Josa’s pregnancy diary - weeks 28 – 30

According to books, the baby at this stage weighs about a kilo. My last baby was four kilos at birth. That means the baby puts on three-quarters of its weight in the next 12 weeks – an alarming prospect. No wonder my back creaks. Bad weather and floods meant my yoga teacher could not get to London this week. I miss her class dreadfully. When I hit a low patch, which is nearly always at the beginning of the week, I know that the slow stretches will set me up for the next seven days of work and childcare. Without it, I am not sure what I will do.

Some nights the lower back pain wakes me up, and I try not to lunge about too much, for fear of waking Thoby. He works so hard, no afternoon rests for expectant fathers. Daytime rests are becoming increasingly uncomfortable and I try to do without them, unless I am really weary. My heart seems to beat audibly and I find myself panting for breath. I sleep much better at night, in the darkness, with pillows propping up every protuberant bit of me. I have managed to reduce night trips to the lavatory to about once, around 3.30am.

Normal tights and even normal bikini knickers roll down under the bump, and give me a feeling of strangulation. I ventured out to Mothercare and Hennes and found a far better range of maternity tights than eight years ago. I now have a pair of comforting black cotton and Lycra and also more elegant sheers. I do not want to buy maternity knickers – I have some very cheap old ones with droopy elastic, which will have to do. It is such a short time – maternity clothes seem an extravagance. But I do have to confess that I went to Dorothy Perkins – just about the only place that acknowledges a need for glamour even at 12 stone – and bought a gold lace cocktail dress with deep fringe at the bottom. I felt guilty, but justified it by hoping for repeated outings at Christmas parties.

See Anastasia Brien's pregnancy diary for weeks 28-30.