Any news?!

Everyone is dying to know if there is any news. My parents are getting countless emails. I'm getting emails and texts and phone calls. If there were any news, we wouldn't be hiding it...we promise! 

Sadly, nothing has changed. I went to the midwife yesterday and the baby is still in the same position as two weeks ago (engaged slightly and his back is more to my back). I've had no signs of labor or even false labor. He's just too comfy in there I suppose.

My midwife has made an appointment for me to have a membrane sweep at the hospital on Friday morning. A sweep is basically what it sounds like--they will sweep around the cervix opening to try to separate the cervix from the membranes around the baby. This will also trigger the release of hormones which can help kickstart labor. The midwife said I'll have a 40% chance of going into labor within 48 hours. If it doesn't work then I'll be offered a second sweep early next week and if that doesn't work then I will be induced. Even though I'd really like this baby to come as soon as possible, I do want to try to avoid being induced as there can higher chance for complications.  I'm starting to have those fears that I'll never go into labor naturally though...

Meanwhile, my dad arrived over the weekend, and we've been busy getting the house in order. My mom and I are making drapes for the living room and my dad is painting the living room and hallways.  We'll take some photos of the finished products (should we not get interrupted beforehand!)

Sorry I haven't posted pictures of the sock monkeys in their final resting place yet. We've got this really cool light fixture for the room, but need to have it fitted properly by our electrician friend as the wiring was more complicated than Paul could handle. But, since I can't give you any baby news, I'll give you some sock monkeys:

Officially off work...

...and not going back until April 2011!!

It's a very strange thing to think about, but a very good perk about living in the UK.  Here's we're entitled to take up to a year off work and return to the same job.  I do get paid for some of my time, but not all of it and not my full salary. I also accrue my annual leave while I'm away, which means I have 30 days (at full pay) which I can only take after my official maternity leave ends, which is why I've got until April off.  I am definitely looking forward to being a stay at home mommy, but it's hard to picture what life will be like, even in a few weeks.

We've got two weeks left (in theory), so our weekend was mainly comprised of shopping for all the things we haven't bought yet-both in store and online. We're nearly there...I think!?!? 

The exciting part of this week is Wednesday when Mom arrives!! We've got lots of plans to paint the nursery and get some other things done around the house, so hopefully Baby W won't make too early of an appearance. Actually I'm convinced he'll be late--not for any reason in particular, but just a hunch.

We're pregnant!

...and very excited. I'm at 11 weeks, which means the little one is due March 17th--St Patrick's day! I know a lot of friends and family are curious about healthcare in the UK, so I thought I'd start this blog now, so I can share our experiences. Not that I know anything about having a baby in the US, but all you moms over there will, so you'll have to let me know the differences.

The timing for us has been very fortunate in that we already had a scheduled trip to the States to my parent's beach house in Hilton Head, so we were able to tell my parents in person, which was the best:). To tell them we had a baby bib printed which said Hilton Head beach baby, which we wrapped in silver with a pink bow (all I had) so my dad's convinced it'll be a girl. My brother came down a couple days after him so we prepared a dinner of sliders (baby hamburgers), baby potatoes, baby corn, cherry tomato salad, but he only caught on when my dad accidentally slipped and asked me if I wanted a virgin sea breeze. It was classic, he was shocked. Later that night we conferenced my sisters who weren't coming for another week to tell them over the phone. They were full of squeals and Kim even moved her flight up a couple of days because she was so excited. Here are some photos from our trip:

The weekend after we got back (which was last weekend) we headed down to Eastbourne to tell Paul's parents. For them, we bought a t-shirt for David, which said World's Greatest Grandpa. They were equally pleased to hear our news. And we called Paul's brother and sister-in-law (Sam and Sian) on Sunday and spoke to Sam, the news seemed to sink in as we talked to him and he got more and more excited. Here's a photo of them opening the gift: