Since I’ve been pregnant with Baby Flapjack, I’ve been thinking of the different games we would play, the things we would do together once he is born, how us having no television or computer game consoles would effect him once he starts going to school, and all kind of crazy speculative things like that.  There’s one game that I hadn’t thought about…the waiting game.  Having had 2 false labours already and then being in early labour for almost a week now, since having a membrane sweep last Tuesday, I had no idea we’d still be waiting for the little tyke to arrive!  Since we’ve passed his due date on November 20th, I find myself less and less anxious about it now, and settling down to let him come in his own good time.  I do hope that he does it naturally though, as I really do not wish to have to have a drug to induce labour.  It often makes the contractions much stronger than they would have been naturally, and those of you who know me know that the only drug I’ll take (besides the ones I have to have to keep me alive) are the occasional fever reducer if I happen to be really ill.  I do a pretty good job at controlling my health and illnesses with food these days so the thought of having a drug to bring on something that the body has been doing on it’s own since the dawn of womankind seems a bit daft.

I have to admit that I’ve tried other things though, I’ve been drinking raspberry leaf tea since about 37 weeks…I’ve tried spicy food, though I’ve since quit doing that as I didn’t really enjoy it (I used to love spicy food before I got pregnant) and it seems to give the baby really strong and long lasting hiccups.  He seems much happier if I stick to eating tonnes of apples and spinach.  I’ll say one thing for this extra time he’s spending in the womb, he’s getting SO BIG!  My tummy has grown so much just in the last week, it’s unbelievable.  Whereas he was in the lower percentile for weight, I’ll bet he’s now up to par.  And with his estimated height being at the top range, he might be one big baby indeed!  I guess what else did we expect with a Mum that’s nearly 6 feet tall and a daddy who is over 6′2?

I’ve continued to enjoy pregnancy despite some interesting niggles along the way.  Have you ever heard of Pica?  It’s a disorder where people want to eat inedible things.  In my case it’s more about smells, although I do have some texture issues as well.  They aren’t sure what causes the condition…but it seems that those who had it as children are more likely to have it as adults as well.  They are unsure if it is a psychological condition or something to do with mineral deficiency.  I’m opting for the latter, as it seems to have come on since my iron levels have been low.  People who have Pica have been known to eat very weird things, rubber, corn starch, dirt, cigarette buts, sponges, chalk, etc.  They seem to crave the texture of these things as they chew them.  I’ve had some particularly peculiar issues with my Pica including loving the smell of everything chemical include bleach, nail varnish remover, rubbing alcohol, any kind of smelly cleaning product, rubber, exhaust, petrol.  Going into a hardware or automotive store is like a fantasy to me.  You can imagine walking around London is a dream come true.  Enough exhaust to satiate even my love for it.  I also love the smell of burning wood and pipe tobacco.  Thankfully not cigarette smoke, though there’s a lot to be had of it around here!

I also have texture issues.  I love the thought of chewing on coffee grounds and love the feeling of chewing the bristles on my toothbrush.  There are only a few things that I find that really cut down on all these cravings…one is brushing my teeth with a really strong toothpaste (brushing my tongue especially) and then drinking a large glass of water.  It’s like drinking menthol which seems to satisfy me for a while.  Also eating apples after brushing my teeth seems to work.  Really strong coffee works well, but for obvious reasons I only have one cup a day!  And sniffing tea tree or eucalyptus oil works very well but I don’t do it too often cause I’m not sure what effect it has on me and the baby.  I’m hoping these things will disappear after Flapjack arrives…we’ll see.

Around 16-18 weeks along.  I started having stabbing pains in my groin and down the insides of my legs as I walked.  As we were living on a boat on the Thames at the time in zone one….we walked everywhere and rarely took public transport.  I found that if I walked more than a mile, that the pain would start and the only thing that seemed to alleviate it was to rest the next day and then I’d be fine for a few days.  Over the next few months I started having pain all the time and a lot of trouble standing on one leg, which meant that I had a really hard time dressing myself, getting in an out of the bath, or climbing stairs of any kind.  This progressed to the point where I was feeling very unstable walking much at all.  I went to see an osteopath at 32 weeks who fitted me with an orthopedic belt to help hold my hip structure together and help me walk in a more stable manner.  Apparently this condition is called SPD.  They think it is caused by pregnancy hormones loosening all the ligaments a bit too much, and if you have a problem already…such as a bit of a crooked hip structure, it can cause serious problems.  Long lasting ones as well.  Some women never recover fully from SPD.

At this point we decided that it was time to move off the boat, it was getting too hard for me to climb the exit ladder, and to navigate the ever moving mooring.  After 3 weeks of land lubbing, I was doing much better and a lot of my day to day symptoms had disappeared, with the exception of the pain returning if I walked long distances.  Sometimes I get a bit careless and forget I have it…such as the other morning I awoke with a supreme need to nest and decided to move some boxes around with my feet.  I spent the next two days not being able to walk on my own and barely able to stand for more than a few mins at a time.  Thankfully with rest I was back to normal in a few days but it was a really stupid maneuver none the less.

So here we are now, 3 days past Flapjack’s due date, with all of our friends and family waiting anxiously for news of his arrival, and I’m just thinking about what a long and wonderful journey this has been and how I shouldn’t be wishing it away so soon.  It’s been the most amazing experience of my life and I’m kind of thankful that I was spared that maternal instinct earlier in life, cause this is the right time and the right place, and having been given the chance to grow a new life inside of my body…to nurture and care for him, to feel his heart beating and his tiny little body moving and developing inside me is more than just a gift; it’s like I’ve been given a new lease on life as well.  As much as a 37 year old person can change and grow in 9 months, I’ve changed; I’ve grown.  And after the waiting game is finally over, I hope for many more games to play, much laughter and many tears, and a whole new world experienced through the eyes of our child who is much loved and well worth waiting for.