A little bit of me time

It's not been a stressful weekend, in fact it's been quite sociable and a lot of fun for much of the time, but I had a sudden moment of clarity this morning, at about 6am, which put me into a bit of a tail spin. My realisation was that in about five weeks' time I will be dealing with a new born baby and, perhaps even more frighteningly, I will be required to go through labour first. Of course this fact has been evident for some time, and I've known I was pregnant since last August, but I've now come to the point of having got the nursery ready, and I really need to get my hospital bag packed just in case everything happens a lot earlier than expected. Which is certainly possible with a second child, or so I understand.

Part of what suddenly forced this realisation was yesterday's NCT class, and the fact that one girl wasn't there. Turned out she'd been in premature labour, but it had abated so she's hoping now to hold on until nearer her due date which isn't until early May I think. In the class, we talked about all of the things you need which I'd put to the back of my mind - these include lovely items such as stretchy pants which will get ruined and can be thrown away, plus maternity pads and breast pads. I've now bought these items, along with newborn nappies, nappy sacks and lots of other exciting maternity items. And I'm desperate to get the kitchen finished now because the washing machine's currently stored in the garage, and that means that I can't get all of Pumpkin's clothes and linen ready - everything need washing, and I need to choose stuff for the hospital bag. And we haven't really chosen a name. And we need to go and check out the hospital again so that we know exactly where to park, and how to get to the maternity unit in the most efficient way. And make sure that people are lined up to look after Isabel in case we need to shoot off in the middle of the night. And...and....and.... - the list feels pretty long.

So, I got myself into a bit of a hormonal pickle, and forced a lovely row with Husbandio. What a good plan (sorry about that Husbandio, my Constant Reader!). Having recovered over the course of the day, I've decided that one thing I really need to do is to slow down a bit. I just can't do it all - I've been pretending really that I can do exactly what I could do when not pregnant, and that's just not working any more. I need to accept that next week I'll be eight months pregnant, and that I therefore need to focus my energies on what's important. And at the moment that includes:

• getting all my birthing ducks in a row, so to speak;
• finishing work so that I don't feel guilty about leaving people in the lurch;
• getting the kitchen finished and the house cleaned;
• stocking the freezer with food to make life easier after Pumpkin's born;
• Choosing a better name than Pumpkin (!);
• Getting myself into a relaxed frame of mind, ready for the new arrival.

Since it's the end of the day, I decided to start with the last item, so I've just enjoyed a lovely foot spa while watching Comic Relief Does The Apprentice, which was great. Husbandio has followed my example - we've got no kitchen, folks, but the state of our feet leaves nothing to be desired.