This was a mixed week. As I sit writing this I’m watching the snow falling outside, as the country is at a stand still. Storm Emma (The Beast from the East) hit this week and the kids are beside themselves with excitement. I however am not so sure, as my centre of gravity is not quite where it once was LOL. It has been lovely to chill out with the boys, watching movies and having lots of cuddles – weaved in between them going in and out, ditching wet gloves and snow filled boots everywhere and me doing a clean up mission in the hall 15 times a day (popping all items on the rads so they are dry for their next excursion). Paul has had to brave the weather to go to work every day (leaving the house at 5.45am to defrost the car and drive the normally 20 minutes drive and arrive by 7am!) The worst of the snow storm is due tonight so he may not make it in tomorrow. 

Before all this snow I did have a few things on. On Sunday I had a gorgoues afternoon tea with my good friends as an understated baby shower. We went to the Portmarnock Hotel and I have to say I was really impressed. I had never been there before but it was so nice, with a live pianist playing gently in the background. We had a lovely time. The girls were so generous with their gifts (I got a new mattress for my next to me crib, with an organic mattress protector and spare sheets, a haakaa pump with the little cute flower stopper, lots of absolutely gorgeous outfits for baby from 3 months plus which is ideal, & flowers) I was so thrilled. There was so much to catch up on as two of the girls are getting married in the next 12 months and the rest all have young children – the chat was non stop and to be honest we probably needed a full day and night to get close to catching up properly! We all have so much going on and it was so lovely to just sit and chat together for a while. 

On Wednesday it was Seths 11th birthday. He had one of the most memorable birthday presents ever, as he got a snow day off school (all local schools were closed due to snowfall overnight) We were all awake at 5am with the excitement and by 7.20am Seth and Leon were out in the snow! I was very emotional as he is my first born. He gave me the gift of motherhood and changed my life forever. I was a young mum (pregnant at 19 and I had him 13 days before I turned 20) and I faced lots of judgement. Many rolled their eyes when I wanted to breastfeed and co-sleep and we did struggle but eventually we found our way together. When Seth was a baby Paul was down in Templemore training to be a Guard. It was a really hard for us but it made my bond with Seth so strong. It felt like it was just us against the world and my whole life revolved around him. He will always be special to me and I am so proud of the young man he is becoming. We made cake and had some neighbours over. Normally family would come too but the roads had started to get bad so they called earlier in the day to wish him a happy birthday. It was a really different birthday but one I am sure he will remember forever! We plan to have his party on Saturday so hopefully the snow will have stopped by then! 

On Thursday I was due to attend the Le Leche League seminar in Trinity college but it was cancelled due to the weather. To be honest, with any kind of snow or ice on the paths I probably wouldn’t have chanced the journey anyway! So we had another lovely day at home together. I cleared out some presses and went through some more baby stuff – the list never seems to end. 

This week also saw drama with our cat Shadow. He went out one morning as normal for a pee. He normally comes home after half and hour or so but that day he didn’t. He is a gentle little guy (10 months). He was found abandoned as a 4 week old kitten and I bottle fed him and treated him like a baby. I’m pretty sure he thinks he is a human! He never wanders far and generally is either home or sleeping on my neighbours comfy garden furniture under their shelter. I spent the afternoon calling for him as the snow began to fall. We searched around the gardens but no sign of him. By nightfall I was in a total panic. I posted on social media and people were so good. I was so worried something awful had happened to him as he had never been gone from home that long – plus it was so cold! Eventually at midnight I heard crying at the back door and there, soaking wet and shivering was our fur baby! I was so relieved. I wrapped him up and got him dry and snuggled him for about an hour before I went to bed! Seth and Leon were overjoyed the next morning when they woke up. Shadow has been very wary of going outside at all ever since and I am wondering did he get lost in the snow (or just frightened as he had never seen it before) 

Anyway, that was my very different week. Until next time....Jen x

Week 35: What is Happening To Your Baby

• Your baby is the size of a pineapple this week. 
• There isn't much room to move around inside you anymore, so baby isn't doing somersaults any longer. You will still be feeling lots of kicks though 
• Your baby will be doing lots of sucking motions as they get practise for latching on after they are born 
• Your baby's kidneys and hearing are now fully developed 
• Your baby looks very much like a newborn baby right now (though they will continue to add body fat until they are born).
• If you are having a boy their testes have now fully descended. 

 Week 35: What Might Be Happening To Your Body

• At this stage of pregnancy you may think your frequent urge to pee couldn't get much worse, but with baby now down low in the pelvis ready for the birth this can get worse. 
• You may also have worsening constipation 
• Some women will notice an increase in their warm up surges this week and it can be very exciting and confusing - is this labour, is it not?!?! If you have been to a good childbirth education class they will have covered how to tell the difference between warm up surges and the real thing (one sure sign is that once you start moving around usually the warm up surges will disappear). 
• Your uterus is now 1,000 times it's original size!!!!! Wow!!!!!
• You may start feeling very impatient this week as well as being prone to meltdowns, or just feel very weepy. Mind yourself and make sure you have some nice treats lined up to nurture yourself as well. 

Pregnancy Tip: 

If you haven't packed your hospital bag already now is the time to do. As mentioned before we have a free handy downloadable PDF on our website so pop over and download it and get packing all your bits and pieces. A handy tip (which we have on our list), is to pack things into separate ziplock bags so that you can find them easily when in labour. Also make sure to pack your labour bag separate to the bag you will need for your few days in hospital as you will then have less to look through when you need something in labour. 

And now he's 11 ❤️