) and promised to try to remember to pick him up. I then headed home, stopping first at the big Tesco's in Horsham and spent too much mony of christmassy stuff and then headed back. But I was then waylaid by Notcutts and Santa firs so had to wander round the christmas departments of each. Having done that it was nearly lunchtime and I needed the loo so I dropped in at Mum and Dad's office and they took an early lunch and took me to lunch at the Grantley Arms. It was delicious (sausages and mash) but werid - who serves a meal with no vegetables? Anyway, I finally headed back to the poor puppies and played with them for a while in the garden, letting them stretch their legs until I got a call from JJ worrying that I hadn't got home OK. By this time I was completely pooped so dozed on the sofa until the evening when I watched soppy christmas films without anyone pointing out who soppy they were - bliss!

Week 26 : For indulge read tolerate...

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 11

I love you because... you indulge my hobbies."

Week 26 : awwwww

"24 Reasons why I love youNumber 10

I love you because... you cuddle me when I'm feeling down."

Week 26 : Hmmmmm...

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 9

I love you because... you are a little bit werid!"

Closely followed by John's comment "Hmmm, doesn't sound as romantic as I thought it was when I wrote it..." It made me laugh anyway.

Week 26 : Beowolf

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 8

I love you because... you are a kind person."

MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! I have lulled him into a false sense of security. Any day now I will be ready to strike...

I realised this morning that on Saturday I entered trimester three! It seems like it was only yesterday that I was moaning that I couldn't feel the baby move yet, at the weekend I had to buy some dungarees to accomodate the increasing bump! Helped Kristy with cutting words out of her essay this morning and then hopped into the shower. The moment my hair was wet, the guy that I sold my big box of star trek books to arrived to collect so I was half dressed and a bit flustered when answering the door and forgot to check the money he gave me so it was only once he was gone that I realised he had overpaid me. I checked with him and he said not to worry about the change as it wasn't much - bless him...

Last night, we watched Beowolf. I thought it was quite a good film but I did find it a bit disconcerting to be attracted to Ray Winstones character. Also, the accents were a bit off putting - the Danes all have wildly differing accents, as did the Geats and Grendel spoke in Old English which I could understand most of but John had problems with. I thought they stuck well to the spirit of Beowolf, even though they introduced additional elements (anything to crow-bar a sexy demon into it really) and removed some bits too, all of which made the overal story a bit more linked and coherent imho. All in all, it was very enjoyable as long as you weren't expecting a faithful recitation of the original legend...

Week 26 : Isn't that illegal?

"24 Reasons why I love you

Number 7

I love you because... you share my love of dogs.

Another one where context is vital...

Week 26 : Sight and sanity

"24 Reasons why I love you

Number 6

I love you because... you are sexy!"

So sad when someone looses their sight and sanity at such an early age...

Week 25 : Contextually dubious

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 5

I love you because... you are are funny."

He won't tell me in what context though...

Week 25 : I see an opticians appointment in your future....

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 4

I love you because... you are the most beautiful woman in the world!"

So sad when someone looses their sight at such an early age...

Week 25 : On the 3rd day of christmas...

"24 Reasons why I love you
Number 3
I love you because... you like to play scrabble."

A strange reason to love me as I alway WHUP HIS ASS!!!!! And on another note...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Week 25 : A typo

"24 Reasons why I love you

Number 2

I love you because... you are my intellectual equal."

Awwww - this one is very touching as he knows that I value intellect highly BUT I think it is a little telling that he has obviously got the word equal confused with superior... Nevermind, we can't all be as perfect as me :D

This morning I walked up the the doctors for my 25 week checkup. It was a beautiful morning - frosty but the sky was blue and the sun was shining and I was wearing my new hat (doesn't take a lot to please me really). The doctor checked my blood pressure and felt the bump and all was OK with the monster and, gratifyingly, he pronouced him spot on the right size for his age. He also weighed me and I am still 5 kilos lighter than when I first got pregnant, which is nice. It seem like a strange method to diet, but being pregnant seems to work for me! (Of course the monster is now mostly concerned with bulking up ready for birth so I don't expect it will last). The only downside is that I may have the beginnings of a urinary infection and the doctor wanted a second sample, so, of course, I could NOT pee for love nor money. I think I will have to hand in my sample tomorrow as it has to be in by 3 and it is 2 now and I still don't need to go despite drinking loads.

Having got back, I played with the horrors in the garden for a bit but it clouded over and got very dark so I decided to tackle the freezer. It hasn't be defrosted in yonks so the ice so beginning to stop the door from shutting properly and it had to be approached while wearing a full hazmat suit with decontamination procedures in place for immeadiately afterwards... It tooks ages - a full two hours but now, with the new drawer fronts too, it looks like new - sparkly and clean. I would be proud to let James T Kirk get a lolly from the freezer now...

Now I best get on and do the paperwork that I have been avoiding all morning. *sigh*

EDIT: OOOOOO - I just took delivery of a baby car seat and seat base. John's mum kindly said that she wanted to get the car seat for the baby so I had been having a rummage round the depths of the net to see if I could get the seat we wanted at the best price, eventually saving almost £60 cheaper AND, because we got it at Boots, getting tons of advantage points with it too which we can use later on for nappies etc which is nice.

Week 25 : Awww

Well, the joys of pregnancy struck again today and I spent the best part of the day either being sick or asleep. BUT when John got home I was feeling a lot better and felt even better when he ensconced himself in the lounge telling me to keep out as he was doing "secret stuff"... When he emerged about 1/2 hour later it was with my advent calendar in tow.

There had been some fuss about advent calendars this year - I always have a bit of a headache with John's - he doesn't really like chocolate all that much and if I get if little toys etc type things he finds them a bit useless and won't open them for days on end. Last year I made if a made him a magnetic advent calendar which worked really well and I was very pleased with it but this year, with the pregnancy, hospital, no car to get anywhere and a complete lack of ideas I eventually said over the weekend that I just would not have time to do him one this year. He, meanwhile said he had an idea for mine - I'm normally easy as I love chocolate but ever since I have been pregnant I have not been too keen on it (don't get me wrong, I wouldn't turn it down, just not NEEDING chocolate the way a normal person should) so he had it a bit a tougher this year. BUT he came up trumps - when I opened the door to my calendar this year I had a small scroll bound with ribbon which read:

" 24 Reasons that I love you

Number 1

I love you because... you tolerate my 'shocking' jokes!"

