As I near 29weeks I’m conscious of savouring this last trimester…resisting the temptation to count down the days till we meet this mid-winter baby.

Regardless of my growing belly (I measured two weeks ahead at my last appointment which was such a coincidence considering it was a week after Easter), increasing aches and pains and dwindling energy, I’m finding it hard to accept that there’s a mere 10-12 weeks till I waddle into hospital and walk/waddle out with a baby.

That said, I think I’ve mopped my floors more in this pregnancy than I have in the past ten years. The prepping and readying for what will, no doubt, be a good few months of adjusting and general chaos, is in full swing. As I said to a friend this morning: “It will be a good 18months till I get to all those niggly jobs so best do it now!” Today I sorted out the shoe basket (so many outgrown pairs to file away for the next sibling), did a basket of handwashing and organised the entranceway (a clutter magnet). Jobs well done.

Poet has taken it upon herself to suggest baby names because Daniel and I sure haven’t found anything we love. I swear that the more babies you have, the harder the name game gets. Yes, there are a few girls names that tickle our fancy but when it comes to boys names we are well and truly lost. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, that feels like it might work.

These autumn days make for glorious pottering-at-home days. And as I go about ticking jobs off the list, replying to emails and knitting another row, I’m making sure I spend some special time with Percy who has no idea what a newborn will bring to the household. After close to four months of very unsettled, cranky and contrary behaviour (surrounding our weaning process), it feels like we’ve turned a corner. Granted, we’re currently in that does-he-or-doesn’t-he-need-a-nap dilemma which often results in a very late afternoon kip and a late bedtime but so be it…for the most part he is happy, animated and a joy to be around (except when he’s not; such is toddler life).

The rest of our week looks much the same as today; school run, a mid-morning coffee, copious amounts of washing, meal prep and birth book reading of the picture book kind (we’re all readying, in our own way).