Still seem to be having problems. When I upload new blogs, and then view my own blog, its still showing the old dots design and not the new pink design. poo. Hope its not happening for anyone else. If these issues dont resolve themselves, I may have to move my blog :( Grr.

11 days to baby's due date...

Well, here I am. I've been on maternity leave for around about 2 weeks now. I'm not bored, I have plenty to do. Today has been grey and dreary though. Yuck! Its only just after 3pm and I'm thinking about turning the light on already!

We went to the cinema last night to see Children of Men which was really good! Unfortunately for the last 45 mins I was having Braxton Hicks contractions - not sure if it was because there was a baby crying thru some of it, or while Kee was in labour maybe it was sympathy contractions (!) but they were making me quite uncomfortable... Theres not much leg room in the cinema we went to. I thought we had missed the movie as it wasnt being shown in any of the big cinema's, but then Gareth's Mum said she'd seen it advertised at the Harbour Lights cinema, and it turned out that the last ever showing was Monday night - excellent!

Unfortunately Gareth found some large chocolate bars on offer in the shop before we went last night, and as we couldnt finish it all last night there was a considerable amount left today... well, there isnt any more!!! After waking up with horrible hip pain this morning - so bad I'm still not out of my pyjamas mid afternoon - and feeling really tired, I've been looking for an energy boost and pain releif... Paracetamol didnt touch the pain, luckily it doesnt hurt unless I stand or walk so if I stay sat down I'm ok...! But after being really good and eating raisins & an apple for a snack, and having some pasta and pesto for lunch, I ended up chowing down on two lines of dairy milk orange crunch... as if I havent put enough weight on with the baby! :S

So this close to the end, I thought I'd be thinking about relaxing and chilling, reading books and playing sims2. No, I'm still trying to get the flat sorted! We've done all the furniture moves we needed to - Gareth was great about that. We've got rid of bags of rubbish, recycling and paper, moved the furniture around and got rid of some other boxes, and we have the swinging crib up together, as well as the changing unit in the bathroom with the baby bath on. It's by no means tidy, but we have all the essentials, and I've washed dried and ironed all of the baby clothes so if she came today we'd be prepared!

However, a friend mentioned to me the other day that after you have a baby, it is possible to go and stay at a birthing centre with midwives so that you can get help and support with breastfeeding and stuff. Ever since, I've been thinking about doing that. It would mean that Gareth would be able to finish off the tidying and preperation at home, and I would be able to relax somewhere nice and clean and tidy, with proffessional help at hand if I needed it. Goodness knows I've missed out on a lot with regards to my pregnancy and the NHS. The midwives for Thornhill all left when I was about 20 weeks, from what I can gather they all walked out because its such a hard area to work in, but I have no idea if thats the real reason. The NHS got one midwife in to cover the 5(!) that left, and eventually got a second one in who is now my current midwife. Unfortunately the shortage of midwives has meant that Gareth and I have had none of the parenting or antenatel classes we should have done, and at 38 and a half weeks I still havent had a tour of the maternity hospital or any of the birthing centres. I have no idea where to go when I'm in labour, I'm 'booked' into the princess anne but goodness knows where I'm supposed to go when the big day arrives! I've called myself to try and get a tour, but they just havent bothered returning my calls and I'm starting to feel again, like I am being ignored by the NHS because theres nothing wrong with me! Which is great that theres nothing wrong, but they really dont have much going for them in the way of customer service... ah well!

Right, I'm off to cheer myself up with a game of sims2. I'll probably be here tomorrow again, hopefully in slightly less pain though!

I am an unwilling passive smoker... are you?

Why does smoking exist? It really pisses me off. It has absolutely no good features at all. As a non smoker, I believe it is my right to breathe clear air (or as clear as it gets in this polluted world!) when I want to. As it is, when I am not pregnant I have to pay for my inhalers to control my asthma which enable me to breathe that clear air, which is bad enough, but lately smokers seem to have more right to smoke around me, than I have to say 'put it out please!'.
Even some of my friends who smoke seem to think its ok to smoke around me - even though I am now 9 months pregnant and make it VERY clear I am a non smoker. And the worse thing is, I feel bad about asking them not to! Its such an injustice...

