Leila Rose Petal

Finn & I trekked off to the hospital this morning for my last checkup. Finn was mostly pretty good. I think bribing him with muesli bars, drinks and lollies helped a great deal. I only had to retrieve him once.

The doctor who saw me thought the checkup was unnecessary - I’ve seen the anaethestist, signed the consent form, got my blood test form - there really isn’t anything else to do. The blood test is supposed to be done a day or two before the delivery but, due to the weekend and public holiday, it will have to be done on Tuesday, which could slow things down a bit.

For all that the checkup wasn’t really required, I did find out a couple of things. Firstly, Leila is still sitting very high. Her head hasn’t gone down into my pelvis. So she’s not likely to make an early appearance. Secondly, based on measurements, she’s expected to weigh about 3.5 kilos - very average size. This is slightly smaller than Finn was, which is reasonable given that he went to 40 weeks and she’s only just going over 39. And it gives me some idea of which clothes will need to go to the hospital for her to come home in.

Now there’s just those last few days to go and we’re there!

“Nicky’s got a baby in her tummy and her name is Leila.”

As you might guess Finn is pretty excited about Leila arriving.

Over the last couple of days I’ve done almost all the sewing I had planned. I’ve made 2 wraps, 22 little nappies (roughly 50cm x 50cm) and 2 fitted sheets. I had at least one more fitted sheet planned and a few other ideas I wanted to explore, but I’ve decided that they can wait until after Leila’s home - if they still seem necessary.

I did a bit of shopping for pilchers/nappy covers and was really surprised at how difficult it is to find them in the shops. I managed to get four in 000 size at Big W the other day, but that was quite literally all they had, apart from one or two in size 0 or 1. I also picked up 3 online from one of the sites that sells cloth nappies to give me a reasonable amount to use. It’s amazing how quickly you can go through those things if you have a bad poo day. I can also test these swish ones out and see what I prefer.

My efforts to find snibs and disposable liners at the local supermarket came to naught. I was sure that they stocked them when Finn was little, but Mark tells me that I’m mistaken. We’re planning a trip to the ‘baby shop’ over the weekend to see if they have them. If not, we’ll survive. I did buy some flushable liners with the nappy covers online and I also have some polar fleece washable liners on order to try out.

The Mavis has recently joined a charitable organisation and at a recent meeting was given the booklet with all their guidelines and rules about what they can and can’t do for people in need, eg. the organisation can’t give people electrical items, but members can always give them as personal gifts. One of the things they can do is give people vouchers to buy items they need, ie. the voucher is for a specific item, such as milk. Apparently, due to the ‘unavailability’ of cloth nappies, they have recently begun giving out vouchers for disposable nappies only. So The Mavis was interested to see me making my own nappies and to hear about my efforts to buy the bits and pieces necessary. While the cloth nappies weren’t exactly plentiful at Big W, they were there, but most other places I’ve been - Kmart, Target, Coles - have pretty much nothing but disposables. The easiest places I’ve found to buy cloth nappy bits and pieces is online. It’s an interesting situation.

Dear Baby Leila,

In just a week you will be here and I am as excited as can be.

I haven’t had much to say here because I have just started a new job and career and I have been quite caught up in all of that. But all the while I have been thinking of you and being excited that we finally get to meet you.

I know if will be a while before you’ll be up for many of the fun things Finn gets to do now. But I also know that from day one we’ll love you to bit and then some.

See you very absolutely postively honestly soon.

your Dad.

My general state at the moment is best described as tired, with a dollop of uncomfortable.

I slept poorly again last night due itchiness of the stomach and, even though I went back to bed for a couple of hours after taking Finn to childcare, I’ve spent the day feeling tired and dazed.

I had an appointment at the hospital this afternoon to meet with the anaethetist. It was just answering a series of questions about whether I have any serious health issues (no) and did I have any questions for him (no), but I saw him an hour after the appointment time and all I wanted to do by then was go to sleep.

Fortunately I have only one more appointment at the hospital before Leila is born. That’s on Friday with a ‘consultant’ who I assume is meant to be the obstetrician who will deliver Leila. It’s at 10am so hopefully they won’t be running too far behind by then - particularly since I’ll have Finn with me.

The end of this stage is in sight and I’m really looking forward to the beginning of the next one.

Getting close, aren’t we?

I’ve decided that I’m going to take things a lot easier over the next week or so. There’s no value in arriving at the hospital on the 13th already tired. I will be getting as much rest as I can while I’m there, but it is a hospital and I have to expect that, particularly in a shared ward, the various comings and goings will keep me awake a bit more than I want to be and it’s quite possible that I won’t get a huge rest.

My insomnia has abated since Mark started sleeping in Leila’s room. I think I relax more quickly when I’m not concerned about keeping him awake and, with the whole bed to myself, I’m able spread out or move around as much as I like. Most nights I seem to be sleeping diagonally across the bed, which would be inconvenient with another body in there. The last couple of nights I’ve managed about 7 or 8 hours sleep which is pretty good, albeit with trips to the toilet.

I am tiring very quickly now. After a much needed trip to the chiropractor this morning, I’m knackered. Unfortunately Finn won’t agree to go down for a sleep so I can’t. He will sit in front of the telly for a while so I’ll do the same and that should be almost as good.

This afternoon I’m hoping to finally do the sewing I’ve wanting to do. I have a couple of fitted sheets for the bassinette, a couple of wraps and some little flannelette nappies ready to go. I was trying to do them yesterday, but ran out of time before Mark & Finn got home. All I need to do today is the sewing and they’re all done. The nappies are for while Leila is new because one of the things I hate about cloth nappies is the sight of massive mounds of nappy around babies’ bums. She may only be able to use them for a few weeks, but I’m making them from fabric I already had so it’s not like they’re costing me anything.