Ooops! Realised I haven't updated in almost a week because Becca commented to see if I'm ok. Sorry! :) I'm fine, Robert's fine, just nothing really to update about much except that I'm almost 27 weeks pregnant! And that I'm really beginning to feel like I have half a football stuck to the front of my belly. Robert's kicks and squirms are becoming much bigger, and even now kicks that feel "small" can be felt by hand.
He certainly does seem to react to the relaxation music we got given from Hypnobirthing - I laid down to have a small nap on the sofa last night, and Jonathan went upstairs and put on the music so it came through the living room speakers. Got given a few kicks and squirms throughout, but then, when the bit where a woman speaks over the music with relaxing words, oh my gosh! He just literally started kicking, squirming and punching away in there like mad! It really does make me wonder when a baby reacts like that to music/sound whether they LIKE it, or whether they really hate it! Maybe it might be because I start relaxing more when I listen to it, and because my body is more relaxed, there's more room for him to move, so he does. I don't know really, it is so odd. Does he like it? Or does he want me to turn it off?
I am quite looking forward to taking my 28 week belly picture. I think I must have grown a lot since 24 weeks. I FEEL massive! And sometimes, it's quite freaky, Robert gets into a position inside me that makes my belly HUGE, and rock solid. Like - no give to it at all. Usually I can poke my belly and it'll "squidge" in a little bit (or a lot!), but then when it goes solid, I can poke and it'll maybe give like half a centimeter, if that. (Can usually poke it inward at least an inch)
My belly button is becoming less indented too. I find it fascinating to put my finger in and see how far it goes in, compared to how far I used to ;) Also, holding my tummy, and moving it up and down while looking at my belly button. I am looking MUCH more pregnant now. Finally!
We've been doing a lot of work on the old flat, and last weekend we got Jonathan's parents to come and help (they offered!). So Jonathan, Betsy and I were in the living room painting, cutting in, etc, and Steve was in the bedroom glossing. Anyway, by the end of Saturday we managed to FINISH the wall painting in the living room! (We only managed to get the bedroom done over 3 days I think between us two) And Steve had glossed the picture rail, the door, doorframes, and two walls' skirting boards.
Then, Jonathan had a call from them on the Sunday night I think it was, and they said they'd go there midweek if he dropped a key in to them, so they'd fix the wardrobe doors, and maybe do more glossing. Then, on Tuesday night they said they'd fixed the doors, done ALL the glossing in the bedroom, ALL the glossing in the living room, AND Betsy had cleaned in the bathroom (our old toilet was disgusting - I tried god knows how many times to clean it but couldn't!) and in the kitchen! Which means that all we may have left to do is painting the bathroom ceiling (there's a nice orange patch on there around the lightbulb from when the previous owners took down their ball lamp and replaced it with an ordinary lamp and didn't bother to patch it up), and then replacing the hall carpet with something more inkeeping with the new decoration (and less filthy), and then giving the whole place a thorough clean and getting rid of crappy old bits of furniture.
Can't wait to go back and see how it looks with all the work they did for us on Tuesday. :) Gotta love having retired in-laws ;) They really are great, and have done so much for us over the years.
Right, well tonight is our fourth Hypnobirthing class, then tomorrow we have follow-up jabs for the cat, then on Saturday we're heading down to Kent as it's my dad's birthday. We're going to make sure we see Mum for a good few hours on Sunday, because we just cannot go down without seeing her, especially as she is feeling so left out these days anyway.
Part of me is wondering whether I should suggest we stay over at some point so she feels better. But I know the problem is deep-rooted, and I have a feeling that either Stephen or myself will have to talk to her or each other or all together about it, because I think there is a reason why Stephen and Nicky don't want to stay overnight at Mum's anymore, and I don't think it's only the reason they've been telling her. And when I think about when Robert is here, and especially when he's at the crawling/hoisting himself up stage I think I probably wouldn't want to stay at Mum's for a huge length of time either. Partly because there is only ONE room that a baby could stay in, partly because it's cluttered, partly because there are two fairly boistrous dogs (although getting better - they've been going to a dog trainer), partly because the house always looks so dirty... I don't know if Stephen and Nicky knows how Mum feels, and I don't know exactly what they've told her, but from what Mum has said to ME, I think they've told her they are staying at Dad's because there's more room there. (Which is true!) But I think what they AREN'T telling her are the other things as well. But Mum is under the impression that her house IS big enough, and she is feeling hurt that her house is no longer good enough for either of us to stay in. (She said "So what if the buggy fills the dining room?")
I've told her that the reason why we don't stay at hers at the moment is because I am needing more and more bathroom trips in the middle of the night, and since her bathroom is somewhat of a trek from the bedrooms compared to at Dad's, that's why we stay at Dad's now. Which is one of the reasons, but also, the dogs (I don't really like the dogs a huge amount, although they're getting better with their barking and jumping up), and also the smells in the house. Although the smell that jumped out at you in the bathroom (a damp, musty smell) wasn't there last time, probably because they've now been leaving the bathroom door open.
So it seems at some point Mum might be having some serious conversations that no-one really feels comfortable with :( Also, I think I'm going to have to talk to her about another thing. And I know it's stupid, and I know she's just trying to be jokey and affectionate with it, but she's now taken to calling me "Tubs". And I really don't like it, because I am overweight. I know she is only calling me it because I'm pregnant, but still, I'm NOT really comfortable with my weight. It's NOT overly obvious that I'm pregnant, so calling me Tubs is like calling me Fatty. Ah well. Anyway, I'll leave this entry for now. Sorry for leaving it on a down note, but I can't be bothered to rearrange the entry now.
Can't believe I'm almost 27 weeks. Where has the time gone??
