Eight days to go or is it nine? Ten?

Wow.

This time next week (if it's meant to be) I will be welcoming my first child into the world.

I can't believe that after all the planning. Sickness. Tooth loss and sinusitis that in less than a week (hopefully) I'm going to meet my little man.

Or maybe not. He could be late. Or he could be early. The community midwife told me that if he's ten days overdue then I will be induced so that will mean he will be delivered on the 17th. But if he's early that could mean he could come at anytime: day or night between now and the 7th.

So what is a girl to do? The hospital bag is packed. The cleaning has been done. All I can do now is sit and play the waiting game because no matter how much I will him to come out on his due date it won't make any difference. When he's ready to come out he will come out. He will do his own thing. In his own time. Just like someone else I know... Me! 

In the meantime - place your bets. Will he be early or late? 

What exactly do you pack in your hospital bag?

Make sure you pack your hospital bag by 36 weeks is the advice I was given when I went to a recent Parent Craft class. Ok. Will do. But what exactly do you pack or more importantly how on earth do you manage to get everything you need together? After all no one knows how long you will be in hospital for. Plus the fact if you know me then you'll know I never exactly travel light.

Thankfully I was also provided with a list of suggested items to bring in (see list below) and have so far managed to get quite a bit of these items together. 

However, when it states "clothing for baby" what on earth are you meant to bring then? Ok if it's cold you'd bring something warm to wrap him in and if it's warm you'd bring the opposite but how on earth are you meant to know what size he will be? Or his weight? The last thing I'd want is to be told off my the midwives for dressing him in an outfit that's too small or too big. 

So what do you do? Any mums out there with any advice please feel free to share.

Hit me like a ray of son...

It's amazing what hits you and at what time in your pregnancy.

I'm just walking to the train station to get the train to the hospital for a fetal growth scan when it occurs to me that I won't actually be doing this for much longer. 

No silly. I don't mean I won't ever be getting the train again. Or indeed walking! I mean that in less than a month (or indeed whenever little fella decides to show his face) we will never be parted.

Well I wouldn't say never. Ever. But for quite a long time we will be doing everything together. He will always be with me. Whether it's train journeys.. Toilet trips or even just chilling in the living room one thing is for sure I will never be alone again. And that's a scary and exciting thought -especially for a fiercely independent mum to be. 

To breast feed or to not breast feed that is the question..

One of the things that I've had to come to terms with since being pregnant is the constant advice and suggestions that I'm given.. And the topic of breast feeding is by no means no exception. Said questions include;

Will you be using a manual or electric breast pump? 

Will you give it a go? After all breast is best..

And so on and so on. 

So to help me on my way to making a decision I thought I'd outline the pros and cons of breast vs bottle after reading the two booklets I was given by the health visitor on her recent visit; off to the best start and guide to bottle feeding.

Here goes; 

Breastfeeding pros;

Lowers the risk of mum getting breast or ovarian cancer 

Helps you and baby to get closer - physically and emotionally 

Naturally uses up to 500 extra calories a day - surely this is the biggest selling point 

And the one I like most of all - it's free!

And the cons (for baby): (interesting to note that no cons for mum are mentioned. Now I wonder why that is).

Diarrhoea and vomiting 

Chest infections

Ear infections 

Being fussy about new foods 

Being constipated 

Being obese 

Developing eczema

Wow! Now if the cons aren't enough to encourage me to get my boobs out and to feed Thomas as soon as I can then what is? 

Well - not being able to of course. What if I can't actually express milk? For those of you who don't know what "expressing milk" it's squeezing milk out of your breast.

And how on earth do I make sure that baby is properly attached to my breast? 

Well apparently there's nothing to worry about as there's plenty of help and support out there but. And this is a huge but.. What if I can't actually do it? What if baby can't or won't latch on? What if? What if??

Ah what if I decided to bottle feed? Ah yes now there's another option to consider...

So I flip over to page one of the "guide to bottle feeding" booklet to look for the pros and cons of bottle feeding. Nope. Can't find any. None at all. All this booklet does is help you to understand how to bottle feed your baby safely. 

In all fairness it's very visual - especially the step by step guide to preparing a powdered feed section but as a soon to be first time mum I'd like to know what the benefits are especially as I'm the kind of person who likes to do her research on things like this.

Ah. Wait. Nope. Nothing. 

Interesting to note that a con is mentioned on page 13 - "making up a feed with too much powder can make your baby sick and may cause dehydration."

But still no pros. Just some information on the steps you need to follow should you wish to restart breastfeeding. Re-start? I'm still yet to decide. Arrgghj! What to do?

I know. I will let baby decide. If he wants to and can latch on I will feed him the natural way and if he can't or it's too painful then I will go straight for the bottle.. And after trying to digest all of this information I've been given I'm not just talking about the Tommee Tippee bottles either.