Red Rose Baby 34 Weeks Update

Six weeks to go, which seems an impossibly small amount. On one hand it seems like this pregnancy has lasted forever, it's been so hard at times. On the other hand I can't believe that I'm now 34 week pregnant and it's likely that I will have a baby next month. The past two weeks have been quite eventful, not in the best way, and I'm still struggling with my mood. Now the end is clearly in sight I'm trying to focus on the new little person who will make us five, and the two little people who are going to have a new brother or sister soon.

Last week saw me visit our hospital no less than four times. I'm quite keen not to be back there until I leave with a baby! My first visit was a group appointment for pregnant ladies with two of the physio assistants. It was an interesting and useful ninety minute appointment which offered lots of strategies for dealing with the Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) and Symphysis Pubic Disfunction (SPD) I've been struggling with. I came away with a few new ideas and a rather attractive length of tubigrip to wear when I need to. I think the session has helped and I've been suffering a bit less since I've really started to work hard to implement the suggestions made. I've only worn the tubigrip three times so far as I have tried to use it when I know I will be doing rather more than usual and it has helped me cope with Bud's birthday party and two days out over the Easter holiday without feeling the pain I am sure I would have without it.

The following Wednesday saw me return to the hospital in late evening following an accident at home. Bud was playing on his top bunk at bedtime and I was rushing him to bed. He swung down from the top and landed on the side of my bump. I knew instantly that the baby was fine - it was moving well but I felt really sore. I have a rhesus negative blood type which requires me to have Antii-D injections if I sustain any kind of injury to my abdomen during pregnancy so had to go and get checked out. I spent an hour on the CTG monitor and baby was active and moving well and expected to return the next day for my Anti-D injection however, I received a phone call in the morning telling me that my blood sample had been returned due to incorrect labelling and had to pop back in the morning to have more blood taken. I finally got my Anti-D injection that afternoon on my fourth visit of the week. I'm pleased to say that I didn't even have a bruise on my bump the next day and baby was absolutely fine. I just need to avoid Bud's dismount from his top bunk!

On the CTG. All good so far. Waiting to be seen by a doctor then we can go home.

A photo posted by Pippa Ainsworth (@redrosemummy) on Apr 1, 2015 at 2:49pm PDT

This week has seen a bit of disappointment which pregnancy hormones have made me feel much worse about. A change to an opportunity which I was rather relying on, and having to turn down two wonderful invitations which Bud and LM would love, have left me feeling rather guilty and sad. I know that we are all so lucky with the opportunities that my blog brings but it hurts to know that they are missing out because of the timing. I'm hoping a new baby brother or sister will more than make up for it.

I know we won't be getting a new pram for this baby now so I'm going to be digging out our old faithful Graco Evo travel system. It needs a good clean but, hopefully, it will serve Red Rose Baby as well as it did their big sister. Baby still doesn't have a bed but I have John Lewis vouchers to spend so we're going to be heading there tomorrow to find it somewhere to sleep! The moral of this story is, don't give away all of your baby equipment until you are absolutely sure that you won't be needing it again. We have all of the basics I think (well, we will when the crib is bought) and I've been buying clothes this week too. I think we're actually way more relaxed than we were with Bud or LM and are conscious that babies don't really need a lot of stuff, most of it is window dressing. The Mum guilt has been biting here though too, as Bud and LM really did have everything they needed. I know my definition of 'needs' has changed somewhat since they were born, and with experience, and the hormones are telling me that this baby is being a little hard done to, even though it probably isn't really.

I've been a little frustrated about the lack of unisex baby clothes in the shops. It seems to get harder and harder to find cute clothes which aren't 'for a boy' or 'for a girl', it's not even the colours sometiimes, I've found a good few gorgeous stripy sleepsuits which then have a picture of a boat or train or flower on them! Is it really necessary? I'm actually quite surprised that it does keep getting more difficult as it seems to be that more people are choosing not to find out the gender of their baby. The shops really aren't reflecting this. I'd love to hear your suggestions for bright, unisex baby clothes. I'm getting bored of the relentless white, yellow and pale grey! We have bought the basics but I'l need to shop within a couple of weeks of baby arriving I think

I saw the midwife on Thursday and she is really happy with baby's progress. My blood pressure was perfect, despite having spent the whole morning prior to the appointment as a hormonal crying mess. My measurements are spot on for dates which fits well with where I thought I was. I feel smaller than I did with Bud and LM at this stage and a friend who I don't see as much now as I did during my pregnancy with LM said that she thought I seemed smaller when I bumped into her yesterday too. My bump feels like it is  a little lower and my Midwife says baby's head is at the rim of my pelvis. I think it might be popping in and out of engagement as some days I am feeling more pressure than others.

Here's my 34 week bump shot. Outside in the garden this time, which is where we've spent most of the last week out in the sunshine. This top isn't the best to show it clearly but it feels really round at the moment and the biggest movements are slightly further down than they have been. I'm planning at least one more update before baby arrives. I need to start thinking about my hospital bag, especially as I still think this baby will arrive before it's due date, so I need to share some of the fab products that will be finding their way into that.