Creeping ever so closer to the due date! These last two weeks have been my first two week on maternity leave. You may remember in the last pregnancy update how achy and awful I was feeling. Amazingly now that the commute has been cut out of my life, I am feeling relaxed and not so achy any more. So it definitely was the right decision to go on maternity leave at from Week 33.

At the start of Week 33 it was Tyler’s 4th birthday – my baby growing up! I managed to survive a day out at Legoland with him and the family. The only time I would feel tired would be if we were walking uphill, and luckily there are loads of seats and loos available, so all in all, a good place to have a day out if you’re pregnant. I wrote about my first week of maternity leave already, so you can read about that here.

At the end of Week 33, we were in Tesco and I suddenly felt a huge lump at the right side of my bump, I was sure it was Honey Nut sticking her head into my side! I was like, ‘Ganesh feel this!’ in the middle of Tesco! It was quite an uncomfortable shop after that with her right in my side.

I’ve bought a few more loungy clothes, two long T-Shirt tops from Primark and one nautical long T-Shirt dress from Tesco that was on sale for £6. The pink one I am wearing in the photo above is from Primark at £5. None of them were maternity specific, I just got Size 20, which is nice and comfy over the bump! I’ve also bought a PJ top and bottoms for after pregnancy, and flamingo PJ bottoms from Peacocks. They are not maternity, so I got Size 18-20, and they fit perfectly under my bump, and so so comfy! I’ve also ordered a Bravado Silk Seamless Nursing Bra in pink, as recommended by My Petit Canard, so I’ll see how if fits when it arrives.

In Week 34 I had my midwife appointment on the Tuesday. I told her about my aches and pains from the previous few weeks, the indigestion, acid reflux, pain under the bump when walking, nose bleeds, dry nose – all of which is normal. ‘Feeling well’ is what she wrote in my notes lol! My blood pressure and urine was normal. Baby’s heartbeat was normal.

The only thing was Honey Nut’s position. I said to her I think she is sideways, shouldn’t she be head down by now? And she said yes she should be. So she had a good feel of my bump, prodding and poking, much to Tyler’s amusement, and she couldn’t work out where Honey Nut was other than she’s definitely not head down. So she phoned the breech clinic at Wexham Park Hospital for a scan, and the earliest slot was next week – giving Honey Nut a week to move!

She said the breech clinic was ran by a Spanish bloke called Alesandro, and he’d do a scan to see baby’s position. If the baby was still breech, they’d do some sort of acupuncture first, where they hold a moxa-stick over your little toe – yes really! It sounds a but far out to me, but apparently it works!

If that doesn’t work, a doctor can physically move the baby through your tummy (external cephalic version – ECV) – no thanks! And if that is not possible, you go for a C-section.

Now I had been feeling LOADS of movement since the midwife appointment, and on Thursday night I am 100% sure Honey Nut moved to head down. I had quite a sleepless night with all her movements, and then on Friday day, I feel her hiccups down below! Yes! She had hiccups four times that day, and it was definitely low down.

Then Friday night was another uncomfortable night sleep, and when I woke on Saturday morning, I could not move – I was in pain! Her head had definitely moved down, it felt like my pelvis was split in two! Walking to the loo was agony, I had to take tiny little steps. Tyler was so cute, seeing me in pain, he held my hand trying to help me walk.

I googled it, and it sounds like the baby has moved to head down and my muscles need to get used to the head being in that position. I found if I stretched my arms up and walked, it wasn’t so painful. If I sat on the bed or lay down, it was painful again. I sat on my birthing ball a while, and that helped. After a couple of hours, my body had got used to it, and I was able to have a normal morning out and about – thank god! And when we got home, I kept feeling her little feet kicking me and poking out of the top of my bump. I hadn’t felt this before, so it was sooooo nice to feel them.

I am thinking to call my midwife and cancel the breech clinic appointment as I know she is head down now. Well I hope she will stay head down!

Now for some interesting facts from my Babycentre app – at Week 33, Honey Nut was the size of a pineapple, and at Week 34 the size of a honeydew melon (the yellow ones) She has full-length fingernails and toenails, as well as a fully developed pair of kidneys. Her liver can process some waste products.

It’s totally countdown time now with 5 weeks til due date, I may start doing these updates weekly now. Next up I have a hospital tour of the Labour Ward and Birthing Centre – that is going to make this feel even more real! Eek!

Sabrina x

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