As you may have guessed from the blog going quiet, our new baby, Ophelia Hope, is here! I won’t go into all the details (just yet) but she was born on Monday night at 40+3 weeks. So I guess I don’t only do 42-weekers! Not that I particularly want to find out again. It was a really satisfying birth, at home and in water. Talitha is very much in love, as are we all. Thanks for your continuing support as readers. xxx If you like Circus Queen, please consider nominating my blog for a MAD Blog Award. I’d especially appreciate…

So today is the due date, according to our scan. Since only something like five per cent of women give birth on their due date and since my last baby was three hours’ short of being a 42-weeker, I feel like this is the one day I can completely rest in the expectation that I will not be going into labour. Actually, I’ve been telling people from the start that the baby’s due somewhere sort of late February, early March. And I told myself that this time I was definitely not going to get impatient; I would be totally zen…

I mentioned last week in my Ten Lessons for a Positive Pregnancy post that having Laurence henna my bump has been a powerful way of celebrating this pregnancy, especially since we don’t expect to have any more children. I enjoyed having full wedding mehndi on my hands and forearms 4.5 years ago so why not remember my likely last bump this way? Since we’re really skint at the moment and it’s really hard to find anyone who’ll henna bumps professionally, Laurence agreed to have a go when I was 38 weeks pregnant. I thought we’d share the DIY with you…

Positive pregnancy – why does it matter? Or does it even matter? I flinch whenever I hear someone call birth experience a first world concern, mocking women for wanting a positive birth. Of course, any woman would choose a traumatic birth over infant death but are you saying that’s the only choice she should have? Why is it so bad not only to admit we want better but to aim for and even demand it? Sure, a positive birth won’t make us bigger women or better mothers. We know that. Usually, though, women know that a positive birth experience is…

This feels like it’s been the longest week of the pregnancy so far. Hopefully that’s not an indicator of what is to come. I’ve filled our calendar so we hopefully avoid me moping around saying “I’m done with this! Out now, baby!” especially when I could have over a month to go. There is still a lot I want to get done before the baby gets here but realistically it will never all be done. At least now all the clothes are sorted and I’ve stuck a few more meals in the freezer. What’s made this week feel so long…

No one’s more surprised than I that we’re this far along already. In fact, the baby’s dropped lots and Braxton Hicks have started but I’m still prone to forgetting altogether that I’m pregnant. Apart from a little pelvic pain (another osteopathy treatment booked in this week – it’s been magic so far), a few mood swings and a tired period in the mid-afternoons, I feel amazingly well. Not like last time when I was falling apart by now. I’m even pencilling things into my calendar for when I’m 41 weeks, which makes me wonder if there’s a touch of denial!…