The Week that Things will Get Done

I think that I have been slightly in denial about the impending birth of our first child… I mean, I am nearly 36 weeks pregnant now, but I still don’t know if I believe that the baby is ever going to come out. I’m praying that it will, as its getting a tad uncomfortable carrying another person around like this, but at the same time, I just can’t imagine it… and I can’t imagine being a mother. Mothers are grown-ups and I certainly don’t feel like one of those. As a result of my disbelief of the whole scenario, Phil and I haven’t completely finished or organised everything that we might need for when Baby A makes his or her appearance. But that is going to change this week… because this is going to be the week that things get done… or, at least the beginning of said time! I need to make a couple of lists: things that I need for going to the hospital, things that the baby will need, and things that we still need for the baby when we get home. Sadly, I love making lists… so it won’t be too much of a trial. It might be a bit harder on the debit or credit card though… hmmm.

Anyway, I must be off, Phil needs the laptop to work. Have a fun Monday!

Back to snowy Prague

Phil and I got back to lovely Prague on Saturday evening. Its great to be back, 3 weeks of holiday is good but its nice being home too. On Sunday, with the help of some very sweet friends, we moved into a bigger apartment (just down the hallway!) due to our expanding family… it is a lovely apartment: we have two bedrooms now, and the living area is also bigger… its really class. We’re still sorting out where everything goes, there is a bit of tidying to do, but the bulk of the work is done. I think we’ll probably have to have a flat warming once we’re all sorted out.

Term started again today, and so far it looks like everything is going OK. Unfortunately I caught a cold from my mom while we were in Zurich, so I feel pretty miserable. Phil is being pretty sympathetic, so that helps. I just want to curl up under my duvet, but the problem is that I don’t know how well I’ll actually be able to sleep. Last night I only managed to fall asleep after 4am… not great.

This afternoon we went to our doctor for a regular check-up. The baby is about 2.5kg now, which seems huge..! S/he is moving around loads at the moment, maybe getting impatient. We’re still sorting out where exactly the baby is going to be born, this has not been an easy process, things are a bit more complicated when you are not a native speaker in the country that you are living in. Our doctor is putting quite a bit of pressure on us to pay her a hefty sum to have her attending the birth, but we’re not convinced that its value for money! Today we tried to tell her that we don’t need or want to pay her to attend the birth, but she wasn’t really having any of it. I felt a bit bullied to be honest, which is a surefire way of ensuring that she doesn’t get her way and that we won’t let her push us around. She was saying that we will not manage without her, that we won’t find anyone who speaks English in the hospital etc etc etc. From what I’ve heard these things are simply untrue, and its feels like she’s scaring us into paying her. We actually do have other options, but we don’t feel like we can talk about them with her as she doesn’t seem to open-minded about other ideas. Anyway, we’ll just have to be firm with her. Actually, she’s been a great doctor, and we’ve been really happy with her care over the past months, we just wish that she wasn’t being so forceful about the actual birth part..! Oh well, we’ll work it out.

OK, its to bed with me, Vicks and NightNurse at the ready!

Abandoned…

Well, my whole family: mom and dad, Matt and Bethan, and Phil, just headed off to the ski slopes and left the pregnant lady behind. So its me and the cat hanging out together today… some quality bonding time! Although she seems more interested in sleeping than me. I have quite a few books that I can read, but its so quiet without anyone else around. Its just not fair that they can go and have snowy fun and I can’t! Humpf.

Oh well… one thing that I can do is catch up on my Bible reading too. My mom is following Holy Trinity Brompton’s “Bible in a Year”  initiative, and I thought that I would do the same. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to keep up with the reading program because unlike other attempts that I’ve made to systematically read through the Bible, I’m not doing this alone… on the HTB website there is an introductory thought about the day’s readings, and then opportunity for people to discuss the passages and talk through any interesting or difficult parts. I only decided that I would join in the program yesterday, so I’m a few days behind (hmm, bad start!) but I’m going to give it a shot nonetheless. What I also like about it, is that its not just HTB people taking the challenge, or people from any one denomination, instead it is open to anyone, from anywhere. I like the idea of reading the daily passages with people from all over the world, of different denomination backgrounds, who will all hopefully share their thoughts and ideas as we go through the year. It could be exciting stuff!

Enjoy your day! Love from me, the cat (Brinny) and all my books.

Happy New Year!

All the best for 2009! Sending you love and best wishes for the new year from Thalwil, Switzerland. Phil and I are visiting my parents at the moment, and we had our New Year celebrations here, which involved opening Christmas presents with Matt and Bethan and my mom and dad, eating a delicious dinner and then going up the local mountain to watch fireworks. In the hours before the clock struck twelve, a gorgeous amount of snow fell, so we enjoyed welcoming in a very snowy new year.

Before getting to Switzerland, Phil and I were with Phil’s mom in Belfast. We always enjoy seeing all of Phil’s extended family and this time was no different, we even managed to squeeze in seeing some of our friends from Edinburgh who were over visiting their families in Northern Ireland too. Phil’s wee bro was also at home, which was great. We had a really good time with our Northern Irish family.

All is well in baby-bump land so far. I’m just over 33 weeks pregnant… so not long to go now. I’m not feeling too nervous, more excited, but maybe that will change over the coming weeks! Phil is getting really excited too, we can’t believe how fast the weeks have gone by. I’m feeling like I’m getting ready to not be pregnant anymore! I haven’t had too bad a pregnancy, apart from the first 18 weeks I’ve felt OK. But I’m getting a little less fast on my feet, and not feeling quite as light and flexible as usual! While we were in the UK we bought a few essential baby-items, which we then had to leave behind to be brought by Phil’s mom at a later date because we were worried about our luggage being over-weight! Tomorrow my mom and I are going to have a looky around some shops in Zurich, but things seem pretty pricey here, so unless we find some bargains its going to be more a looking than buying expedition.

I hope that the holidays have been a fun and relaxing time for you too! Love and hugs from Switzerland. xx