Well folks, it's the final instalment of Up The Duff pre-baby. The next one, possibly cobbled together by a frazzle-brained new dad, will be the news of our baby's safe, glorious and totally pain-free arrival.

I can't quite believe it's all come this far - 38 weeks this week. I went for a final scan today, just to put my mind at rest after the baby was breech at 35 weeks. Yep, the head is definitely down. In fact so far down that the midwife gave an ouch. "Having trouble walking?" she asked, knowingly. Erm, yes, trouble walking, talking, sitting, sleeping, eating, waiting...

Apparently I'm carrying a "very tightly packed" baby, which excited the midwife so much she said it several times. "Oo, it's a very tightly packed baby!," she kept saying, in a tone of voice that implied it was a very clever baby for being so yoga-baby-like. She also suggested this might be why it's all been quite uncomfortable for some time - all the weight quite solidly compacted.

Mums-to-be are hot for ethical baby clothing, whether it be organic cotton, fair trade or bamboo, but oddly this ethical vibe hasn't made much of an impression on maternity fashion brands. I've searched high and low, and wide, on the internet, for three attractive ethical maternity wear ranges.

1. Bamboo Baby
Organic brand Bamboo Baby has produced a range of simple and elegant maternity pieces, with a strong emphasis on casual and comfortable. The brand uses moso bamboo, which is grown without any pesticides or fertilisers. It is one of the world's fastest growing plants so once it has been cut it regenerates fast, eliminating the need to replant.

Attractive tops and vests feature in the range, either in simple cuts or with ruche effects. The Maternity and Nursing Wrap Dress (pictured here) is a beautifully simple piece just as the LBD is, but minus the 'L'. The wrap around detail is flattering for the neckline and rests comfortably above the stomach and for a cool £19.99 it's a no brainer.

Bamboo Baby is available at a number of online sites including Crave Maternity and Spirit of Nature.

"Greetings from Cambridge", said the email header. Cambridge? I don't know anyone from Cambridge, thought me, and I didn't recognise the address.

Ahhh, hang on a minute...Cambridge.

Through my befuddled baby brain, short already of approximately four hours sleep per night for the last three months, it dawned on me. I do know somebody from Cambridge. In fact I know, or knew, somebody from Cambridge so well I could probably tell you what he had for breakfast today.

An Ex. Let's call him Bob.

Now, it's fair to say that while Bob is a fairly good quality ex - we had an..uhm...interesting six months together before I met my current chap - he's not The Ex, who I was with for 10 years and bought a house "near good schools" with.

For that I thank the heavens, because telling The Ex feels too difficult still, and at least with Bob today I've had a trial run.

The Eighties have reigned supreme in recent popular culture, inspiring a wide array of fashion designers and beauty experts; the music and film industries also taking note of the craze. With this in mind, it seems only appropriate to go to some of the decade's quintessential children's toys when racking your brains for original Christmas presents for the little ones (or the grown-ups) this year. Here's my pick of the top five.

1. Care Bears
These soft toys with magic powers symbolised on their tummies are one of the all-time iconic Eighties toys. The colourful bears became a force of nature in their own right, as videos, home-ware, books and clothing were all emblazoned with their adorable faces.

With numerous different models, each named after their power, they were, and still are, highly collectable and just as charming now as when they originally launched over two decades ago. A friend for life, they are available to buy on Amazon.co.uk.

I'm 36 weeks and 2 days pregnant, and counting. We've now begun Baby School month, or so it seems, what with the Hypnobirthing sessions we're attending and NCT classes starting.

We're not doing too well with the Hypnobirthing homework, I must admit. We've been set reading and breathing exercises. I've done the reading but not the exercises, which, if I want a calm and tranquil birth, is probably the wrong way around. Typical of me though, as right from being a small child I've loved books and hated anything that includes the word exercise. Time to get a grip on that I think, or risk chucking £300-plus down the drain.

We had the first NCT class on Monday evening, a rubbish time for pregnant mums methinks. I gave up trying to do anything on a Monday evening five months ago - don't know why but it's always been a tiredness zone for me. I enjoyed the class, especially being together with the other women, all of whom are due to give birth in December and January.

Discovered that I'm the first one off the blocks, so to speak, with a baby due December 1. That would explain why I felt like a girly swot answering all the tricky questions about what a mucus plug is and what to do if you feel the urge to push and you're still at home (don't go to hospital, call an ambulance, get help, put door on latch so the paramedics can get in, men get ready to catch a very slippery baby).

