Pregnancy Fashion & The Next Chapter

So it's been two months since I had Jude and already it feels like I was never pregnant. Anyone who has read my weekly pregnancy blogs or watched my YouTube updates, will remember that I was not someone who enjoyed the whole human growing process despite how much I love the little bundle I got in the end. Hence why it comes as a surprise that I look back at my baby bump pictures with fond memories and think to myself that I would quite happily do it all over again. This is proof that pictures can be misleading and don't always reflect the reality of life!

One of the reasons I blogged throughout my pregnancy, other than to have something nice to look back on, was because I wanted to have the realities my what I went through in black and white. Something to remind myself that I SHOULD NOT and most definitely WILL NOT have any more babies in the near or distant future, regardless of any kind of broodiness that washes over me.

Before I became pregnant, I had already planned how I was going to style myself during a pregnancy and had grand ideas of how, the third time round, I would make a concerted effort to look and feel fabulous from the beginning right through to the delivery. This however went completely out of the window when reality, along with morning sickness and pregnancy related eczema, hit hard. At the beginning, a good day meant I was wearing something, anything, other than pyjamas. In the middle, it was if my were hands not weeping from scratching them through to the flesh. Looking glamorous was far from my mind when just managing to conceal the angry red patches on my face felt like a feat. I was thankful for the the latter stages in my pregnancy, once these symptoms disappeared, that I felt like myself. I had a grace period of about 4 or 5 weeks where I was able to put on a face of make-up, dress up and feel good about myself.

It is pictures from this time that make me think that, for a moment, maybe I do enjoy carrying a baby. There is something so amazing about growing a mini-me in the belly and being able to nurture and protect them from the world they will enter. There is also that empowering feeling of knowing that your mind and body are strong enough to get through a labour and delivery and come out the other side alive!

Being pregnant is such a special time in a woman's life and I am so grateful it is something I got to experience. So whilst I look back at my baby bump pictures with fondness, I know it's not all sunshine and rainbows. I am in fact happy with my lot and am ready for the next chapter, what ever that may be.

I will finish with pictures of my style during pregnancy taken from my Instagram.

Just pregnant  *  12 weeks

Top to Bottom L-R: 

17 weeks   *   23 weeks

25 weeks   *   28 weeks

28 weeks   *   29 weeks

34 weeks   *   34 weeks

37 weeks   *   38 weeks   *   38 weeks

39 weeks

xxx

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 38

We are on the home stretch and the end is in sight! Any time now, baby number 3 is going to make an appearance and the excitement is beginning to take over the fear of the birth. I am becoming aware of all the 'lasts' that I am doing now. The last time I will go swimming, the last time I walk down a certain being pregnant, even purchasing my last tub of Cocoa Butter to stop any sneaky stretch marks. Sad I know.

Talking of Cocoa Butter, I must say, I don't think I could have done without my trusted body butter. Having done a previous blog post on moisturising and the different products I have used in this pregnancy, this is my favourite and has definitely worked in preventing stretch marks. (I hope I haven't just jinxed myself). It's so thick and luxurious for the skin that my tummy has never really had the opportunity to become dry. I really would recommend this to any pregnant ladies out there.

I had my 38 week check up the other day and the babies head is still down and is FINALLY engaged! The only thing that wasn't quite as expected was my bump only measuring 35 weeks, which is the first time I have the mention of it being small. It was a different midwife from the one I have had most of my pregnancy so I'm not sure if it's a simple case of different people working slightly differently or the fact that the head is now engaged that makes it appear smaller. She didn't seem concerned though and the baby is still kicking away so hopefully there is nothing to worry about.

Here are couple of bump pictures for this week. I can't believe the belly will be gone soon, despite all my  complaining, I think I may actually miss it (well, a bit anyway).

Hat: PRIMARK

Shirt: RIVER ISLAND

Jeans: ZARA MATERNITY

Boots: ASOS

Bag: TK MAXX

xxx

Review: My Skip Hop Duo Luxe Aztec Special Edition Baby Changing / Diaper Bag

I recently posted a review of my new changing bag on my YouTube channel and thought I would post some pictures on my blog to give you a closer look. For a detailed description of the bag, take a look at my video review here.

You can purchase the bag here.

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 37

Full term and ready to go, well almost! Technically everything is all set and baby is fully developed so I could go into labour at any time now. However, despite being uncomfortable at times, I would be quite happy to go right up to my due date. I am conscious of spending quality time with my two children as I know it will be a case of trial and error getting the balance right in looking after three kids,  making sure no one feels left out so I want to make the most of the time I have left as a mother of two. 

