My first week of maternity leave is already over – it seems to have gone SO quickly! I have managed to get lots done luckily as I have quite a few things planned for next week.
All of the baby clothes are now washed so I feel much more prepared now. It was a little strange seeing all the vests, sleepsuits and tiny socks and scratch mits drying but it did make me feel really excited about seeing him/her in all the lovely outfits! I also had a good tidy up of the baby’s room as it had inadvertently become a bit of a dumping ground – I am a bit of a clean freak so it was cathartic to unpack everything and find a place for most of it. I still need some bookshelves – I’ve seen on Pinterest that some people have recommend buying spice racks from IKEA to use for children’s bookshelves as they display the covers instead of the spines forward which is apparently more inspirational once they start picking their own books and the added bonus is they are cheaper than actual shelves!
My biggest achievement this week (other than the days and days of washing that I feel I have done!) was getting the guts to finally paint the yellow stripes onto our nursery furniture. Again, it was from an idea I had seen on Pinterest but I have never been the best at painting so I was nervous about actually trying it. In all honesty I have been putting the task off for weeks! Sam gave the changing station another coat of white paint as it was second hand and a little marked and he painted the chest of drawers white too ready for me to finish them off. Once I started doing it I got more confident and realised it was really quite easy and I am really pleased with the result! And a little proud of myself if I’m totally honest!
My friend Hayley popped round at the start of the week with her lovely daughter Eva for a visit and we got to talking about my hospital bag. Despite planning a home birth I know it’s sensible to pack a bag just in case I have to go into hospital, plus it is a good way to have all the things I will need during the home birth in one place. For one thing it’ll make it much easier for Sam to find everything whilst I’m in the middle of labour! The funniest part was her asking me if I had a bag ready and I showed her my small weekend bag and she took one look at it and told me I need a MUCH bigger bag to fit everything in. So this evening I have started packing up the bits I can into a suitcase: baby clothes (some tiny baby size and some newborn size); disposable pants; maternity and breast pads; some new BIG cotton knickers; nappies of course; cotton wool balls and mini toiletries. A very glamorous list I know. Again, I feel much more relaxed now I am mostly sorted on that front, I just need to add the rest of my clothes, slippers etc. along with phone chargers and my camera nearer the time. Phew.
So after a very productive week I ended with a lovely weekend of relaxing. I stayed with my sister Sabra and nephew Harry on Friday night and we had lots of fun playing with our old childhood toys together. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing with our Sylvanian Families as kids! It’s always great to be able to ask Sabra any of my pregnancy or birth questions too and get a little bit of practice in playing with my newphew Harry. We then both went for a delicious curry yesterday with our friends Scott and Donna and I was so glad I was sensible and didn’t gorge too much now my stomach is much smaller and very squished. And today we went out for our first ever Valentine’s Day date as usually we’d just stay in and have a nice meal. We don’t ever make a big deal of the day but as it may be one of our last chances to go out for a while we took advantage of it with a pizza lunch followed by going to see Deadpool (which was absolutely BRILLIANT!) at the cinema.
All in all a very nice first week off! I’m still really enjoying being pregnant so am not at the stage of feeling fed up yet, even though I am convinced the baby will come a Little early for some reason!
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