Blow up the balloons for week 30

Put up the party banners, blow up the balloons and find some noisy blowers, as this pregnant lady has reached week 30! *Sighs with a HUGE relief*.

Since that extra blue line appeared on my pregnancy test, lots of events have been and gone. To name just a few; there was Halloween parties, Bonfire night, Christmas, New Year celebrations, the Japan earthquake and tsunami, Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding, and the President Obama announcing that Osama Bin Laden's been killed.

Courtesy of News Media Images

And since my bump started to develop, there have been lots of celebrity pregnancy announcements, including Holly Willoughby, Natalie Portman, EastEnders actress Laurie Brett, Jennifer Connelly, Amanda Holden's happy news and then extremely sad miscarriage. There's also been Victoria Beckham, Pink, and Kelly Brook's announcement and then her awful baby loss.

Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh and Emma Bunton are just a few celebrities who have celebrated their gorgeous arrivals too. I've followed their journey's (as well as their wardrobes) in magazines and through Twitter. And quite frankly, I wish I had their stylists, make up artists and personal trainers!

As I've said before... nine months is a long time! To grow a healthy baby in your stomach is quite a feat. I've had the emotional highs, lows, worries over whether my baby is okay, dealing with my body changing size, altering my lifestyle and feeling extremely drained. I've read and heard about numerous miscarriages and it can only cause concern and sadness for those who've endured it. The amount of empathy I feel must be higher now that I'm pregnant too, as I know just how much a woman goes through, along with her partner.

As much as I've worried, it's now that I've reached 30 weeks that I can see the finishing line approaching. My family have bought my hub and I presents and we've grown increasingly more excited as my stomach distorts whilst watching TV together on the sofa.

Today I had my FIRST GP pregnancy check up. From now on, I will have an appointment every two weeks... the end is getting closer.

I handed over my wee (nice), had my blood pressure checked, heard the baby's heartbeat (brilliant!) and had my bump measured. The doctor also jumped with a grin when the baby booted her twice. She told me that his head is low, which I kind of knew from his hiccups!


Talking of hiccups, the friendly Dr did tell me that my bump measures just 27cm... that's about 3cm's under what my stomach should be. In two weeks time, if I still measure under the required amount, then she will forward me for a scan to check the baby is growing properly. Never have I wanted a bigger stomach until now!!

It could be that I have less fluid and more baby, or that the baby is laying in a certain way, so the measurements are not as accurate. I was told that because of my slim and tall build that it's quite normal for my bump to be on the smaller side. Let's hope I have a growth spurt between now and then!

My stomach may not be ballooning as much as I want it to be, but I'll still blow up the party balloons - 30 weeks and a strong heartbeat is a great sign in my book.

My hub may not be throwing me a party, but he's taking me to dinner tonight - it's local, serves food, I get to slap on some make up AND sit down... perfect. I'll save the party for my head.

Good toes: Porridge, spinach and egg salad with rye bread and an apple. Finally did my handwashing.
Bad toes: Made some custard in the microwave - was craving a bowl of the stuff! And no doubt I'll be eating a dessert tonight!

IN THE NEWS...
Today, the news bulletins are infiltrated with results of studies that have found that breast-fed babies are a third less likely to suffer from behavioural problems. That's even more pressure to do it and get it right...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13336986