He was worried I wouldn't like it but he needn't have been as I thought it was really really adorable (and felt awful for not getting him anything this year). We then ate way too much chicken stew and snuggled on the sofa to watch TV.

Week 25: A Laughable Hospital Visit and Advent-urous Sunday

Well it has been an eventful week with no real chance to update so expect a longish rambling entry. On Wednesday, we went to see Frankie Boyle at Dorking Halls. I had been looking forward to it for AGES - we love him on Mock the Week and had recently seen him on Arguemental in one of the few episodes that actually worked (it can be a bit hit and miss). I caught the train to Mum and Dad's office and got a lift back to theirs. When JJ arrived we had a delicious Chinese and then headed over to Dorking (in our case, using the long route as we stupidly trusted the sat nav).

The support act was Martin "bigpig" Mor, who was surprisingly funny for a support act. The majority of his act was based on interaction with the audience and he was really funny, quick and clever but coarse. He took the rise out of the young man in front of us, until, that is, he noticed the 13 year old kids who someone had thought would love Frankie Boyle. (A bit annoying as it not only made everyone around them a little uncomfortable and, as I could see them out of the corner of my eye the whole time, it soon became apparent that, despite their mouthy-ness, blatantly didn't get the majority of the jokes). Once he was done, I was really hyped up for Frankie Boyle to come on.

Frankie himself however was a bit of a disappointment. Firstly, and completely not his fault, for the first 1/2 hour or so, there was a intermittent beeping noise going on, sounded a bit like a watch alarm going off. Every time it went off, he got more annoyed and distracted until he was plainly pissed off, and, understandably, it stopped the gig flowing and he was obviously not enjoying himself which stops it being so funny. Eventually, one of the security guards admitted he thought it was the sound system and not some bloke mucking about and that seemed to be the final straw to poor Frankie and he seemed to loose all energy. (This wasn't helped as his style is generally downbeat and coming after the extremely high energy Martin the contrast was very stark). In fact, towards the end, I even got a bit tired (though this should mostly be put down to the monster in my tum). I do think that he made a mistake asking for questions from the audience at the end - he had spent the first half of the gig threatening to kill the person making the beats, becoming more and aggressive and had given no warning that he was going to ask so people were understandably a bit reluctant. He really could have done coming back on for an encore - a really strong finish would have saved the evening, instead it just sort of tailed off. Leaving the halls later, people were quiet and seemed a bit shell shocked, almost a bit sheepish and we didn't start talking until out the hall and practically round the corner.

Secondly, and partially down to the above, the material didn't seem to flow very well, being a bunch of discrete jokes with little to link them. And lastly, having only ever seen him on comedy game shows, I was expecting clever but shocking comedy, as he delivers time after time on MTW (but probably more shocking as he didn't have to worry about censorship etc), but in this, he seemed to have gone mostly for shocking and left the clever to look after itself.

All in all, all this aside, he was still very funny - both JJ and I rated him above the Bill Bailey gig that we saw and overall gave him 6 out of 10. If he hadn't had the annoyance of the beeping, it probably would have been a lot higher. And the test of a good gig is, do you quote it afterwards and a couple of his jokes have been traded and sniggered over by JJ and I in the last week. "Only the ugly ones are found alive..."

The evening did not end well for us - when we got home I nipped to the loo, only to find that I had a small amount of bleeding. I had had a tiny spot of new blood the morning before and decided not to panic as the baby was moving loads and it didn't repeat at all during the day. This was old blood but much more than the day before so we decided to ring NHS direct and get their opinion. They told me to ring Frimley and see what they said and Frimley said to come in and they would check me over. So, JJ stopped the kettle from boiling and we headed off. I wasn't too worried (unlike our other scares) because, all the way to the hospital, the baby practised its pirouettes so obviously was not in distress. Also, I know that, should things go horribly wrong, the baby is at an age where it plausibly could survive which, although I really really REALLY don't want that to happen, does make things a little less scary.

We went to the A and E to ask how to get to the Central Delivery suite as the main doors were locked and the poor woman behind the desk got the wrong end of the stick, concluding with "How exciting!" and we didn't like to disabuse her of the notion. Once in the CDS, we were shown straight into a room and the midwife took my blood pressure etc and then a doctor came into to examine me. Once he had given me the once over and we had listened to the baby's heart to be sure that it was fine, the registrar was bought in to rummage about in my insides. (For the record, saying "just relax your muscles" is almost guaranteed to make me tense). All in all, everything looked fairly fine and they concluded that the bleeding was just the consequence of a low lying placenta (apparently as it moves up the edges can be tugged slightly and as a result bleed a little) and that there was nothing to worry about, but they would keep me in over night just to make sure and I would probably be home for lunch next day.

We waited a while and about 2ish a bed was found for me in the maternity ward and we were transferred upstairs and told to sit tight and that someone would come see to us. After 1/2 an hour, JJ was on his last legs and still had to drive home and it was worrying me so I made him go home (we hadn't had much sleep recently as Thai has been barking at aliens in the night). About another 1/2 hour later, a midwife came in and told me off for being out of bed and to go to sleep. I didn't object as I was pretty much asleep with my eyes open anyway. I was so tired that the crying of babies around me didn't even begin to disturb me.

The next day the nurses poked me until I woke up, I promptly went back to sleep and didn't wake until after someone had snuck in with my breakfast and left it without disturbing me. (I'm pretty sure I snored like a warthog). I then spent what was probably the most jealous couple of hours of my life as the four women around me went through their early morning routine, tending to their gorgeous tiny babies. The baby in the right corner made funny snorting noises like a pig and had a full head of hair and the most gorgeous big brown eyes. The baby in the bed to my right was larger than the others (I think it may have been the only full term baby on the ward) and I got a cuddle with her as, when she was changed, her Mum fumbled things a bit and it got EVERYWHERE so once she was changed, I had held her while she cleaned up quickly. The baby to my left had been born on Tuesday and was tiny. I saw her get her tests done (reflexes etc) and all was well. And the lovely baby opposite me had the tiniest cry of any of them, very quiet and delicate.

I was quite surprised that none of the babies were being breastfed - everyone is so anti-bottle nowadays, I had expected maybe one or two, but I got the impression that either the babies or their Mum's were in as they had been ill after birth, so perhaps that was why.

