Right…well, I’ve just returned from a routine Midwife appointment and this baby’s head is down and quite low which means, other than it being highly uncomfortable when walking further than from the sofa (or exercise ball – when I’m feeling good) to the kitchen (for chocolate of course!), I’ve got to start thinking about getting ready for the birth! As you can probably tell from my previous blogs I’m fairly laidback so packing a hospital bag hasn’t really been on my agenda but having it spelt out to you that you might not make it to your due date got me thinking…

I have, of course, been through it before so I’m not exactly experiencing ‘first time’ nerves but it’s amazing how much you forget even though it’s barely been 2 years. This time round I’m not thinking ‘how will I know if it’s IT’ it’s more like ‘who is going to have Fin when it is IT’ and more importantly ‘will they get here in time’! It’s also funny how THE hospital bag differs from first time round to second; the first time round had all kinds of useless things that are recommended to you by various baby magazines – your favourite music, photo of someone you love, a pillow…WHAT?! If I end up giving birth in a hospital that doesn’t have a pillow I’d be most annoyed and I’m sorry but I think even if John Legend himself turned up to serenade me I’d send him packing! So packing THE hospital bag this time round was fairly straight forward…an absolute must for me is an abundance of snacks – I was completely ravenous after I’d given birth to Fin and all the snacks that were meant for my other half during the labour I’d shovelled down in a matter of minutes! What is really sweet is the fact that Fin is showing signs of knowing a baby is on its way, he keeps on kissing and stroking my belly and pointing at any baby saying (or more often than not shouting) ‘buba’…which, can I just say, can be highly embarrassing when we are walking around the supermarket! He has also started ‘changing’ his teddy bear’s nappy which is fine, but when it involves Sudocrem it tends to get very messy…has anyone tried (and succeeded) to get that stuff out of a dark grey carpet?! I’m pretty sure after the baby has been here for a matter of weeks Fin will want to give it back to the stork that delivered it, and don’t get me wrong, I’m not thinking by any stretch it will be easy, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge ahead.

One thing I know for sure is that once THE hospital bag has been packed and is waiting by the door the final furlong really begins. My other half has strict instructions to always answer his phone (even if he is on the golf course or football pitch!) and my good friend, who conveniently lives 60 seconds from my house, checks up on me on a daily basis. How I see it? I have a nice vision of waking in the night and calmly, and without any drama, arriving at the hospital in plenty of time to deliver a precious bundle of loveliness – how it will probably pan out is that I will be in the middle of the supermarket with Fin shouting ‘buba’…Either way, if I go quiet you know what I’ll be doing – maybe not where – but definitely what! And I’ll be back before you know it to share all the tribulations!