The A to Z of Late Pregnancy

A is for antenatal. After your first pregnancy, you get seen a lot less. Even though I am more high risk this time than I was before, as it is my third baby, they are confident that if I feel anything isn’t right, I will call them myself. With two other children to look after, this seems like the best option for me too.

B is for back ache. Whether you are unfortunate enough to have sciatica or bad pelvic pain, I don’t think any woman can get to 30 plus weeks and not have experienced some kind of back ache.

C is for crying. It seems you are hormonal for your whole pregnancy. Happy things, sad things, tiredness, frustration. Anything can set you off.

D is for due date. The question you are asked most often from other people.

E is for eating. While they say you only need an extra 200 calories in the final few weeks of pregnancy, the reality is, you can often feel hungry all the time. Sometimes it wakes you up in the night. I have no idea why.

F is for fatigue. Similar to tiredness but you can still feel fatigue even if you manage to get those elusive eight hours.

G is for getting ready. Whether it’s your house, the nursery or not being able to sleep, the third trimester is all about getting ready for the new arrival.

H is for hospital bag. I think I packed it very early on with my first. Way past 20 weeks with number two and this time, I am forcing myself to do it at 35 weeks. Oops.

I is for itching. All the itching but mostly in the boob area. Not pleasant in the middle of the night.

J is for junk. While healthy eating in pregnancy os best for you and for your baby, sometimes, when a craving takes over, you just have to ride that particular wave. Last week, all I could think of was hot and sour soup. Thankfully, Chinese New Year gave me the excuse I needed and I think there are worse things to crave.

K is for kicks. Just because your baby has less room to move in there, doesn’t mean they move less. It us important that you monitor movement. No midwife will accuse you if wasting their time if you are worried. Get it checked.

L is for lifting. While lifting is not advised at any point in pregnancy, when you have a toddler, you just have to do it sometimes. It really is difficult with a large bump though and I get the feeling G feels like he can’t snuggle in like he used to because my belly is in the way.

M is for your mouth or what comes out of it. For some reason, pregnancy makes me dribble in my sleep-how attractive is that? We are talking full-on drool where sometimes I have to turn my pillow over because it is wet. It magically stops when the baby is born.

N is for nesting. I’d like to say the nesting is in full swing bit I am so tired, I am afraid to say it isn’t. In fact, I nested when G was 15 months. How weird is that?

O is for over reacting. Mostly at Hubster to be fair. Poor man. I know I am being unreasonable but, at the time, I cant always stop it.

P is for positioning. When you have midwife appointments, they always check to see which way the baby is lying. G was breech from quite early on. I think Boo was semi-engaged from about 28 weeks. So far, this one has been breech, transverse and head down but as you have more babies, they move positions much more.

Q is for questions. The 105 you get from other people, the ones you would like answering yourself-like could a stork deliver the baby rather than you?

R is for reality. As well as weird pregnancy dreams, sometimes you wake up and don’t know whether what you have dreamt is real or not.

S is for sleep or lack of it. If you wake in the night either for a toilet break (see T) or because of one of the children, you just cannot get back to sleep.

T is for tiredness. It’s like a train that can hit you at any time. Sometimes you’re so tired, you are too tired to sleep. What’s that all about?

U is for Urine. Every time you have a midwife or antenatal appointment, they check it. I find it so hard to tiddle in the small pot with a massive bump. The indignity.

V is for VBAC or caesarean. I was given a choice having had one of each with my previous births but, as the weeks have gone on, my options have been running out and it looks like baby number three will be exiting via the sunroof.

W is for wine. I didn’t really miss it when I was pregnant with Boo. I can’t remember with G but this time, whether it is the parenting of two little people, I would love a glass of wine. The irony is, when you have the baby, it is the last thing on your mind for a good while.

X is for x-ray or scans. If you have a normal pregnancy, the 20 week scan is the last time you see your baby before it is born. I have to have growth scans every four weeks from 28 weeks which I quite like as it means I get to see the baby more often.

Y is for yawning. You do it a lot. You probably annoy everyone around you with the incessant yawning. It is never ending.

Z is for zzzz like fatigue and sleep, you are mentally preparing yourself for the sleeplessness of a newborn. Will you ever sleep through the night again? The honest answer is, I don’t know. It depends on whether your baby is a sleeper or not. Sorry.