The midwife soon came in to take my blood pressure and to tell me they were going to move me to the next ward which was all ante-natal mothers so it would be quieter. John turned up quite early (with a change in undies and some other bits) and managed to hunt me down. The midwife had told me we would have a scan this morning, just to absolutely make sure that all was OK and then we would probably be allowed to go home. And so we sat and waited... and waited... and waited... JJ was turfed out at lunch time and while he was gone the midwife popped her head round the door to say that she had moved my scan appointment and that she was just going to find out the new time for me. The only other woman in the ward was transferred up to the delivery suite and kindly(?) left me her copy of OK and The Sun.

JJ got back (I was glad as I was worried that he would miss the scan and that wouldn't be fair) and we again set down to a go long wait. Finally, around 4.30, the midwife came back to tell us that there had been a muck up and no one had booked my scan but if we went down now they would squeeze me in. We only had to wait for a few minutes before we were in, despite the waiting room being very crowded as one doctor was running an hour behind. All was well with the baby and we got a good look at his heart and profile. He is getting quite big now - the circumference of his head is 27 cm and his femur is almost 5cm long now! The pictures we got weren't great, but showed a nice profile and the operator confirmed that my placenta was still low lying, but that she wouldn't expected anything different as it hasn't been long since the last scan.



We headed back up to the ward and handed the notes over and soon the midwife came to tell me that everything looked fine BUT they were going to keep me in anyway as it is policy to keep people in for at least 24 hours after a bleed. I promptly went into tired miserable toddler mode and cried all over poor John and basically sulked for the rest of the day.

I started to get a pain, just under my ribs and, at the midwifes suggestion, we did a couple of laps round the corridors as it was probably due to being too sedentary over the day. It did help a little, but not much, so they gave me a couple of paracetamol in the hope that would cure it.

JJ headed home to get me a nightie (the bird poo nightie, Mum) and other bits so I could be a bit more comfy over night and have a shower etc. He had bought the scrabble in to keep me entertained but unfortunately we didn't really have time to play as I know that, even tired and hormonal, I could have WHUPPED his ass!

We spent the rest of the evening together and then JJ headed home to feed the monsters. I watched tv for a bit and about 10 ish was having trouble keeping my eyes open so settled down to sleep. About an hour later they woke me up to tell me to go to sleep and I was out like a light. Unfortunately, this supposedly quieter ward was now full of women who had come in to be induced who were being constantly monitored so they left the lights on full and people were in and out every two minutes. Whats more, the poor woman at the end of the ward needed a wee every few minutes so set off the alarm so that the midwife would come and unhook her from the machines so she could go.

Despite all that, I felt fairly refreshed when I woke at 6.30am (I, as always at the moment, needed a pee) so I watched some TV until the nurse came to wake me and then headed to the shower - Ahhh the luxury of being clean in fresh clothes (thank you sweetie!)

I had just started breakfast when the doctor appeared to examine me and very quickly gave me the all clear to go home, as long as I took it easy, didn't do any heavy lifting and minimised bending and stretching etc. I wanted to go xmas shopping so checked and he said as long as I took it gently and got someone to carry the bags it would be fine. The head midwife did the final paperwork with me and it was then that they realised that I had been in for 2 days without being given a wristband and she would be "having words" with Serena, the midwife who admitted me.

I left a number of messages for JJ trying to get him to pick me up which he didn't reply to so I didn't know if he had got them or indeed if he was out of bed yet (he was knackered yesterday). I eventually managed to get hold of him just as he was leaving and YAY! I finally got to go to home, after passing off the brainless pap that was the OK magazine on the neighbouring woman (I was too ashamed to pass on The Sun paper). I was a very happy monkey.

The doggeroos were happy to see me, as I was them so we played with them for a bit and gave them some love before heading to Reading to try to start our Christmas shopping. We ambled gently round, JJ sticking to my pace and being very considerate all round. We eventually found a couple of xmas pressies (the present we were going to get for Tina is sold out EVERYWHERE so we will have to rethink) and I got advent calendars for the folks too. We eventually had to head home as I got very very tired and didn't want to push it.

The next day was Saturday and we spent most of the morning in bed recovering from the last few days. In the afternoon JJ went to watch the football (Wolves drew and JJ adopted a grandad) and then we headed to the garden center to get some bits for the advent wreath. It was 10% off day, so we also got dog food and my GOD it was crowded. I got a bit hormonal at one point as it was so crowded that people weren't even observing basic politeness and I got all tearful and silly about it. JJ noticed and sorted me out with a hug. That all basically wore me out for the rest of the day.

Today, we went on a mission to find candles for the wreath as we couldn't find any that we liked the day before. We visited every garden center in the area and eventually found some in Notcutts in Bagshott. While on the never ending candle quest, I realised that I could feel the babies back on one side of my belly and that, if I ran my hand down, I could get my finger tips under his butt, something that JJ had not felt before so I stopped in the middle of the garden center and instructed him where to grope and he was really pleased and people around us were only slightly taken aback...

We then headed home and JJ sorted out his tools (he had a brainwave recently that we could empty one of our multitude of kitchen cabinets and store them in there so they would be easy to get to, so set to it with a will) while I assembled the wreath. It was a bit of a cheat as they had had ready made undecorated wreaths for sale at the garden center, but I didn't really feel up for doing one from scratch as I would normally. It turned out quite well, though there were a few unforeseen complications caused by not custom making the wreath but we solved them.

Then, to celebrate first advent, we lit the first candle and had a very delicious roast chicken dinner while listening to Christmas music. All in all, a relaxing end to a stress filled week...

EDIT : And Finally, Top Gear reminded us that it could always be worse...

Week 25 : It's all coming together beautifully

At the weekend, John's Mum gave us her dining room furniture as she had decided to replace it with some new lighter colored bits. After a lot of work on sunday, we kinda managed to get them into place (we had to deconstruct the cupboards we had there and store them so JJ can have them in his shed next year) and the dining room began to look more like a dining room and less like a storage room. I spent all Monday tidying and it looks even better (and strangely bigger even though the units are a similar size) and then on Tuesday our new dining room table arrived. It was bigger than I remembered (good thing we did go for the other one we were considering or it would have been HUGE) but in celebration at having a dining room back we celebrated with homemade pizza...

As you can see, John was really impressed at having to wait for his pizza and I haven't quite finished dejunking the dining room - the wire basket and stuff behind the table are all empty and just need storing somewhere and underneath it are picture frames waiting to go on the wall. (Not the best pictures ever - I had the wrong lens on but the food was getting cold so didn't want to spend time swopping things round).

