- We’ve had a really sad week in our household, meaning I’ve been slightly absent from reading and writing blogs for a while. My father-in-law is very very poorly with lung and liver cancer so Will flew out to be with his parents in where they live in Greece at the first chance last week. I have stayed at home to hold the fort baby-wise; he wants me to avoid the 24 hour tube-plane-bus-taxi-ferry journey and stress of the situation for the baby’s sake so I am hanging in here being brave. I really wish I was there to help him through it but I know he has his sisters and his mum, my part will come when he gets home.

- Because of the situation I went to stay with my parents in Buckinghamshire over the weekend and had a lovely time. My mum and I went shopping – the Bugaboo Bee + has been ordered for delivery before work tomorrow (a very very generous gift from her and my dad) – and I just couldn’t help buying a couple of outfits in the sale at Baby Gap. I also now have all the gnarly essentials for my hospital bag such as disposable knickers and sanitary towels the size of Wales, as well as more fun bits and pieces like a baby bath and teeny tiny newborn socks.

- My worry has been manifesting itself on eBay the last couple of days and I have splurged a bit – cellular blankets, cot linen, vests, and I at some point decided that it would be a good idea to start stocking up on 12-18 month sized clothing…. I’m sure Will isn’t going to be too impressed at the state of my Paypal account on his return but I am starting to feel prepared. One of my aims is to finish the nursery and have pretty much everything we need by 30 weeks; I want to spend my maternity leave relaxing as much as possible (9 WEEKS TO GO!).

- The bump seems to be growing at an incredible rate and someone called me ‘madam’ when he offered me his seat on the tube last week. I felt about 60, which would probably be in line with my lung capacity right now which seems to be shrinking every day. My pelvis and back pain are also BAD right now, I literally feel like someone has whacked me in the nether regions with a cricket bat. It hurts to sit in my chair at work, it hurts to sit on the sofa, it hurts to walk, it hurts to turn in bed, IT HURTS.

- On a lighter note, I can feel the baby from the outside at regular intervals now. I had a couple of days last week where I didn’t think there was a lot of movement, though now I think she had just adjusted her position and was kicking in a different, less sensitive place. She often moves around my belly button, and I can feel something hard in that area. Either her head or her bum I’d guess, I’m not sure, but it sure it fun to freak my work colleagues out by making them feel it.