How can you tell labour has started?

This is probably a question millions of women ask, but for good reason! As a first-timer it just seems so alien a concept that pretty soon at an unscheduled time and place, labour will just begin. The description of what  a contraction feels like also seems so vague. When speaking to my friends that have been through it, everyone's experiences seem to have been so different.

I am in the unfortunate position that my baby is 'back to back' or in the posterior position. As a result my back pain is pretty hideous most of the time anyway, but today it went to a new level and was accompanied by some pretty random and strong pelvic pain. Could this be it I ask?

The answer is probably not. The pain has stopped now and I feel a bit silly for thinking this might have been it. 

Surely once you are in labour you know? Fingers crossed it will start soon. :)

A waiting game...

My due date is on Saturday! It feels like I have been pregnant forever, but the end if finally in sight. 

I have loved being pregnant and I am sure I am going to miss the kicks and squirming in my tummy each day (and for most of the night). However, I feel like I'm just waiting now for the rest of my life to start. 

• The first trimester was pretty tough with lots of nausea and tiredness unlike anything I have ever experienced - including these last few weeks.
• The second trimester was great, I had lots of energy, all the pregnancy benefits were in full swing - great hair, nails, skin, I wasn't too tired to do anything and I could share my excitement with everyone, go on holiday etc.
• The final trimester has dragged a bit, the fatigue is back and those last few weeks of work were a real chore, but maternity leave has been great so far and allowed me to meet up with friends and family.

Despite all the little niggling issues of pregnancy, overall it has been a completely magical time. I still struggle to believe that the child I will hopefully meet soon is the one that is growing in my tummy. The fact that he/she has just grown using my body's reserves and the nutrients I have eaten just seems too crazy to be true!

Now I am ready to meet the little person. However, I don't feel like my body is getting ready to release our new friend. My bump is still pretty high, no real twinges, the heart burn is still here which I think indicates the baby is still high and, the doctor says the baby's head has engaged by only 1/5. Overall I feel like I am in limbo. So in the meantime I'll continue to clean the house from top to bottom, buy more and more baby stuff and keep everything crossed that Saturday doesn't sail by without so much as a twinge. I'll keep hoping!

Stretch marks a go go

Is there anything out there that can really prevent stretch marks?

So many products seem to claim that they help reduce the chances of stretch marks developing and reduce their appearance once they do turn up. Yet at the same time none of the pregnancy advice websites seem to think any of them work. So how can brands continue to make these claims? I have had a look at each of the main brands and none seem to have any data that shows they work when tested on more than about five real women.

http://www.bio-oil.com/en-us/
http://www.palmers.com/
http://www.johnsonsbeauty.co.uk/body-care/skin-perfecting-oil/

Like most pregnant women, despite concerns that they probably don't work I have diligently smothered myself in cream every morning and night for the last few months. I have done this for the sad reason that anything that might help prevent my stomach turning in to a piece of modern art was worth a go! Yet here I am, ready to pop and my tummy is covered in stretch marks. Thankfully I have escaped marks on my breasts but who knows they may still turn up.

I am therefore left asking is it all just genetics? Was I always going to get the marks and was all the cream just a waste of time?What is sad about this situation is how low the marks make me and other new mums feel about ourselves.

There is a reason I have worked so hard to try and prevent them! The marks have arrived when my body is about as pregnant as it is possible to be, everything is huge, I can't walk anywhere without waddling and making myself look and feel like myself is becoming a real challenge. The knowledge that they will still be there once the baby is here is really getting me down. I'm sure its just hormones making me feel like this - I am going to have a baby soon and what could be more wonderful? However, to all the stretch mark cream and oil brands out there, I wish you would stop peddling false hope to huge number of women and just find something that really works!!!!