You see, sometimes reading books comes in useful.

It's true that when it comes to fashion and the seasons, we are either Winter girls or Summer girls. Summer girls love pretty dresses, short shorts, wedge sandals, and lots of tanned limbs on show. Winter girls love fantastic coats, digging out their favourite boots, and covering up! It's impossible to be both types of girl. Fact.

I am, without any doubt, a Winter girl. I was born in the Winter, which might explain why, though more likely it's because I have Winter colouring (pale skin that has never tanned in its life, brunette hair and blue eyes, with lips that go translucent in the cold), and winter calves (always look better in tights).

I'm the kind of girl who gets excited when the nights draw in and it's cold in the morning when the alarm goes off. Yay, I can finally wear my favourite stuff, methinks.

This year I'm facing a whole new challenge though - it has only really become nippy today, and I'm 36 weeks pregnant. Little of last year's Autumn / Winter wardrobe still fits, and the challenge is seriously on with leg wear.

I have spent most of the late Summer wearing leggings (JoJo Maman Bebe were my favourite), but while I can still get away with them with boots, it's too cold for bare feet. I need proper maternity tights if I'm to wear shoes or pumps, and I've been on a mission to find a great pair.

So far I've tried three brands that are worth a mention; Emma Jane Support Maternity tights from Jojo Maman Bebe, WonderMummy's 75% cotton tights and Mamas & Papas's coloured maternity tights.

We're into the home straights now, with Sarah 36th week of pregnancy. Which means it's time to start getting ready for the birth...

We started Hypnobirthing classes this week. Anything is worth a shot when potentially life-threatening agonising pain beyond the imaginable is five weeks away, I reckon.

Call me dramatic, but, well, you know, if you are calling me dramatic you're probably a bloke, or a Hypnobirthing teacher.

The classes, and our teacher Lisa Jackson in particular, were recommended to me by a friend going through her second pregnancy. She called me up especially to say we must give it a go, and she wished she'd done it the first time around.

After a tricky ventouse delivery with epidural in hospital for baby number one, she gave birth last week to a baby boy, at home with no intervention, bum first! His, not hers.

We rocked up at 7.30pm, Tuesday, to our class, held in Lisa's own home in Croydon.

As more retailers start to associate themselves with eco-friendly practices there is still a surprising lack of green initiatives seeping into the largest of high street chains. The baby market might seem like one of the first places to start, and to some extent it is. Organic baby clothes are becoming a serious trend and often act as a catalyst to turn the most non-believing of mothers to eco enthusiasts. After all, making sure your baby has the most natural and harm-free fabrics around them is an all-important concern.

When it comes to nappies and wipes, most high street stores are rather quiet. There are plenty of brands available to buy online, but it's more difficult if you want to pop eco nappies in your shopping trolley on the weekly grocery shop or trip up town.

The high street stores in the list below are currently leading the way in stocking eco nappies and related products:

Ten things I've learned this week, too much of which I didn't really want to know:

1. There comes a point where even the largest maternity jeans won't fit any more. My most recent purchase, size 14s from Hennes (I started out a size 8), with a huge elasticated waist panel, feel like a vice when I sit down. I know, gutting isn't it? No jeans. No jeans!!

2. No matter how many times your partner tells you he still finds you attractive, you'll struggle to believe him. It won't help when he rushes from the kitchen to the lounge for Cheryl Cole's bits on The X-Factor.

3. When you say that no, you don't know what you'll be doing for Christmas, because the baby could be born as late as December 14, nobody will believe you. They will think you're deliberately trying to thwart their turkey ordering plans and will ask you almost daily for an update, hoping for a different answer. You won't have one.

4. There is no such thing as a stylish Moses basket. What is it about Broderie Anglaise? It's not a regular feature in the rest of our homes, it's not made an appearance in our wardrobes since the Seventies, so why on earth would we bedeck our baby's first nest with it?

When Fozia Hill's daughter was born six years ago she discovered a distinct lack of attractive and ethical babywear, for both girls and boys.

After spending a few years acclimatising to being a new mother, Fozia put the wheels in motion for her organic baby brand, Fozia London, launched this season.

The first task was finding the perfect factory that matched Fozia's green ideals. "I looked for a year and eventually found a lovely one in India. There's not a huge amount of fair trade factories there so when I found this one I just went with my gut instinct. I got a really good vibe from it," Fozia says.

The fair trade factory in Calcutta is a family-run business that has more than doubled its employees in five years and often puts some of the money it makes back into the local area, in particular into schools.