The Beginning of the End!

Yesterday I reached the heady heights of 27 weeks pregnant and as usual, followed my weekly tradition of reading the relevant section of "Your Pregnancy Bible" to see what my body and the baby are up to. I was quite shocked to read that 27 weeks marks the end of the second trimester. How did that happen? Here's me thinking that I've got aaaaaaaages before Baby T arrives and suddenly I'm on the home stretch! I suppose that this is as good a time as any for an update. Just how am I feeling now that I've entered my final phase of pregnancy?

Well, I'm still tired, but as I'm also still on sick leave I'm managing to cope. My energy levels are much better than they were, though I find it incredibly easy to overdo it and leave myself knackered for a couple of days. For example, Graeme and I went to Tom's housewarming party on Saturday night (great flat Tom!) and, although I stuck to pop and was in bed by 1am, I was absolutely exhausted the following day. Throughout the party I had to take regular rest breaks to ease the pain in my back, even though the most strenuous thing I did at the party was stand and chat. I felt like a right party pooper sat on the sofa on my own, but I really did feel that if I didn't rest, my back would snap in half. I also get some pain in my knees and my hips, sometimes so bad I can't walk, but this is helped with plenty of rest so as long as I don't do anything too physical I should make it through the next 3 months in one piece.

My bump has grown quite alarmingly this week and all my regular t-shirts are now confined to the scrap heap, although temporarily. I'm now sporting a new(ish) array of maternity tops courtesy of eBay and have discovered that Lycra is a truly wonderful invention. I'm trying to pluck up the courage to go to Marks and Spencer to get properly measured for some decent bras, but I really do shudder to think what size I am now! Despite this, and the fact that I am eating like a complete pig, I've only put on 8lbs so far, but I'm convinced my chocolate craving is going to catch up with me very soon. If I'd known how much Cadbury's Dairy Milk I'd be eating, I'd have bought shares in the company.

My nesting instinct has kicked in and the house is looking better than it has in months. I've never been so on the ball with my housework. Graeme is doing some nesting of his own, trying to make our living room habitable in time for Baby T's arrival. He's doing a wonderful job. Most of the heavy work is done now and it's mainly cosmetic jobs that are left. It's a shame that I'll not be able to help him as much as I'd like - no going up ladders for me! - but I'm going to do as much as I can. He's worked bloody hard and deserves some help. Maybe I can paint the skirting board. Or something.

As for Baby T, he appears to be doing just fine. He's an active little so-and-so at the best of times, but seems to reserve his most active gymnastics for when I'm trying to rest. I really hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Not only can I feel him moving about, I can actually see it! It really is a truly weird experience watching your stomach moving of its own accord and knowing that there's someone in there. I'm sure I'm not the first one to liken this to John Hurt's experience in Alien, though I am hoping that labour will be a slightly more pleasant experience. Bring on the pethidine.

So what now? I'm still waiting to hear from my personal tutor about organising my maternity leave and tomorrow I have an appointment with my GP to get signed off sick again. Next week, I have my 28-week check and, because my blood is rhesus negative (Yes folks - I'm special!), a hospital appointment for an anti-D injection . In the meantime, we'll press on with the living room and then start rejigging the rest of the house to make room for Baby. And now that I'm in the third trimester, we really need to get our skates on!

Lisa xxx