It's the end of an era. Fernando Torres aka 'El Niño' has retired from
Spanish football. If it hadn't been for
his goal in the 2008 Eurocup Final, my husband and I might never have met. (You can read Shop Girl Diaries for the full story!) That
was a decade ago and Torres is 34, and so am I, and a lot is about to change
for me too.
I'm nine days away from my due date, which is the 30th May. A family
poll has bets ranging from the 26th May to the 7th June. The doctor says the
baby is big, and big babies sometimes arrive early. He also says first babies often come late... so it's anyone's guess! I'm still writing my Pregnancy Diaries and
imagine frantically dictating the end while I'm having contractions.
Unrealistic?
I'm not nervous about the birth. I've been physically and mentally
preparing for months. I'm grateful to my cousin's wife, Georgie, for
introducing me to Marie Mongan's Hypnobirthing book early on; the birthing
affirmations really have done wonders for my confidence. I've also, better late
than never, started reading another great book on Birth Skills by Juju Sundin
and Sarah Murdoch. I hope more and more women get to discover these books and
their empowering attitudes, and we can start removing all the fear associated
with birth. But I'll keep all these thoughts for my pregnancy diaries.
Nothing like a baby on the way to speed up the writing. I completed a
full-length first draft of my fifth novel a couple of weeks ago. As much as I
want to start editing it, I need to let it rest so I can see clearly what needs
to be done. I suppose leaving it rest won't be hard with a newborn baby. Still,
I'd like to get it done by the end of the year. The same goes for the pregnancy
diaries.
We moved home a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully just to another flat in
the same block, so it wasn't too bad. Surprisingly, at eight months pregnant, I
found I had enough energy to wheel a suitcase back and forward up and down a
corridor all day for a week. I also had
a great workout cleaning the flat we left behind. It did wonders for my
sleeping.
The new flat has a little room for baby and an office for me. It's the
best office I've ever had. It's full of light and leads onto a terrace. I've turned it to face the window since taking this picture on Instagram! I foresee
a lot of happy writing being done here, perhaps with a sleeping baby at my side... Am I being completely unrealistic? Ha, we'll see.
My husband gifted me a beautiful wooden board with all my book covers printed
on it to decorate the office. You might not recognise the new covers.
That's
the other news of the month. I finally got my publishing rights back and am
free to relaunch #PleaseRetweet and The Temp. I've given The Temp its original quirky Wattpad name of SprayPainted Bananas. I hope, by taking back control, I'll be able to give my books
a fresh chance of success. After all, The Hen Party seems to be selling well,
so a huge thank you to everyone who has bought it!
New baby, new office, new books, new home - but mostly new baby. I still
don't know how dramatically my life will change, but I think... finally... after 38 weeks and five days, I'm
beginning to feel ready.