Week 24 : SO frustrating

I booked ante-natal classes some time ago at my first official scan. We were told not to leave it until a later appointment as spaces were limited and to ensure a place on the correct course (starting in week 28-30) we should book immeadiately. The classes we were assigned were due to start at the end of the month, a little early, but the christmas break meant we had to start earlier in order to fit them in on time.

I have just had a call to say that they have had some mothers who hadn't got round to booking when told and now have to be fitted in and that I would have to now wait until mid-January for classes, meaning I will not be finishing the classes until week 36. I wouldn't mind this so much, but a baby born in week 36 is considered to be full term and treated as such. So, if the baby is premature it will be here before the classes finish!

The woman I spoke to was the oriental mid-wife that I REALLY dislike who barely let us get a word in edgewise and didn't listen (JJ wasn't too keen on her either) so now I am worried that maybe she is running the classes.

I had been feeling more and more relaxed about the birth cos I knew that the classes were coming up and I would have all the information etc that I needed - now I am a complete mess and frankly fuming. What is more annoying, I know I am being unreasonable - I will only be finishing the classes two weeks later than I would have done if christmas weren't in the way but I still am SO annoyed. And in addition to all that, there was something prowling round the neighbours garden last night, setting off their garden light and so Thai decided to become a guard dog and bark at it all night so I am already tired and emotional.

I rang my Mum at the office and cried at her for a bit and she cheered me up with tales of the switching on of the christmas lights in Guildford, which sounded lovely. Unfortunately, I have missed the switching on of Bracknell's lights, which was yesterday. Damn it!

Week 24 : STAAAARRRR TREEEEKKKKKK!

I was just joking with JJ, via email, about knitting a star trek uniform for the baby. Lo and behold, five minutes later, he comes up with THIS!

http://knittingthroughthenightgallery.blogspot.com/2007/10/star-trek-junior.html

I best get on finish my current project so I can get started...

Week 24 : On the up

OK so after my last miserable post I am feeling much more positive. I had an evening of irrational anger on Friday (nothing I could do would calm me down and I wasn't really angry at anything in particular - it was quite perculiar) but on Saturday we at least made a start on organising - John tidied the loft so we could pop more stuff up there to store and then in the evening he suggested getting a dvd (something we haven't doen in ages) and we watched the new Indiana Jones which was silly but very enjoyable.

On Sunday I had great plans, but we sat down to eat breakfast and scrapheap challenge was on so we ended up watching until 4, when we headed off to Chris's to make this years christmas cakes. We had a very pleasant evening, playing with the dog and mixing fruit but we had to leave before the cakes were down as we had a way to go and the dogs needed feeding. I did feel a bit bad as baby talk pretty much dominated conversation as I haven't seen any of them since we knew, but I don't think I was toooo bad and did TRY to not chat about the baby too much. We will be going back later to decorate the cakes, so I need to dig out some decorations at some point and need to make the christmas pud next weekend, ready for next year (Mum has kindly donated her recipe).

Week 23 : Downhearted, dispirited and downright miserable...

Well, not a good day today. Was feeling good when I got up - had maybe coughed only once or twice and was feeling properly human. Packed John off to work and sat down to a hard boiled egg and wholemeal toast, which was delicious, and to watch the news. Finished breakfast, reached for my glass to take a swig and immeadiately, without any warning, threw up. I then threw up another 4 times between the lounge and kitchen sink, in the dining room I threw up, trod in it and skidded into the hall and finally made it to safety. I then threw up until I was just dry heaving.

Clean up was easier than it would have been as I forgot that Thai will eat anything and by the time I had washed my way back to the lounge, she had eaten the worst of it. Hopefully, it was just a pregnancy puke and nothing worse that is going to make her ill too.

It is SO demoralising - I spent the most of the first 4 months throwing up everyday, as I came out of that I caught a cold that made me throw up at least once most days until about a week ago and, yesterday afternoon, I finally started to feel like I was over the worst of it for the time being and had a brief burst of energy, putting up curtains and tidying the lounge, giving the kitchen a once over and actually cooking a proper meal instead of the quick rubbish that we have been eating up to now, only to find that today I am back to square one.

I am feeling down and miserable - everyone I speak to or read about seems to have had an easy pregnancy, sick once or twice in the first trimester and then a fantastic burst of energy and happiness in the second trimester. I am now over half way through my second trimester and still feeling crappy. I am almost angry and feel cheated of the pregnancy I should be having (silly I know). My one consolation is , when I was sick, I managed to hit Johns precious slippers!

To add insult to injury, the program that was on after the news has a really awful chavy couple and they had the same curtains and curtain pole that I just put up yesterday.

Week 23 : Craving oddities

Well I thought I was over the baked bean thing - last nght John, feeling left out from the beans on toast craze, decided he wanted them and I really wasn't that fussed and, eating them, found them a bit bland and tasteless. I assumed that I had got over the craving but today I have just been on the wiifit and immeadiately am fancying beans on jacket potatoes... Thing is I really need to up my vegetable intake before I turn into a baked bean so I may push out the barrel and make a proper meal...

Week 22 : WiiWhat?!

So I decided to bite the bullet and get on the wiifit today for the first time since I found out I was pregnant. I braced myself for the weight gain and told myself, no matter how much I had gone up not to worry - doctors weren't too worried about weight gain in pregnancy anymore and I could loose it once the baby was born, after all isn't breast feeding supposed to be good for weight loss?! But to my immense suprise, I have lost 11lb! I can only assume it is a consequence of vomiting so apocalyptically during morning sickness, coupled with cutting out much of the sugar in my diet due to the diabetes fears.

On a different note, the Bank of England lowered the interest rate today by 1.5%! Obviously trying to force the banks to pass on savings to mortgage holders asap. That means that, assuming the rate cut does get passed on in full (unlikely but you never know) it could save us over £175 a month. Which is nice...

Week 22 : OBAMALAMADINGDONG!

Well, after 8 years of dumbassery, moroniconism and needs-a-slap-itus the americans have finally done it right. I gave up at 2.30 and went to bed fairly sure that Obama would take it, John waited until 5.30 to hear both candidates speeches before coming to bed. John McCains acceptance speech was apparently everything that it should be - humble, gracious and only marred by some scattered booing (quickly sushed by McCain himself) when he mentioned he had spoken to Obama. And Obama's speech was rousing, inspirational and, fittingly in the current financial troubles, had a serious and sensible tone. John likened it to the speech in Independence Day "WE SHALL NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT..." (itself a reference to a Dylan Thomas poem).

