Has anyone else noticed the time?

Last week, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even when Cuinn stuck in there and started growing, and then kept sticking and kept growing, I kept holding my breath waiting for that 24 week mark where he'd have a fighting chance at life if he was born. It is a worst-case scenario and then some, sure, but ... well ... who'd have thought we'd be here? We didn't. Not really. So that everything keeps on trucking from day to day, accordingly to plan, not hiccups, no worries, really is a bit staggering. We're not exactly waiting for the bang, but we're suspicious that there hasn't been one. Then again, I suppose we did do some hard yards at the start. Little demon.

We're celebrating milestones from our little man every week now. He's getting stronger every day and it's really, really cool. His kicks are getting harder and harder and I can almost make out the difference between his hands and feet by the force that goes into either punching or kicking me. I can also often feel him building up to something too - there'll be a sensation like something is moving and then usually some form of abuse of my insides. I can feel him easily from the outside, as can Al, and if you're quick, you can see him too - my stomach will suddenly pulse out. The other day he stuck his foot out which was incredible. I figured it was a foot anyway. Something stuck out. A hard lump was poking out, and I went with a foot based on the length and width of it, and the force he must have been pushing with to stick it out there. That, and when I pushed back on it, the little demon booted me with the other one. Nice and hard. Bless.

Al can hear him moving which I'm a bit jealous of, although I suppose I do get the rest of it, all day ... and it was extremely funny to see the look on his face when Cuinn gave him a solid kick in the ear. Apparently he likes his privacy.

I'm still sulking about the antenatal classes though, which start in a month. In fact, they start around the time I need to come up with a birth plan for my obstetrician, which is a whole other post entirely. So far my 'plan' consists of avoiding the topic entirely because I'm pretty sure that my other plan of just waking up one morning to find Cuinn tucked up in his hammock, blissfully asleep, is just a wee tad unlikely.

Unbelievably though, when it comes down to breathing sighs of relief about babies having a chance if they're born, antenatal classes and birth plans, that means that the time has come to do a bit of a kiddly-stuff stocktake and make sure I have what I need for him should it all happen. Because it does sometimes. And sooner or later (preferably later. Not too late, but later is good), it definitely will. So I'm working through a list of what various stores say I desperately need as a bare minimum, and by cutting the 'necessary' amounts of various clothing items etc in half, forgetting about most of the hardware (do we really need a baby bath when we have a perfectly good sink? and a nightlight? Seriously? He definitely needs seven pairs of shoes though...), and being just a wee bit honest about the difference between wants (since he's not likely to have teeth for quite some time, I can probably flag the rimu teething rattle. I guess. If I have to) and actual needs (Uhhhmmmm .... pants and nappies) from a budgeting perspective, we seem to be getting somewhere. ''Somewhere' being a wee bit closer to a mortgagee sale, but, you know, that's still somewhere.

I can definitely report though - even now, it's still very surreal.