Hello Maternity Leave

As I said before, I didn’t do well with being pregnant. I struggled with the lack of sleep and then having to go to work for 7 hours and pretend to be human. I struggled with this pre pregnancy but at least there was caffeine to get me through it.

I decided to officially start my Maternity Leave the week before my due date but in addition I also used a lot of annual leave which meant I could finish work on 20 June 2019. The morning of my last day I came into the office to find my desk had been decorated and there was a pile of wonderful gifts. We had a team lunch at the pub and I spent the afternoon taking everything in. It was a very surreal feeling leaving my desk at 5pm for the last time.

The next day I got up at 7am as Mr N was up for work anyway but what a feeling to know that I didn’t have to go into work. I spent that first day in my jim jams and making the most of cuddles with my two gorgeous cats.

I spent the next few months before the birth napping, colouring (the swear words colouring book I was given gave me such satisfaction) and just doing whatever I wanted. I saw lots of my Mum and Dad but the closer I got to my due date and the hotter the weather seemed to get, the harder it was for me to get around. We were lucky enough to borrow an air conditioning unit from Mr N’s Brother and our Sister in Law which was a lifesaver but my sciatica was at its worst so I struggled to go anywhere and I began to see the house as a bit of a prison. Mr N was wonderful as always and encouraged me to get out in the evening. We’re lucky to have a great big park nearby so we would walk there do a few laps and head home when I was tired. This small thing became the highlight of my day and something I came to look forward to. Sometimes we would even go to the local Wetherspoons for dinner and make the most of it being just the two of us. Mr N does know how to treat me.

My due date, 24 August 2019 finally arrived and we celebrated with dinner at a Thai restaurant that we would often visit for Valentine’s Day. Little did we know at this point that the baby had no intention of arriving any time soon.

My induction was booked in for 5 September 2019 and I hoped and prayed that it would not get to that. I tried everything… curry, raspberry leaf tea, pineapple and yes even sex which considering the size of me was not easy.

Wednesday 4 September 2019… the day before the induction and still no sign of our baby boy I cleaned the house top to bottom, I washed my hair, attempted to shave (I dread to think what it looked like down there) and even painted my nails.

At 7.40pm the night before the induction whilst waiting for Mr N to get home from work my waters broke…