I thought I’d put forward my side before we move on from tales of Evan’s arrival.

Last Friday was a strange day emotionally. I wasn’t particularly nervous when we got to the hospital but I knew there were a lot of things to happen before we knew the baby would be on his way. I didn’t want to start thinking Evan will be here that day as there was a strong chance it would take more than that. However, it was strange to see the hospital cot in the delivery suite and think “our baby could be in that very soon”.

I’m not going to do details as there are plenty of people who would rather I didn’t. Suffice to say, they started me off in the morning but nothing particularly happened until they broke my waters at 5pm. It then wasn’t until sometime after 8 before I started to wonder how I was going to do this (and how much longer would it take) and sent Dan for the midwife.

I’m not sure if the gas and air helped but it gave me something to concentrate on. When the midwife checked how I was doing at 8.45pm, I was quite disappointed to find out that I was 4cm and therefore likely to have quite a few hours ahead of me. Next thing I knew she was starting to get everything ready and I couldn’t understand why. Then she said it was nearly time and before I knew it he was here. With hindsight, I was really lucky to only end up with under 2 hours of grief, although I wouldn’t have agreed at the time.

Since then everything has seemed much more straightforward than it was with Amy, purely because we are a lot more confident this time. However I do have a list of things to learn again. It’s only been 3 years but I have forgotten more than I have remembered.

Amy seems really huge since we brought Evan home. It was when she (gently) put her hand on Evan’s head and it seemed so massive that it struck home. I know it’s all relative but she seems to have gone from being our little girl to our big girl in one instant.

She’s also taken to saying that Evan is “my precious”. This obviously amuses her geeky parents although it’s just her chosen term of endearment. According to her, Amy is Daddy’s sweetheart and Daddy is Mummy’s darling etc but I am now hoping this is the only Gollum trait to make an appearance.

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I’ve had lots of lots of phone calls and texts over the past 2 days, wishing us luck for tomorrow, which has been really nice. It hasn’t felt real to me yet, more like when you are preparing to go on holiday. You’re so busy finishing off your last minute list of things to do and it only sinks in when you’re at the airport.

I’ve just repacked my hospital bags as it’s an early start in the morning. Reality did start making an appearance when I was looking at the tiny nappies and thinking – I am going to have a baby very soon. Yes, I know I’ve had long enough for this to sink in, but it somehow doesn’t.

I don’t know if I’ll get much sleep tonight, however I’d best go give it a try. Hopefully I’ll be busy tomorrow, although Dan’s still convinced we’ll be waiting for this baby to arrive next week….

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Dan and I have been to the hospital clinic this morning to find out what’s happening with the baby. The test results from Tuesday show that I’m not diabetic, which was both good and bad news, especially as she said that meant they wouldn’t induce me.

This is what we’d been expecting but not what I really wanted to happen. I know induction is not ideal but I’m already worried about the baby getting even bigger. Then everything changed 5 minutes later, when the doctor came back from speaking to the consultant. He decided that as the sugar was showing up and the baby is term now anyway, they might as well start me off.

The consultant examined me (I’ll spare you the details) and it appears that my body is getting ready of its own accord. However if nothing happens over the next week, I’m booked into the hospital for induction on Friday 20th October…

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At least I hope so. I am 39 weeks tomorrow so however you look at it the baby is going to be here soon. I was feeling quite calm about the impending labour until last Wednesday, when I found out that the baby’s ‘large for dates’.

It’s convenient how they work it out, your bump is measured in centimetres and it basically corresponds with the number of weeks you are. For example, last week I was 38 weeks and the bump should have been 38cm, give or take. However, when my midwife measured me for the 4th time, I knew something was up! I am showing 4cms bigger than I should be, so she referred me to the hospital clinic last week. The doctor confirmed the midwife’s suspicions and I’ve been back today to be tested for diabetes, as this may be a reason why the baby is getting big.

All in all, I’ve been trying not to worry for the past few days, but not doing very well. If I’m showing signs of diabetes, they’ll be starting me off this week, which is fine. What I’m more worried about is if they plan to leave me to it. I mean, he’s big now and surely only going to get bigger… I will know more on Thursday when I’m back at the antenatal clinic so I am trying not to think about it until then.

Apart from that, everything else is going reasonably well. Not getting much sleep, but that’s nothing new. We’ve started to get everything together in the nursery and I’ve nearly packed my bags for hospital (well, I know it’s all in the house and I assume I’ll have some warning!).

Dan and I are at the point where we just want to meet him now (and make sure he’s a ‘him’) and Amy’s definitely getting giddy about her little brother coming. She’s already corrected me when I said she can help me change his nappies. I was told that she would be changing his nappies and I can help her.

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