I've been thinking about this ever since Yannick was born, that somehow half of the giving birth story is never told to the mums to be. Yes, we all know that giving birth can be a VERY painful experience (not always apparently, check out this astounding article), but does anybody really point out to an expecting woman that there are quite a few risks for their health after birth as well when going through giving birth and that the weeks afterwards won't be easy as the body has to heal? Somehow it always stops at the point of pelvic exercises and giving birth, and then when baby is there you are supposed to feel only love for the little one and everything else will be hunkydorey, and you'll forget anyways.

Yeah, right.

OK, I knew about a few things that could happen, like the ripping business and post-natal depression. I knew that contractions would be painful, but at the same time I also knew they would be over at some point and they weren't as bad anyways (in my personal experience). Even giving birth was bearable with gas and air. But I didn't really expect some other stuff. I won't go into any details but if you want to know what could happen take a look at this page. I so wished I had read that beforehand.

The first week I felt like shit, everything hurt, the body didn't work as it should, muscles were weak and the bloody carpal tunnel syndrome still persists to this day. At the same time I had to look after Yannick who was constantly hungry and not sleeping well. This combination really knocked me out. It doesn't help the bonding process either. If somebody would have told me that the first weeks are so very tough (beyond the fact that I had to look after the little one), things would have been better. I can cope better with problems when I set my mind up for them beforehand.

What I felt was pure anger. Anger at how everybody downplays this period of healing and disorientation.

Some weeks on, of course, things have become easier. I wouldn't exchange my little boy for anything in the world and the first horrible weeks after birth are starting to fade away. So, yes, the painful days fade away, but they were there.

Just a quick update: Baby and I are now five days overdue. Everybody here is impatiently waiting. The little bugger just doesn't want to move. Not surprising really, considering how lazy mum and dad are…!

Some of you might have noticed that I added a 'log in / register' function a little while ago (in the sidebar to the right). This didn't really serve any purpose so far, I was just playing with WordPress to see how this works. Now with the upcoming birth I was thinking that I could actually use this for those people who would like to get an email notification when baby is born. I already have a list of addresses that I compiled myself, but there might be more people or different addresses to be used. So if you want to make sure you get a mail from Frank in your favourite email account as soon as possible after the event - and I am sure that's before any post will be on this blog - please take a minute and register yourself as a user with a valid email address on this site. Thank you!

OK, it's about another week until the expected due date (20 April). In theory I could go into proper labour any time now during the coming days, but it could also happen a week or two after the date. If it doesn't happen within a week after the date I am sure they will induce me as the medical profession doesn't like a pregnancy to go over 42 weeks. The risks for the child are getting too big.

So far the baby is doing fine, it's still growing and I feel a bit crowded. The baby's heart rate is perfect and it moves enough inside me to still make me cry out by surprise sometimes, especially if it hits something that hurts. Sometimes it stretches so much that it's bum sticks out at the left side and a foot seems to stick out at the right. I like that.

I started experiencing so called Braxton Hicks contractions now, they are like exercises of the womb and move the baby down into the right position. They don't really hurt, all that happens is that my belly goes all tight. However, I do wonder what they feel like for the baby as there will most likely be less space for it during those episodes.

Please don't keep asking about what's going on - you and I will find out soon enough. I've even started to go into hiding on Yahoo as I don't have any real news until it's happening. Once the baby is here I'll do my best to publish something short here and Frank will send out a mail to a mailing list that I've prepared.

So we are in the last weeks of pregnancy. Things are getting cumbersome. I'm seriously running out of clothes I can wear when sitting down - even the maternity trousers are starting to cut in below the belly and baby doesn't like that. It starts kicking when that happens. So, feeling a bit frustrated by being fat AND getting beaten up, yesterday I raided Frank's wardrobe and found a pair of combats that are nice and wide! Yippeah!!! Never mind style at this stage, comfort is most important.