So here's my solution. Get a big room - perhaps this could be a new plan for the millenium dome when the casino fails (!) - Every smoker has to go into the dome for a smoke. That way it keeps the smoke in, and non smokers can once again breathe clear air with less pollutants in!!!

I personally cant wait until they bring in the non smoking rules for bars etc - if only they could just make it so it's illegal to smoke in public - its illegal to drink in public in some places, so why not?! I dont go to pubs any more, because I wake up the next day feeling like I've smoked a whole packet myself! Not nice!

Then, theres home... I live halfway up a tower block in a not so lovely area. I love my flat, but there is one drawback. Smokers! Although my Mum and I scrubbed the place from top to bottom before we moved in to get rid of the nicotine stains and smells, it still lingers. I am convinced that smoke comes in through the vent in the bathroom (theres no window so theres a vent that comes in from outside). If I leave a window open, or the balciony door and someone somewhere on our side of the block is smoking, it comes in through the opening. If I hang wet washing to dry outside on the balcony, the smoke smell gets into them. Therefore I have to resort to using the tumble dryer or trying to dry things indoors - not fun! We've also had problems with people dropping their fag butts off their balconies or out of the windows - they land on the window ledges, and because our windows open inwards, we have to wait for the wind or rain to get rid of them because if we opened the window we'd end up with the lot on our carpet!

Then, theres pregnant smokers. Smoking is one of the most selfish habits I can think of. This is because smoking affects other people unless you care enough to keep your smoking to yourself... but even so, smoking whilest pregnant means that your unborn baby is also smoking. This has been PROVEN to harm unborn babies. Its true, some smoker-mothers-to-be seem to get away with it, for example there is a trend among some teen mums that if you smoke during your pregnancy it will make the baby smaller and therefore easier to give birth to. Well, I've never heard of anything more irresponsible!

Most women I know who have smoked and then discovered they are pregnant have given up more or less straight away. Only a couple of people I know have smoked through their pregnancies - and their babies seem fine. But nevertheless, a link has been proved between smoking and harm to unborn children. Therefore, surely it is sensible to stop smoking when you are pregnant?! But to my horror, on Bounty the other day there was a thread started called 'secret smokers' where pregnant mothers admitted to smoking through their pregnancies. The thread was not in a part of the forum I use, but someone posted on one that I do go in, to express their feelings about it. Apparently some mothers had posted that their midwives/doctors had stated that it was better to cut down on the amount they smoked, rather than quit altogether. How ridiculous! II can see in extreme cases why someone would be told this - for example one woman was on anti-depressants and all sorts of other meds, had all sorts of problems and smoking was her way of coping with life - therefore the stress of giving up might be harmful to the baby. Even then though, I have never heard of a baby dying from the consequences of giving up smoking...

The result of the thread was that 3 opinions came out of it.
1. Smoking is bad, and you should give up if you are pregnant (non smokers, and quitters)
2. Smoking is bad, but I'm doing it anyway and you shouldnt judge me for doing what I want(smokers)
3. Smoking is bad, but I'm still doing it, and I'm dissapointed that I'm still doing it (smokers)

The thing that gets me, is that everyone agrees that smoking is bad, yet people still do it! If you know something is bad, you dont do it!!! Anyway, my Christian upbringing and morals say that I shouldnt judge people for what they do, and I am sure there are plenty of things that I have done wrong in the past I could be judged for. I am not judging these people, thats not my place. I'm just voicing my opinion and trying to make some sense of the situation. Some people disagree with me, and I accept that. But I find it so upsetting when someone is harming someone else, be it the person stood next to them at the bus stop, the people they live with, or their unborn child. No one deserves to have the effects of smoke inflicted on them.

Anyone who smokes and is reading this has probably got quite upset at what I have said. But to those people I ask one question - why are you upset? Is it because I am wrong? Or is it because I have struck a nerve - I have not said anything that is incorrect. Smoking kills. If you choose to smoke, please dont force other people to smoke with you. If you choose not to smoke - good on you!