How a normal blip can turn into a RANT!

That's that then. All packed and ready to go at a moments notice.

Yes, it's early, but do any of us natural birth'ers really know when a baby will arrive?

In 2003, it was reported that about 49,000 births out of 700,000 in the UK were premature. Added to that, in many cases where the mother has GDM, a consultant will often decide to induce labour early to stop the baby from becoming too large. The magic number seems to be 36-37 weeks....

So, as all good Girl Guides know (although I didn't make it to Guides, but was a Brownie 'sixer' so that'll do), preparation is key.

Essentials for any hospital stay are obviously the iphone, ipad and i'everything else that can fit into a bag. Oh, and lots of very small (and very cute) suits, bibs, gloves, hats, nappies etc etc. Let's not forget the all important nipple cream to hopefully save me from the looming cracks and pains that everyone is so keen to tell you about. Here's a tip to all you current mums out there - there are some things that us new mums just DON'T want to hear!

I'm not scared of the labour (ask Paul about my ox-like strength), but I'm very anxious about being away from Paul for x amount of nights. Private rooms are not an option in my chosen hospital, so sadly Paul will have to leave on an evening with all the other dads. I'm filling up just thinking about it. Does anybody else find the whole thing incredibly unfair? How would you feel if you were asked to leave your brand-new tiny little child for the night? Dads should have as much right as mums to be there 24 hours. I appreciate that some women wouldn't want to feed around men, but that's what curtains are for love. I intend to get my milkers out anywhere and in front of anybody - it's natural! We don't look away in shame when we see a cow feeding her calf! Quick kids, look away, its DIRTY!

Ok, rant over blippers. You know what it is? I'm totally sick of people trying to give me advice on how my bump should look, how many kicks I should feel, how I shouldn't even attempt to breastfeed. Never in my life have so many people wanted me to 'do as they did'.

So blippers, you'll find me and Paul doing what we always do - exactly what we want. I can't imagine the horror that will ensue when I tell people that I don't want any visitors in hospital. Wish me luck with that one!