Impatience driving me round the bend!

Little Cheese, where are you??

I got a voucher for money off my next purchase of Babybel cheeses through the post today. Possibly in exchange for all this free advertising I am giving the company! Little things...

Still no baby Cheese though. :-( Even my Nan phoned up last night to enquire as to the whereabouts of her latest great grandchild. Sigh. I excited the parents and a few friends on Saturday by honestly thinking my waters had broken and that it was all happening. Then I phoned labour ward, they told me I should have a lot more in the way of 'floods' rather than 'dribbles' and to stay home and wait to see if there were any more developments. And then, nothing else happened. This is extremely Not Fun.

Technically, 12 days to go. Please don't be any later than that, Cheeseling!

Could I blame my unborn child for driving test failure? Yesterday, at 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant, I took my driving test for the first time. I didn't dare tell the examiner how far along I am because I'm not sure he would have let me in the car!

I failed.

This is not unsurprising; I didn't really expect to pass. I wanted a go at the test before she arrived, just because I know it'll be a long time after she's born before I can think about things like driving lessons again. If I passed, fantastic. If I didn't, it is not the end of the world. I have other things to worry about at the moment. As it was, Cheese objected to wearing the seat belt and I had to drive whilst being booted. I was "over-hesitant" at times, accidently did 37mph in a 30 zone, and spectacularly lost 5th gear on the dual carriage way. Nothing really serious, dangerous or stupid, I didn't get any major faults, but just too many minor ones. I was actually pretty pleased with myself, considering! Never mind....

Instead, to relieve the boredom, I have been watching kids TV, to see what programs I will no doubt have to learn to endure for the next few years. I have found this utter GEM of a show, which I feel the need to share. Bring on the OOglies!!!

Just Waiting...

So, that is it. I am done!
Just got back from my final trip to Sheffield prior to Cheese's arrival, and baby is due a month today! Official Maternity Leave from now until Christmas.

I am actually feeling quite sad. I do love being in Sheffield (although, without wanting to jinx things, I have found a seemingly perfect job to apply for which would allow us all to move down there, but it is a long shot!). I had a lovely evening catching up with people at uni, sitting in a sunny beer garden drinking orange juice - more's the pity. Most of my friends there are close to finishing their PhDs as well; stress is rife, and I am certainly not alone in being a little concerned about what to do next and what the future will bring. Perhaps it is even more worrying for me now as well - I have quite a few more responsibilties than most. The Real World is a scary place that none of us have visited in quite some time! I will miss the comfortingly safe bubble that is academia.

It is going to be highly odd NOT having deadlines and 10,000 word chapters to negotiate and hundreds of references to meticulously cite. As I write, I am sat in my usual spot in the coffee shop armed with the laptop, exactly as I usually am, except this time this blog is open on my screen, and not pages and pages of academese, or a hastily designed Powerpoint seminar or incomprehensible ejournals in PDF format. Miranda-Cheese has got hiccups, possibly a result of me drinking iced espresso. It's quite distracting, but this is the first time in a long time that I can actually enjoy distractions. I don't have to actually DO anything at the moment, it's unnerving. Put my feet up, relax, and dare I say it, "look after myself". Quelle horreur! And wait of course.

I do get the impression this next month is going to be a long one. There is still a fairly good chance she'll be late turning up anyway - a family failing. I could be waddling about, blimp-like, for another 6 weeks at least, rather than the month I am hoping for. Nevertheless, we're off to visit the Soon-to-be-Grandparents at the weekend, and taking my emergency hospital bag and the baby car seat *just in case*. The bag in question has a note stapled to it: "In case of Cheese-Related-Emergency, GRAB THIS!" Just in case Carl is panicking too.

Talking of panics, I stayed overnight in Sheffield with Cheese's honarary Uncle, who in a fit of early morning daftness, managed to set his own fire alarm off at 8.30am. Poor little cheese really jumped at the noise! My whole stomach bounced, it was so weird!! Proof enough that she can hear alright in there I guess. It was pretty uncomfy from my point of view - like being jabbed in stomach hard, but from the inside, out. Carl thought it was highly amusing, however. He's now taken to just staring at the belly going "we're really going to have one of those little Things soon, aren't we?". It is obviously becoming real now, even to him. Quick on the uptake, as ever.....