Tall Tales for Oscar H Smethurst: 38 Weeks...this is it!

With almost a week of maternity leave behind me, I'm at a loss as to what to do with myself. We've kept ourselves really busy though; we've been to the cinema...twice, had afternoon tea, I've spent quality time with my sister, built the crib (Ryan), made up the crib (Sharon), packed Little Ones bag for the hospital (Ryan & Sharon), put the pram together (Ryan...with some moral support from Jimmy and Angelique) and we've made sure the car seat fits in the car. The same can't be said about seeing if the pram actually fits in the boot.

One thing I'm prolonging, with much procrastination, is packing my hospital bag. I've gathered most of my things, ordered a couple of bits from Amazon that I'm told will come in handy, rented a TENS device (something you connect to your back with sticky pads and electrodes - it gives you a little shock whenever you have a contraction - it's supposed to alleviate pain) and I have my snack pack ready. The magazine I bought for the hospital has been read...from cover to cover. I just can't seem to put all these items into one suitcase ready for the hospital.

I procrastinate when I'm desperately trying the avoid doing something else. And I think that if everything of mine was packed in a neat little bag then that would signal that I'm ready. And I am. But I'm also not.

I have made one of the worst mistakes a woman who is 38wks pregnant could make. It's my own stupid fault. I've been watching countless YouTube clips of woman giving birth. I tell myself it's in preparation for what's around the corner. It's like being back at school during exam time and I'm doing exactly what I used to do back then; rather than actually read the set English book (Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet), I've chosen to watch the video instead. And I've completely scared myself sh**less in the process.

If I don't have a bag packed for a trip, it means that I'm not actually going to go on said trip. At least that's how my logic works!

I'm scared. I'm nervous. I'm fearful. I'm dreading going through labour.

Like most things I procrastinate about; when I eventually get my backside into gear and do what I'm supposed to do, once the task has been completed, I sit back and wonder what all the fuss was about. Every. Single. Time.

I keep running through what we learnt in our antenatal classes in my head;