At the moment, Obama is standing at 349 - just one seat away from what is traditionally considered a landslide.

I just have two negative comments, looking back on things. Firstly, I heard today that the extent of negative campaigning in this election was higher than it has ever been, 4 out of 5 ads for McCain were negative and 3 out of 5 from Obama. This to me is unacceptable and does not bode well for politics in the future. Also, wonderful though it is that a country that, just 2 years ago, would not vote for a Black president has still not seen fit to elect a member of the majority of the population (currently approx 50.7%) - a woman. But that is just sour grapes on my part and frankly I have never been so emotionally invested in a foreign election before and could not be happier - yet another good omen for my baby's future...

Poor Mum has just been signed off work with shingles - very itchy apparently. Most annoyingly it means that she can't sell hotdogs at the bonfire on saturday so poor Dad looks like he may be on his own. I had hoped to be able to help but I am still coughing - still there is still time for the cough to ease off - fingers crossed.

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

There is no reason why gunpowder season

should ever be forgot...

Week 22: Election Fever

I am not well with the horrendous cold that had me up 4 times in the night to cough my lungs up so have spent the best part of the day (except for my trip to the dentist) watching the coverage on the US elections on BBC 24. It is really interesting to contrast the coverage of the BBC, which seems objective and based on reporters observations, and CNN's coverage which seems overly sentimental and a bit scattergun like. I am quite energised by the prospect of Obama becoming president - the atmosphere is very exciting but I can't help but be a little nervous - after all they though Kerry would take it and then George W got back in to everyone's dismay. Hopefully the Americans will see sense and vote in, what seems to me anyway, the only way that they can if they are to salvage their world-wide reputation, even if only in a small way...

On the pregnancy side, I had the first cup of coffee since getting pregnant today (JJ's fault - he sent me this article which started me craving after having quite easily given up coffee completely up to now) and I really shouldn't have bothered - it gave me a massive headache and the baby almost immediately obviously got the caffeine hit as it decided to demonstrate its tap dance technique. I shall leave it, except for the occasional coke, until after the baby is born to venture to Starbucks I think...

Week 21 : Halloweeeeeeeen

Well the snows all gone but halloween is here. This year only one pumpkin as my partner-in-crime in away in York and John is a miserable old git when it comes to these things. I wanted to do a canabalistic pumpkin but couldn't find a small enough pumpkin to fit in its mouth so instead went for a vegetarian pumpkin, eating an apple - not quite as scary really...

I also finished off the last of the treat bags that I made last year and actually remembered to take a photo of them this year - pretty cool huh?

Week 21 : And ICE!

The next morning the snow is still here but with the addition of ice - the temperature had gone up during the night and then dropped again so the snow was rock hard. I took both monsters out in the garden to play and suprisingly even Thai chased snow balls for a bit - normally only Sherbs favorite game. Sherb, having chased snow balls was still so excited that he spent a while alternating between barking his approval of the snow and dashing about like a maniac!





















I had the anomaly scan in the morning (after chipping our way into the car) - a longer scan than previously but the baby was in an awkward position so although we managed to check all that needed checking we didn't get great pictures. We did see all four chambers of his heart beating away, his spine and developing teeth and John has decided it is a boy but I saw nothing that I thought suggested that.











Mum and Dad got back from holiday last night - a bit of a shock to come from sunny Tenerfie, expecting a mild autumn and to be greeted by snow. They had the day off before going back to work tomorrow so we all went out for a long lunch which was nice and then went back to ours for a cuppa.

Week 21 : SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!

The first snow of the season! I think such an early showing of lovely, lovely snow can only be a good omen for the baby... Poor Sherb couldn't play in it though (something that we would normally have to physically restrain him from doing) as there were lots of fireworks so he was too scared to do anything other than dash out, pee at speed and dash back in, terrified. That was, until his dad went out with him, which he was poorly dressed for...

I took some piccies to prove it which I will post later.

Week 21 : Grandad

Just had a call from my hubby syaing he was going to be late as the M3 and M25 are having problem today so decided to head off on a detour. He then realised he was desperate for the loo and wasn't too far from my Nan's so thought he would drop in and have a cup of tea while he was there. It made me smile as I love the fact that my grandparents are so laid backed that they will be happy to see him and not fazed at all and also that John gets on so well with them to feel comfortable with just popping in - not something that he would be comfortable about doing with most people.

WEEK 20 : Rhino Dreams

I am having a bit of trouble at the moment - the babys movements are getting stronger and easier to feel and every time I feel it I want to tell EVERYONE and am having to resist posting every time it happens. So instead I shall record my poor dad's misfortune...

He and Mum are on holiday at the moment and on Monday night Dad dreamt that he was in an enclosure with a rhino and that it was charging him. He started to climb the wall but realised that the horn would still reach him, so gave one last heave to get over the wall and in doing so fell out of bed and hit his head on the bedside table, cutting the skin by his eye. Mum was woken by a ginormous yell and pools of blood everywhere. He is now sporting a shiner, poor sausage...

WEEK 20 : German Realisations

We were in Germany this weekend, visiting John's Dad. Unfortunately, the night before we left I developed a sore throat and coughed and sneezed all weekend, but it was good to see him looking so well and so happy. We had a good visit, John helped him buy a laptop and then taught him to use it all weekend and I mostly red my book and made a fuss of his dog, Rambo. To our suprise and delight, Imyra presented us with a fair amount of money for getting ready for the baby which will make things a lot easier but I will still be trying to get some stuff second hand rather than waste.

On the plane home I was tired and emotional and in pain and ill so had a pregnancy moment that resulted with me in floods of tears while poor John tried to calm me down.

The next day we ordered a Maclaren Techno XT Buggy from mothercare (it was on sale and we weren't sure how long the offer would last) and I am extreamely over excited about it!

The baby is becoming more active and seems to be most active around 10.30-ish, enough that John could clearly feel the baby twitching as last night it spent about 10 minutes kicking the same spot. (Normally by the time he has got his hand in place, the baby has got bored and kicks another spot or falls asleep). It is apparently the size of a large honeydew melon now! Also on the pregnant side of things I have come to a number of realisations over the last few days :
1. I can no longer see my feet in the shower
2. The water no longer covers my bump in the bath and
3. I can't shave my legs in the bath anymore as the bump gets in the way...

