Guestpost: Endings and Beginnings

Today’s Guest Posts comes from soon to be Mum of 3 Karen who is blogging over at “Adventures of a Monkey Footed Mummy” who is giving my readers an insight about her Pregnancy:

As I come to the End of my third pregnancy there are lots of jumbled thought in my head, which some of you may empathise with, relate to or may have never considered.

I’m now 40 + 6 so technically I’m overdue although I fully believe that women grow babies differently and until someone can come up with the exact science of how long it actually takes, I wont consider myself ‘Late’ until 42 weeks and even then I will be reluctant to say yes to an induction unless there is a real medical need.

Anyhow I have digressed. Because this is my third and because so many people have told me the super quickness and earliness of their third babies, I have spent around 3 weeks getting into bed every evening with the expectation that tonight is the night. I’ve woken up every morning with a slight disappointment that actually my ‘Termite’ is not yet here to meet us, but also a relief that I have
A; Had another full night of sleep to prepare,
B have had another full day of devoting time to my two older children before mummy is all wrapped up in new baby maintenance, and
C; I’ve not yet got to worry about the logistics of 3 children under 5, 2 of whom are starting new schools in a matter of weeks!

Other surprising thoughts which are distinctly different to my other two pregnancies are that actually, I love this secret bond between me and my termite, I’m the only one who knows his/her every move, routine and the things that make s/he jump, dance and get hiccups. I’ve always wanted a big family but three is our number so these final days really are my last chance to wallow in the loveliness of this secret bond.

When I was pregnant first time, I thought it silly to hear people tell me to rest, why would I want to rest when soon I would have no time to myself, I wanted to squeeze everything possible into the time my husband had before our lives changes forever, Second time, pregnant, when our daughter was 9 to 18 Months I could appreciate the sentiment of resting but rarely got the time. This third time, it seems so much more important, I need to be at my best to provide for a newborn and support a 3 and 4 year old through the beginnings of their new school journey, not to mention be the mum they are used to. She who has the time and patience to cook, craft and create. So I find myself retiring to my boudoir when they go to theirs. 8pm bedtimes really are a little bit of luxury in my fantastic rock and roll lifestyle.

I’m also much more casual than I was previously, the nursery has only been finished a few weeks, I still haven’t unpacked all the things that should be in there, I’ve not written a birth plan, but none of these things seem so important, I know that all termite needs is food love and comfort, we don’t need a swanky new nursery or a million gadgets we are in fact already prepared by just being a loving family and having some clothes and nappies!

So I guess as I come to the very beginning of a new stage in our family my biggest revelation is this.. there is just no point in sweating the small stuff, and to be honest the big stuff is just going to have to sort itself out around our lovely family. So no matter where in your pregnancy or which pregnancy you are onto I hope you get a chance to wallow in the loveliness that is growing a baby and growing your family, and as hard as it is, try to see the silver lining in every day you go over as an extra day for sleep, relaxation, bonding, preparation or just a chance to paint your nails!