Christmas

I know this sounds terrible. But I am grateful that Christmas is over. Usually we go to my family over Christmas. They live about 11 hours drive in the car away and it's a long journey through several countries. This year my mother in law was coming with us as her husband passed away earlier this year. But then of course our miracle happened and I got pregnant.

At 36 week on Christmas Eve we didn't think it was wise to take on this journey, so Christmas was at our house. Just my husband, my mother in law and me. My parents couldn't really come here as my sister needs to split her Christmas between them and her husbands family. And as she had a baby girl end of October the journey wouldn't have been feasible for them - nor did my parents wants to miss my nieces first Christmas.

Christmas wasn't that bad really. I missed our traditional Christmas meal. I missed finally meeting my niece. I missed my parents. I missed my grandmother - she is not well and I'm not sure I'll see her again now. But you never know. I also missed my best friends - one had a baby since I've last seen her and one has a little boy I've only seen once last Christmas. I saw my family and my sisters family via web cam and spoke to my grandmother on the phone. But it's not really the same. I haven't seen them since last Christmas.

We wanted to at least prepare a nice Christmas meal with a proper turkey but as my mother in law was staying with us for several days she meant to be good and bought some meat - a mixture of several type of meats. We couldn't really say no as she bought it, but I did not enjoy it at all.

She is nearly 80 and really a lovely woman. But it felt like a really long Christmas. Everytime someone had a glass of water or used anything resembling a plate she started washing the dishes. She likes things tidy and I know I should be grateful she didn't leave everything to me as I am quite easily exhausted at this stage of pregnancy. But I felt obliged to help her so I feel like I've done little but washing the dishes and clearing the floor of shoemarks all Christmas.

It didn't help that the battery in her hearing aid was flat and she decided she wouldn't need it anyway. We had the TV 3 times the volume we normally have so she could at least partly hear it. And she kept trying to have conversations at the same time which meant I had to scream over the TV. She didn't hear when my husband and I talked so she kept interrupting us. Anything outside of the house - like going for a nice walk and visiting an aunt of my husbands we should have visited when the snow suddenly came down heavily on England were out-of-bounds. She wouldn't hear any of it, not with me being pregnant. Arguments (at full decibel so she could hear) were just too exhausting so we spent Christmas watching TV at deafening noise and playing games shouting the rules out the 5000th time. Oh, and her telling me how terribly painful giving birth was - she had a schededuled cesaerian but seemingly loads of labour pain at the same time???

It sounds worse than it was but I am pleased to have my house back to myself since this morning. She's coming back for one night only for New Years Eve and I instructed my husband to ensure her hearing aid is fixed before. It is bad enough listening to the same story 20 times a day without having to shout.

Anyway, my labour bag is packed and nearly everything is bought for our baby. I only wait for my gro-egg room thermometer I bought on Ebay and want to order a mattress for the temporary cot we want her to sleep in in our room in the first 6 months. I can't finish the hospital bags for me and baby yet because our new washing machine will only be delivered later this week.

Baby's head is nicely down in my pelvis. She is as busy as ever. I still only wake up once at night to go to the bathroom and my back isn't too bad. My hips hurt though from the weight pushing on them when I sleep on the side. I don't seem to gain weight any more, but baby still seems to grow as expected so the midwife isn't worried.

Less than 4 weeks now. Next Friday I'll be full terms. I can't wait for her to arrive and just hope that she is healthy.

Right now I am using up any food that wasn't eaten over Christmas before it goes off, such as baking a banana bread with the overripe bananas and freezing left over red cabbage and quietly demolishing the box of Quality Street chocolate!