*sigh*

But on the bright side of things, on Saturday we are officially half way through our pregnancy - Yay!

WEEK 19 : Consultancy sucks

So today I had my appointment at the consultants. John wanted to come along so came home early and we set off with plenty of time and stopped off to grab lunch on the way. We then queued for 25 minutes to get into the car park, before I got out and John queued for a bit more before meeting me in the ante-natal care reception. Luckily they were running late so he didn't miss anything. They took my sample away to be tested and a midwife chatted to us for a bit before the consultant came through. He had a very strong accent so it was hard to understand him but basically there had been a minute trace of glucose in my urine so they need to inform the midwife and I have been told to EAT HEALTHY from now on :( And we just bought two boxes of whispa bars!
Once the consultant was done the midwife came back and explained they were going to be testing me for diabetes in the week before christmas and gave me a glucose drink that I have to starve for and then drink the drink and be tested within 2 hours of drinking. I was quite down after that so John spent the afternoon trying to cheer me up bless him.

WEEK 19 : A scare and two firsts

Well this morning it was all go again - having not been sick in nearly a week I threw up spectacularly this morning and then the last few times there was some blood. I worried about it for a bit and eventually decided to ring NHS direct to see if I should be worried. They said it was probably not too much to worry about but to go to A and E and get checked out. I asked wher ethe nearest one was and they sent me to Heatherwood, despite me asking if the minor injuries unit was going to be able to treat me. Unsuprisingly, I was then sent to Frimley A and E as Heatherwood couldn't treat me. John decided he couldn't wait and came home and took me to Frimley where we sat for about 2 hours (which we were told wasn't too bad) and then a handsome doctor with very large warm hands examined me ( :D ) while JJ stood by and looked anxious. After blood tests etc the doctor decided it was a something-beginning-with-m tear - basically I ruptured some blood vessels when I was sick and nothing to worry about. It was hospital policy for the midwife to check any pregnant woman admitted to A and E so a very lovely woman came down and saw me and John got to listen to the baby's heartbeat for the first time which was a cool outcome to a crappy morning (and left us both a bit teary eyed). The midwife asked if I could feel the baby moving yet and I said I was only really feeling fluttery feelings and that John was finding it a bit frustrating as he couldn't feel it - she said it wouldn't belong before I felt more pokey jabs...

We finally went for a late lunch after checking in with Mum who was also in hospital today (but with a scheduled appointment) she as OK and relieved that I was too. We then headed home and both slept most of the afternoon. While watching tv (sanctuary - not great but I think it will get better) and I got a few particularly strong pokes and finally actually managed to get John's hand there so he could feel before it stopped - two firsts in one day! It was so cool (and at least convinced me that I wasn't going mad and actually COULD feel the baby moving)!

Week 18 : AND SHE'S OFF!

Well, this week Kris finally was heading off to uni and I wanted to pop over to say goodbye so Thursday we joined Mum, Dad, Kris and Cathy (an adopted member of the family) for a somewhat erratic game of Newmarket. I say erratic as Dad kept forgetting to check his cards, I kept forgetting to hand back the dummy hand so it could be shuffled in and getting distracted by a catalogue Mum had that had a wrap that she thought would be perfect for breast feeding in the chilly nights, John and Cathy were competing for title of biggest winner and all amongst uni and baby talk and laughing and mucking about.
We have been struggling over what song we should play to the baby now to help it sleep after it is born and finally Mum came up with a good suggestion that we could both agree on (I vetoed Johns suggestion of Rammstien) - Daydream Believer, by the Monkees so we will have to pop that on the Ipod asap.
Kris and Cath produced a beautiful pizza based meal and I only split the beetroot a little :D At 10 John finally stood up and put his coat on and walked me out the door, pretty much while I was still talking, as it is the only way to get me to leave normally...

Next day, Kris spent the day packing the car and, once Dad had finished work for the day, the three of them headed up to York, staying overnight in a bed and breakfast so to be near in the morning to help Kris settle in. GOOD LUCK KRIS!

Week 17 : A christmassy interlude

Well, I had a great day today. As I have probably mentioned already, my sister is off to uni next week and I will miss her awfully as we have seen more of each other in the last year or so than since we both lived at home! The hubby was going out with the guys tonight so muggins had volunteered to pick him up at the end of the evening an drop him off in the morning. Having dragged my lazy carcass all the way to Horsham, I was coming back pretty much past my Mum's house so stopped off to see Kristy and suggest a christmas run to the local garden centers as Kris would be away during most of the christmas rush.

We then spent a very pleasant morning ambling round talking uni and babies and looking at the gorgeous decorations. In Godalming we found some gorgeous moose decorations that would be perfect for the babies room - I bought the little ones and Kris bought me the big ones for my christmas present. We had a lovely but ginormous lunch at the center (having previously had bread pudding at the other garden center) and then I dropped Kris home and headed back to the dogs, knowing I would miss her more than ever...

Week 16 : Every time that we meet I skip a heartbeat

Had my second midwifes appointment today. This was much more relaxed than before as there wasn't as much information to go through and it was a different, more relaxed and friendly. She was shocked that the first midwife hadn't given us contact details for the team in case of problems and went through that with me.

She also let me listen to the baby's heartbeat which she said was very strong and she was pleased that she didn't have to hunt for it. She thinks that the fluttering that I have felt is probably the baby moving as I thought and, as the heart beat is nice and strong and the baby moved a lot during the scans, that I will start to feel stronger movements quite early.

The only downside is I told John that he didn't need to come as it was just a check up and there would be nothing new at this appointment. Poor sausage.

Week 15 : Baby Abroad

Well, we are off to France for a week tomorrow. I am nervous - I get travel sick and, although morning sickness is over, pregnancy rhinitus combined with post nasal drip means I am still being sick. We are taking the ferry as it is cheaper than flying or the Eurotunnel (and thank goodness we booked before the Eurotunnel caught fire so ahd no problem getting tickets).

Ah well, we are all packed now, nothing let but to wait...

Week 14 : Sick

Morning sickness seems to be wearing off but I am still very tired. Kirsty has been a coolio star recently - forcing me to de junk my study as John's study is becoming the baby's room and my study is becoming our study. However, we couldn't even get in the door of my study when we started as, when Kris moved back in with Mum and Dad so she could go back to college I stored a bunch of her stuff in there.

