T minus 12 days and counting

It's T minus 12 days until D-Day so by rights I should be nesting at the moment. But there is still too much to do. My blankets aren't washed, my meals aren't in the freezer (with the exception of two trays of cabbage, which won't get us very far) and I am barely a quarter of the way through the teddy bear that I started knitting over Christmas. So there will be no warmth, no nourishment, and no comfort for this unborn baby. I am destined to be a bad mother.

This is uncharacteristic of me, as my family will testify. Second only to my sister, Helen, who invented the word organisation and from whom I learned all the tools of my trade, I am usually the most over-prepared member of the family. But back in the days when I didn't have two sacks of potatoes inside me and the associated problems with bending/sitting/sleeping/eating, I agreed to do a whole lot of work for various people, with an end-of-January deadline. It wasn't my smartest move, but then I could have got this aforementioned work out of the way in November or December, but at that point I was too busy making my bunting and sewing curtains and shopping for tiny socks for tiny feet.

Part of me is glad that I've had lots to keep me occupied over the last few weeks, as it has kept me from noticing that I've grown to the size of a small house (although the small person inside has not let me forget that it is having a party in there).

A small house

Sitting down and writing every day also appears to have saved me from the dreaded Baby Brain - although my French teacher might argue with that statement. Yesterday's lesson went something like: 'Je... je pense que... er.. pardon, j'ai oubliée le mot pour...' At which I received sympathetic looks but little in the way of actual help. I think this might be the time to bow out gracefully from the French tuition.

It looks like I might also need to prepare myself for an early delivery, if the recent spate of births is anything to go by. Last week, two of my friends gave birth a week early, both on the same day in the same hospital in adjacent rooms. It made visiting them very simple. And yesterday, another friend gave birth - this time, just a few days early. I thought first babies were supposed to be late? Certainly that's what I've been counting on; hence the unwashed blankets, unfinished teddy and uncooked meals.

So wish me luck, because the next update may well be in the form of a birth announcement. And if you're interested to know what has been keeping me so busy these last few weeks, I've been writing programme notes for some upcoming concerts with some truly wonderful orchestras. I will be too busy changing nappies to attend them, but if any of them are taking place near you, you would do well to check them out:

Britten Sinfonia: Baltic Nights with Alina Ibragimova
London Sinfonietta: Stravinsky's Renard
Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Britten 100 Series