Nearly at the end of my pregnancy…

The out of office message is on. Everything I know has been brain dumped to my replacement. I’m on maternity leave and it’s such a surreal feeling! Due date is in three weeks’ time and I hope I’ll get to enjoy quite a few lie-ins and plenty of rest.

I’m so glad I won’t have to take the rush hour tube commute anymore as it was getting increasingly uncomfortable. I kept the Baby on Board badge on although it’s obvious I’m very pregnant-looking right now and luckily most fellow passengers have been very kind and considerate so I cannot report any negative experiences like I thought I would when I first wrote about wearing that badge.

I’ve put on about 13 kilos and I believe I’m in a healthy range but like I wrote in my last blog post about my new wardrobe, I’m not particularly happy with some bits of my body. Then again, I’m sure I’ll bounce back after a while! Luckily I haven’t had any odd or too unhealthy cravings. Strawberries are still on top of the list and now also Swedish Marabou milk chocolate (difficult to get here, so I brought quite a few back from our holiday in Estonia).

We’ve bought all the essentials that we think we need. The most precious and expensive item (lots of other things we’ve managed to buy second hand) was delivered this Monday – our Uppababy Cruz (2015). It took us about two months to decide and we visited John Lewis three times to try different ones out. The consultation there was quite useful if not a bit overwhelming to me. At times I felt guilty that I hadn’t thought of so many things but as a first time mum I really am not supposed to know everything or anything!

So, the waiting game really has started. Our hospital bags are (almost) packed and I’ve done as much reading about labour as possible but I’m also prepared that nothing might go to plan! The baby room isn’t ready by any means, it still resembles a storage room that’s now just mainly filled with baby stuff. But that’s ok, she won’t care for now. We’ll get there…

Finally, I came across this useful blog post by Mum in Brum yesterday and will follow her advice ;). Especially the ‘enjoy time as a couple’ part.

My bump timeline in photos. Courtesy of Marc Mordant Photography.