Last weekend we finally had filled my dining room with boxes so were off to a car boot. John and I had tried the weekend before but were told set up was at 11 and they were turning people away as they were full when we arrived and we then found out the car boot OPENED to the public at 11. We tried again this weekend, this time getting there at 10, queued for ages and still didn't get in! We had wanted to go to this one as it was under cover, but the weather wasn't too bad so we went on to another. We were very late arriving and as we pulled up people were asking if we had perfume or phones or records and on and on. We set up and sold loads really quickly and made a fair amount of money but as things were drawing to a close we still had a bunch of stuff left so started yelling at people that all was left was free and that they could just take it. We ended up with just a small box of junk that no one would take which headed to the tip. The weather turned out to be glorious and we were quite burnt at the end of it and poor Kris was on her last legs so she headed home to bed.

Week 13 : Finally it's official

Finally we went for the first official scan at Frimley. We left early, planning to get breakfast first, but didn't recon on the early morning traffic so in the end have to go straight to the hospital. I drink water like mad to make sure I have a full bladder and then they called us in.

The baby performed like a pro - when we first saw him he was on his side so we got a beautiful view of his spine like a tiny zip running down his back and then he turned onto his side so that the operator could take the measurements of the nucal sac (he says the initial measurements are very promising) and we could have a good look at him/her.

We got three pictures this time, but unfortunately they aren't quite as good as the previous one and we didn't get one of his gorgeous spine which is a shame.

PICTURE GOES HERE

Having convinced myself, again, that everything was fine I burst into tears on the way home as obviously I was secretly convinced that it wasn't going to go right...

Poor John then had to go to a dentist appointment...

Week 12 : Finally the news is out

We finally caught Nan and Grandad in at the same time and they were over the moon. They were very impressed by the photo, though it required some explaining and very enthusiastic. Mum said that when she spoke to her afterwards Nan said "I've never seen two people so excited to tell their news!" which made me laugh as we were rather hyper!

I was very pleased that they were happy - Nan is quite old fashioned in her outlook with some things and prefers her grandkids to be married before producing kids but she didn't make any comment, just discussed baby names and so on all evening with us.

Yesterday we went to see Pauline and broke to news to the kids. Tina was really excited and has decided to make a book of names for us to choose from. Ryan had a typical teenage grunt to contribute but did ask some questions so was a little interested. We then headed to Johns grandparents and let them know. They too were happy but couldn't really make head nor tail of the picture no matter how long we explained it too them. We then headed out for a meal to celebrate Paulines birthday and headed home ( I slept most of the way), where John immeadiately changed his facebook status to "John is busy spreading good news!" and sent out messages to just about everyone letting them know. Today his status now reads "John is going to be a DAD!"

Week 12 : Another scare and a result!

Well we have had another scare - Monday John and I went for a wander round Virginia Waters and, about half way round I started to get some pain in my pelvis and sort of dismissed it as trapped wind in the same way as I had with the few twinges that I had in the previous couple of days. As the day went on the pain got steadily worse and worse and eventually kept me awake most of the night. When I woke in the morning it was very painful, making things ache from my mid thigh to my mid back and the only way to alleviate it was to lay very very still.

To add insult to injury Thai has been very ill too with severe diaorear and desperately needed to go to the vets for a check up. John decided he couldn't go to work and rang the doctor and got me an appointment and the same for Thai with the vet. Typically, as the time to see the doctor approached, the pain lessened until I barely had any pain when I got there. The doctor poke and prodded me in as uncomfortable way as possible (but was very nice) and said that she didn't think it was anything to worry about but that I should have another scan to confirm that there wasn't any problem. They couldn't get hold of the EPU immeadiately so we came home and awaited a call with a time. Unfortunately it turned out they couldn't get an appointment until the next day, so we took Thai to the vets and got some bits and bobs for her poor tum. John was very worried all day, but I really felt that this was going to be fine as everything I read said if there was no blood it was very unlikely to be a problem.

Next morning, however, I have NO morning sickness for the first time in ages, I slept well so am not tired and all in all, all signs of pregnancy are gone so I began to panic. John headed for work for the morning and I sat home and worried and worried and worried and...

Finally, John got back and we headed off to the scan. The same doctor who saw us the first time met us there and within a couple of minutes I was lying on the bed with goop all over my tummy and THERE IT WAS! It is definately my child as it was flailing around with the coordination of a drunken spider, moving arms legs and head around way more than either of us had expected to see. This time I remembered to ask for a picture and here is baby Juerss:



You can see the head, eyes, nose and mouth, an arm and a leg poking up. I cried a lot, John cried a lot and all in all we were very very happy. The scan was very efficient and checked out for potential problems but if anything was too fast, we were in and out in a minute or two - I just wanted to just look at my baby!

We decided to head over to Mum's to show her the piccy, via my Nan's as, now we had a picture, we could NOT keep quiet any longer. After a quick detour to get John a new coat, we headed to Nan's only to find she had nipped out! We visited with Grandad for a while and fixed his freeview box before finally giving up and going on to Mum's.

Mum was duely impressed by the piccy and despite a lot of insult hurling between Kris and JJ, there was a lot of giggling etc. going on. They were supposed to be packing for their extreamely early morning trip to Germany today but we successfully held them up on that! On the way back we drove by Nan's to see if she was in yet but the car wasn't there (she is a demon bowler and was bowling in a friendly) so we headed home cursing her to check on poor Thai who was much better...

Things that I (as a new father to-be) have learned about pregnancy.

A woman can use pregnancy as an excuse for everything!

WEEK 12 : Family celebrations

The family got together at the Worpleston Place Hotel yesterday to congratulate Kris and have a meal. Unfortunately, Thai had been very VERY sick the night before so I was feeling quite ill when we arrived but John ran interferance and distracted everyone with the new car - a very posh Volvo V70, which has replaced me in his affections for the time being!

We had a lovely meal and it wasn't a problem that I couldn't finish it all and John and Grandad inhaled any left overs in a split second. Mum was a bit concerned as she could see I was being careful about what I was eating and thought I would have to be sick and Kris said I kept rubbing my stomach so might give it away. What is more, it was SO hard just to blurt it all out, particularly to Nan and Grandad!

WEEK 11 : SHE'S EVEN BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT!

She got an A in maths! All the frustration, trying to find yet another way to explain how to use fractions, was SO worth it. It means that she is definately going to her first choice, York and we are all over the moon.