And if you are interested you can watch this 10MB movie of my belly with hiccups. There isn't much to see really but I still wanted to record baby movements at least once. Since all other movements can't be caught (the moment you get the camera out they stop), the hiccups were the obvious solution.

Today I need to rant.

I don't know why but ever since I entered the third trimester of this pregnancy my mornings have become a major chore - that is when I eat something sugary. OK, I do know then, at least partly…

I've been having these daily bouts of feeling partly nauseated and really weak because of a rapid fall in blood pressure happening about 10 minutes to half an hour after breakfast.

During my first trimester I had got into the habit of having something sweet for breakfast. Normally I don't like having anything before noon (apart from some cold milk) and then I'd have savoury food for lunch. Being pregnant I noticed I was a lot more hungry and needed something to eat on a regular schedule, including the mornings. The only way I could get myself to eat something before my normal time was to eat something easy, like cake or cereal. It worked - for a while.

Ever since I am in the UK (shortly after commencing the third trimester), this seems the worst thing I can do. If I have anything sweet (even toast with jam) as a first meal, I can forget about the following one or two hours. I invariably find myself lying on my side on the sofa feeling very sorry for myself. Should I dare to get up and walk around I am incredibly short of breath and feel like fainting. When I am lying down I suffer of major heartburn. Catch 22. I can't win. Trying to outrun this (thinking maybe physical action would help with the blood pressure problem), the other day we went to a supermarket straight after breakfast and all I was doing was huffing and puffing, holding myself on the shopping trolley.

I found out that it doesn't really matter when I am having breakfast. I can be at 7am, just after driving Frank to work or picking him up, or it can be after my second sleeping session at 10 or 11am. Or just after a full night of sleep (on Frank's days off). The nausea bouts would even happen after delaying breakfast to 1pm (simply because I dreaded feeling bad so much).

As different timing didn't help I started experimenting with what I eat. I found that if I eat bread with savoury things I am mostly fine. Having a glass of water first also seems to be a good thing. With savoury food I can drink milk with no problem at all (most people seem to think that it's the milk). But if I should dare to have something sweet or just a glass of fruit juice too early in the day I am down again.

So, I am not only struggling with the fact that I have to eat at times when I don't want to eat, but also have to eat things that I am not keen on. Which means I have to THINK and be SENSIBLE in the mornings. Anybody who knows me also knows that I am not a morning person in the first place and that I am slow on picking up things then. *sigh* In that sense: I can't wait for this pregnancy to be over!!!

Over the last weeks I noticed that there were more and more occasions that felt like I was getting kicked in a very regular rhythm. I was wondering what exactly the little one was doing in there, was it trying to kick a hole into me? Sometimes the feeling was quite annoying because of its regularity, and depending on where I could feel it it would not hurt but just grate at me. And it got stronger week by week. Only recently it clicked and I understood that the baby is having hiccups. They seem to occur especially about 10 to 20 minutes after I have eaten something and can go on for quite a while, e.g. five to ten minutes. They seem to be quite mean too as I can feel them very well not only inside but also with my hand on my tummy. Recently I can even see them if the baby is positioned in such a way that the baby's body movements are directed towards my belly! Now my feelings have changed quite a bit and I pity the baby instead. I mean, does anybody like having hiccups?

Being in week 31 the baby is naturally getting bigger and stronger. Sometimes it moves so violently that I have to draw my breath in, simply because it's so surprising every time that happens. Kicking and boxing seems to be a favourite activity several times a day, and the ten movements a day that I as a pregnant woman should be looking out for can happen within five to ten minutes easily. Quite often I also just feel a flutter or ripple, as if the child is stroking me from the inside. Very curious. If I calculate that these movement bouts could happen about five times a day, I'd say I get movements about 50 times per day. Not bad.

Some more material on hiccups and fetal abilities:

Why we hiccup - BBC News

Tadpoles take blame for human hiccups - NewScientist

Fetal Psychology - Psychology Today

And finally, apparently there are some people who love hiccups more than I thought is possible:

The Hiccup Lovers' Website

You will never have another innocent hiccup - hehe!