storbarnsförälder

MONDAY

In the morning a friend came to babysit and the midwife brought me to the hospital to get sign-off on my birth plan. The consultant was very pleasant, she signed my actual birth plan and that signed copy is in my notes, and she also said that if she doesn't see me again she'd like to hear from me how it all went. She remarked that she'd never seen me looking so well, which I put down to basically not being anywhere near the hospital pretty much all of the time.

While I was out the children persuaded my friend to play families and be the daddy and go to work, so that they could play No Daddy Don't Go and cling to his legs. Then they were horrible and grumpy all afternoon, eventually trashing the garden while I napped on the sofa, which smelt bad.

We did not go to the swimming lesson because Linnea and I were both too tired. This was a stroke of brilliance on my part, because she also turned out to have an upset stomach.

I called the upholsterer to see about getting a quote to have the sofa-seat fixed. The one at the end of the road fixed the armchair-seat six years ago and it's still going strong, and then they moved to Burghfield, but I'd like them to do the sofa... they're coming on Thursday to quote.

Summer solstice seems strange when I'm so far east and south. Dark by 10:30. I might never get used to this!

TUESDAY

Emer woke before Rob and came into our bed for cuddles, then had Rob dress her before he left for work. This made the whole day better, because she felt he had done an Important Parental Duty for her. Also, it meant I was up and doing shortly after 6:30 and got a massive amount of laundry done, aided by the amazing sunshine, which is apparently only going to increase over the next week.

Emer and I spent some time in the morning in various pregnancy-pain-alleviating postures on the floor. She just wanted to do what I did. And there was a supermarket delivery, which is always helpful, though the driver asked when I was due and then said I wasn't big enough to be so near the end.

The children and I started scrubbing out the various buckets that were repurposed as Garden Buckets in the great topsoil event from April. And we scrubbed down the bench at the end of the garden, too, which is nice. And I found that they'd distributed a pack of custard powder all over the place for no apparent reason. Luckily I was too tired to be properly cross.

The budget was annoying, of course. We're not in a low enough income bracket to be seriously inconvenienced by it but somehow that doesn't make me feel much better. Homelessness and overcrowding seem bound to increase, short of some sort of global job-market miracle. Urgh. Still, I dreamt that they increased VAT to the levels Ireland had in the 1990s and took away the 0% stuff, so that everyone's food bills shot up almost 25%, and that they cancelled NHS treatment for people who hadn't paid higher-rate income tax. At least that didn't happen.

I laundered baby clothes ready to pack a nappy bag for baby's first day. It was quite exciting. I did make sure to check Rob wasn't slightly anti dressing a boy in the stuff I packed away, because it was a bit flowery and birdie and butterfly-y but he's still Rob so that's fine.

Also, Kiki's Delivery Service arrived and the children liked it very much. I thought the town looked awfully like Visby and sure enough some of the scenery is based on Visby. In the end Linnea watched it three times in a row, pretty much, with brief pauses for running around madly.

Rob and I spent the late evening packing the birth kit and sorting out the baby's chest of drawers. It's now ready for me to launder and put away the baby's clothes, bedding etc.

WEDNESDAY

We're expecting visitors this afternoon. Emer woke before Rob left the house, again, so that was good. And I rattled through laundry at a great rate. I can't find the moses basket's fitted sheets, which is a pain, but a lot of other towels and bedding are ready for laundering. It feels very much like we're making progress, which is nice.

Incidentally, if you ever want me to buy something from you, don't call me at eight in the morning and ask for my mother-in-law.

IN GENERAL

The pregnancy continues pregnantly. I don't feel... imminent... but I do feel as though I'm making progress, which is nice. The heat is bearable because I can't go anywhere.

Emer is using the DS Lite a lot, doing something called Junior Brain Training, which is much easier when I stop it being in Spanish, which I can't read very well.