Unfortunately, Dad wasn't feeling well so we didn't go out to celebrate but John and I decided to go and try the Italian out towards Ascot that we've been meaning to try for a while. The place was nice but the service was really really slow despite plenty of staff and being quite empty.

Week 10 : MY SISTER ROCKS

She an A and a B in her A-levels (and was only one point off a A) so now is just waiting for her GCSE result to find out which university that she will go to.

EDIT : Bangor has changed their offer to unconditional so regardless she definately has a place, now just to see if she gets her first choice - York.

We went to the Golden Retreiver to celebrate, which mostly involved a lot of reminiscing and giggling (including a great story about Dad that inspired me to find two versions of to "11 more months and 10 more days").

To my disgust, when it came to pudding, I couldn't bear to have chocolate sauce on my ice cream but I couldn't eat it all (it was inhaled by Kris and John so didn't go to waste) - most annoying!

Week 10 : A dreamy pregnancy

Apparently morning sickness is supposed to be getting better this week and I really hope so as last week was the worst so far - sick and dizzy almost all day and unable to keep much down. On one day I ran to be sick in the kitchen and got so dizzy I ran slap bang into a wall!

However, Friday I seemed a lot better and since then, although I have had minor waves of nausea, I mostly seem to feel OK. The tiredness is extreme however and I am sleeping for about an additional four hours a day at the moment! As a result I am having more dreams - I tend to remember my dreams anyway and they tend to be fairly epic in scale and content, however they are now way stranger and more epic. There are the normal pregnancy type dreams - having miscarriages, having GIANT babies, having huge amounts of babies, giving birth to weird creatures and in weird situations and so on. But there are two that really stand out that weren't really related to pregnancy and they were so weird they deserve recording...

Dream 1 : Mushrooms

This started with John and I walking with our two young children up an Alpine pass towards a house on the mountain side that I knew was Mum and Dad's house. Getting to the house there was no answer when we knocked so John decided back down to the village with the kids and I would wait for Mum and Dad there. I kept knocking and, finally Dad's voice came from an upstairs window - I couldn't see anyone and we chatted for a bit, the whole time with me walking backwards trying to see in the window. Eventually Dad comes closer to the window and he is a giant talking red cartoon mushroom and this seems completely natural to me! We carrying on chatting for a bit and then he told me to go down to the fete and he would meet me down there. As I turn away he turned blue and a small red mushroom appeared carved on the windowsill of the house. I wandered down the hill and soon noticed I was walking beside a series of ornately carved grates (they had "Birthday celebration tunnel" engraved on them with leaves and animals) in the road and, as I got level with them a blue shower of sparks would shoot out of them. Peering down the grate, I see dad/mushroom shooting down the tunnel and the blue sparks are caused by his passing the grates. He gets ahead of me and I carry on down.

Getting to the village I find an empty fete with Mum guarding the stalls - her stall contains hundreds of different size/shape/color paper cake cases and really ornate paperclips. I spend a while chatting with Mum and then say "Where is everyone?". She explains that they are up the opposite hill in the courtyard and that I should hurry or I may miss the countdown. I am confused and she says "Don't you remember when you were kids?" I don't but head off anyway.

At the top of the hill, there was a giant courtyard filled with people who were unhappy and mean and horrible. I could see John and the kids at the front, so I pushed my way through and, as I did people started counting down from 10. When they reached 0, a hole opened in the ground and Dad/mushroom shot out up high into the sky and landed on the podium at the front.

He said "Thank you all for coming. I can see there are much more than last year but I will do my best" and then exploded into a million little bits which fell on the crowd. As they touched people, they were absorbed and people had epiphanies - people how were unhappy as they were in debt realised what they needed to do to get out of it, suicidal people remembered loved ones and basically everyone was happy. When one landed on me I had the feeling of a hug and turning round I realised it was my Dad in human form. I gave him a big hug and John, Dad the kids and I all headed back down the hill to see Mum. When we got there, I asked why she hadn't attended and she said she didn't like to watch the ceremony. And then I woke up...

Dream 2 : Suicide Cult

This one was much darker and I had it this morning - It started with me waking in hospital having tried to commit suicide. It hadn't worked and it took a long time to recover but while waiting I realised that there was a market for guaranteed suicide and that I could provide it. I invented devices that were like a sword, the hilt being within a half dome of metal and the blade being cross shaped (ie if it was pointy end towards you, it looked like a cross). They were attached to a machine that meant that, when stabbed with the sword, there was no blood and the person stabbed would then decide when he would die - they could die immediately if that is what they wanted, if they wanted to die at home, they would die until the point when they got there, if they wanted to die in their loved ones arms they wouldn't die until they got to them and, most importantly, if they changed their mind, they would not die until their natural time was up.

I set up a stall in a market saying I would kill people for £10 - they had to verify that they were over 18 and tell me why they wanted to die and then I would kill them. The machine seemed to change me so I didn't need to eat, sleep or drink and a queue soon built up of people that wanted to die. Over years a religion built up around me, they built a office/temple behind my stall and provide a secretary who sorted out forms and recorded peoples information. They took dna samples so remains could be identified and those who had no relatives left were disposed of in the basement. Trends began to build up and, there was a marriage bureau next door we would get couples who went to get married then went to lunch and then joined the queue to die together. It became more and more ritualised - people knew to tell me their stories before death and so I lost the ability to talk. At times, people who were upset (understandably but I couldn't understand in my dream) would attack me but I had somehow become immortal.

Sometimes, as well as killing and listening to peoples stories, I was also a person in the queue - the first time I couldn't go through with it so I left the queue, the second time I wasn't allowed as the tests performed by the secretary showed I was pregnant and the last time I went hand in hand with John and we both died.

There was never any pause in the queue, even in the dead of night until one day there was only one man in the queue. He was a journalist, writing a story on how the queue was waining and in order for the article to work, he had to die at the end of it so he wrote "and I died", handed me his notepad and I killed him where he stood.

There were no more in the queue and I waited for a while and then walked into the deserted temple behind me, the first time I had moved in hundreds of years, put the swords on the floor and smashed them completely, took the symbol of the religion that someone had given me and hung it above a double door and walked out the back and into wilderness. I wandered for years, just letting my soul absorb all the stories I had heard over the years and finally decided to return to civilization. But it was chaos, I had killed everyone with imagination and inspiration and only dull, lazy morons were left. And then I woke up...

Now, if anyone can tell me what the hell they are supposed to mean I would be most grateful!