NotSheep

So I think we can forget that whole risk-of-premature-labour thing now then. You know, with me being 37 weeks and all. Looks like I was right when I said I didn’t feel the baby was coming anytime soon.

Not that it’s all smooth sailing now, of course - oh no, that would be too much to hope for. At the midwives’ visit last week - the one where I knew I had to tackle one of them about not getting my consent for various things - my blood pressure was up. Hardly surprising, really. But they wanted to check it again early this week, just in case, so yesterday another two midwives arrived - one of them I’d never met before, the other was the one who was freaked out by the idea of teaching me how to do my own B12 injections. As it turned out, she’s a lot more laid-back when she’s not convinced she’s risking her registration, and we actually got along quite well. Too bad she’ll probably be away on holiday when this baby arrives. Anyway. I knew they’d be worried if my blood-pressure was still high, so of course I was worried about that happening, and of course my blood-pressure was still high She wanted to come back and check it again today, but I said I thought the best way to keep it down was to leave me alone for a few days I’ll be away tomorrow and Thursday, and I’m certainly not letting anyone put a BP cuff on me on Friday, when I’ll be trying to get George and Freddy packed for Cub Camp, so I’m being left alone until the weekend.

I did do a bit of nesting yesterday morning, but then I ran out of my home-made kitchen cleaner, and it turned out we were out of white vinegar, which is one of the essential ingredients, so I couldn’t make more. It was horrible; I was devastated over having to stop cleaning. I had to go and sit in the garden and read to console myself

Barney didn’t go to Air Cadets in the evening, as he’d a headache - I think he’s a bit stressed about the exams later this week (as am I). Freddy decided to go to bed early too, rather than go to ju-jitsu, but I think in his case it was in the hope that he wouldn’t have to get his hair cut (and it didn’t work - he still got clippered, as did Jack). So now they’ve all got short hair, and all have been nit-combed again this evening. I am very impressed by the Nitty Gritty comb - it really does seem to get/kill all the lice the first go. Even when you find a head that’s absolutely teeming with the horrid little things, the second time you comb with the Nitty Gritty comb, there never seems to be anything left. Fantastic. Well, not as fantastic as not having them in the first place, but better than it taking weeks to get them all off. Also the people who sell it are Very Nice

(Itchy yet? )

More practice papers for Barney today, while George and Freddy spent most of the afternoon attaching Cub badges to Cub sweaters in preparation for Cub Camp. We’ve so many badges waiting to be sewn on that nobody even knows which ones belong to who anymore. I ironed the badges on Barney’s Scout shirt too, but he has another week before Scout Camp, so he can do the sewing once his exams are all over. Roll on Thursday.

Tried to find the library-books; succeeded for about half of them. I hid those in the boot of the car anyway, so that at least they won’t go walking off before we find the rest.

Toby’s ear still has a scab, but is recovering nicely from my ministrations on Sunday evening. And speaking of Toby, I can’t believe I forgot to mention this before, but he has toilet-trained himself. He’s been running about diaper-free for a couple of weeks, because he was a bit red down there and the weather was nice so he was only ever going to pee on the ceramic tiles or in the garden, but I’d left a potty in the kitchen just in case. He appeared to have no interest, but when I asked him last Monday if he’d peed and he said yes and showed me where he’d done it on the platform of the climbing-frame, I just said casually “oh okay, maybe next time you can pee in your potty”. He agreed, but I wasn’t holding my breath. On Tuesday, though, he came outside to find me to tell me he’d done just that, and when I wandered back inside, I found he had. And he’s continued to do so ever since. Zero-effort potty-training; I like that

Tomorrow: another practice paper or two with Barney, get everyone packed for an overnight stay with friends, than a hundred-mile drive to said friends’ house, in readiness for early exam on Thursday. Back Thursday, though will probably be too knackered to blog. Will certainly be twittering though