I had an appointment at the opticians this afternoon and I decided to ask Angel to come along with me. Despite the fact that we share plenty of quality time together we really don’t get enough time just the two of us. We had a nice giggle together, especially because at one point she couldn’t resist shouting out the letters that I couldn’t see! She then helped me choose some new frames and much to my surprise she was actually a good help. Of curse she wanted me to try all of the really girly pink ones and the ones with a playboy bunny on the lenses which I truly despised but I suppose girls will be girls. In the end with the help of the assistant we found a pair which I thought were daringly different to my old ones but still suited my odd face shape!
We then ran a few errands at the local shops and returned home and watched Sesame Street with the younger ones who had had a nice time with Daddy while we were away reading story books.
Most of the rest of the day was filled with tidying and sorting all of the junk in the house. We seem to be in constant need of a junk room in which to dump all of our crap and without this assigned room the whole house is a tip. I took it easy although Nigel worked like Trojan and his back is sore again now, which is a worry because he is gardening all day tomorrow!
I am currently reading a book called Unassisted Childbirth by Laura Kaplan Shaley. It is full of useful advice and statistics etc. about the safety of unassisted homebirths as opposed to hospital deliveries. I am toughly enjoying it but so far am only half way through. I am trying to reading it quicker so that Nigel will also get chance to look at it before the big day.
Speaking of which I have noticed that I getting quite a lot of twinges now. And my attention has been on the birth almost constantly. I am truly excited about it especially after the great NCT ante-natal classes. There are still some breast feeding classes to come so will have other things to look forward to.
I think that the tension is mounting slightly for the children as we approach the due date. HRH seems to be especially sensitive and as usual is showing by not sleeping very well! Fortunately Nigel is ensuring that if we have a disturbed night I get at least some rest if not a nap during the day. Bless him!
All in all I feel good. I am very aware of the huge weight in my pelvis but we shall find out more about the positioning of the baby tomorrow when we go to the midwife appointment! Wish me luck!

Wow, I'm in week 35 now and I haven't blogged for ages. Whoops! The reason for his however, is because I haven't really had anything to report. All has been going extremely well. I am loving being pregnant and the baby is wonderfully active, giving me absolutely no cause for concern. However, my Dad had a heart attack on Friday 17th August which believe it or not was actually one year to the day since I was induced to deliver the baby we lost! He came out of hospital yesterday and is thankfully on the mend now, but obviously we've really had our work cut out this week. It's been crazy, what with hospital visits, doing his washing and of course insane amount of stress! The children have been great but there was no under sixteens allowed on the ward and so they have been unable to see him since the heart attack and they've been quite concerned and eager to check he still is the same old Grandad. Angel in particular remembers my step Moms death about 18 months ago, in which she went into hospital and died before she ever came home again, so Angel was cheering for joy when I said he was being allowed to leave the hospital.
Last Saturday was the first NCT ante-natal class. The venue is child friendly and so our children were able to come along too. Saturdays class talked about various positions during birth and the way they can help with pain relief. We talked about previous birth experiences and how our other children will fit in and cope with the new arrival. It was all a lot of fun. Sunday was more geared towards planning for this birth and how best to enjoy it. We also discussed 'me time' and how t cope with being a person as well as a parent. We also watch a DVD about giving birth to twins. I don't know the proper title it is just known as 'the Psalm and Zoya ' DVD. It is quite an inspiring thing to watch and I was happy that the children came in to watch it too. HRH seemed to thoroughly enjoy it other than a part where she tears slightly because the second baby is breach and you see a small trickle of fresh blood drip! But he is still very adamant that he wants to see our babies arrival into the world. Angel had wide disbelieving eyes right though and has asked if she can think about it! Luna seemed to hardly notice and gave very little comment!
The next class is tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.
We have to take the children to the opticians this afternoon because the Health visitor pointed out that if they were attending school they'd had had eye tests by now so we booked in. However, they've already chosen the glasses they want while we were making the appointment and I have a feeling they'll be disappointed if their eyes are OK. Speaking on which i misplaced my glasses about a week ago and the still haven't turned up yet! Oh heck. I might have to get some more!
And this afternoon we'll be taking the children to see my Dad and we'll be cutting down his hedge which he has been worrying him for a while now so to save him some more stress Nigel has said he'll help out in the garden.