Source: Kaitlyn Hibbs Via Pinterest

As it is the school holidays, any kind of exercise, walking or otherwise has gone out of the window and I am starting to think about how my body will be after the birth. The common theme I have noticed with mothers, new and old, is the battle many face to loose their 'mummy tummy' after having a child/children, although this isn't the only area I find affected by pregnancy. As well as the boobs, the bum can go south too and I would like to start tackling this area again now even although I will be giving birth shortly, and what better way to do this than with a good old fashioned squat. The way I see it is, if I begin this squat challenge now, I will be a good portion of the way through it by the time the baby arrives. This way it might not seem so daunting starting from scratch with my whole body in a few weeks time, assuming I have a safe, natural delivery. The great thing about this exercise is that I can brake it up to into two or three sessions to be done during the day once I get further along in the challenge. This means I have no excuse to not complete it as I don't believe anyone can honestly say they don't have five minutes to spare once,twice or three times a day, even if this means squatting whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, dinner to finish cooking or just before bed. At least, even if my tummy doesn't go back to normal, I will have a great looking, perky butt!

My baby changing bag arrived the other day and I absolutely love it so please keep an eye out for a review of that along with some other videos I have planned. 

I shall leave it there and end with my bump pic at 37 weeks. I will hopefully be writing another pregnancy blog next week and not giving birth quite yet. Can you tell I'm stalling?!

xxx

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 36

Let the insomnia begin. At this point I am well and truly knackered. Night after night now I find myself lying awake thinking of things I need to do, followed by a couple of trips to the fridge, to feed the baby of course! The most frustrating part is knowing that I should be getting as much sleep as possible right now as in a months time I'll have a beautiful but hungry/dirty/windy/restless bundle of joy keeping me up all hours. On the plus side, the complete silence I get at 3am has allowed me to get more organised for the baby's arrival with the help of my many, handy lists I have created. I love a good old list, don't you?

I have left a lot of things to the last minute but am not stressing as everything will get done although I think I may be taking for granted, the fact my other two arrived around their due date and am assuming this baby will too. That's not always the case and I did have a scare a few days ago when I thought I was in labour, even convincing the husband with my bouncing away on the pilates ball. Thank goodness it was a false alarm and was so relieved when everything calmed down before bed and the bonus is I now have hospital bags packed!

Here is where the magic almost happened :/

As the kids are on their school holidays for the summer, we all marched in one by one for my check-up with the midwife to see if the baby was playing ball and I am happy to report that it is no longer breech. However, the head is not engaged yet which means there is a chance is could still move back so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays put. Please, please, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the weather getting warmer, I am feeling the need for new clothes but I can hardly justify going on a shopping spree for the time I have left although I did buy a couple of dresses in the H&M sale to get me through. I am now focusing my sights on all the things I'll be able to wear in a few weeks. Yay. Topshop, River Island and eBay, watch out.

The belly at 36 weeks

That's about it for this week but keep an eye out for some videos coming up with my baby purchases from the last few weeks.

xxx

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 34 Breech Baby?!

This week I had a routine check-up with the midwife. She asked all the usual questions, am I feeling ok, is the baby moving etc, then took my blood pressure. All good. When it came to having a feel of my tummy to work out what body parts were where, it appeared that the baby wasn't head down yet. She explained that whilst it isn't unusual for babies to be breech at this stage, she would still like to see me at 36 weeks instead of the normal 38 week check up. That way, if there hasn't been any change, plans would need to be made for another scan and possibly a c-section.

Now at this point, it is only a possibility, however I have never had the mention of this with my previous two pregnancies so the idea of it this time has me freaked out.

To be clear, I am not someone who believes delivering a baby should be done any one way as the main priority is the safety of mother and baby. Plus no one gets a medal for doing it cave man style and your child will not thank you any more so for doing it au naturel. The problem is that my mind runs over time and the thought of something becomes a lot worse than the reality.

Yes the baby can still turn but what if it doesn't?  What if I have to be awake (albeit pain free) and get cut open? How will I react to not feeling my legs? How sore will it be afterwards? What if my stitches burst open? You see where I'm going with this. This list of questions in my head goes on forever despite the fact the I know if the times does come, the worst probably won't happen and I won't care about any of it as long as I have a healthy baby.

There are many pros and cons to both natural and c-section deliveries, however other than the pain of a natural delivery (it hurts bad!), the recovery time is minimal versus an operation. I am aware that thousands of women every day have sections, whether they choose to or not, and it all works out fine. For me,  it will just take a bit of time to get my head around the idea that it could happen and deal with it. I simply need to stop thinking, it shouldn't really be that hard for me at the moment as my brain doesn't seem to retaining anything just now anyway. Get a grip woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a picture of the bump that is causing me this worry.

Something else which has been keeping me awake at night, is the start of Restless Leg Syndrome. Described as the urge to move your legs to relieve crawling, tingling or burning sensations it can be common in later pregnancy and unfortunately there isn't a whole lot that can be done. I have had it for a couple of weeks now but seems to be getting worse. Despite its name, I get it mainly in my feet and hands and find that running them under cold water can help sometimes. Thank goodness I only have about 5 weeks as its driving me crazy. 

That's about all for this week, lets see what week 35 has to offer.

xxx

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 31 Moisturising

So this has been another slow week in terms of progress however I have noticed my belly is getting bigger, at a faster rate now. 

31 Weeks

For this reason I have increased my moisturising routine to help fend off the those dreaded stretchmarks! I had started moisturising my tummy regularly at around 17 weeks when I felt my waistline was starting to expand and would do this twice a day, applying something in the morning and before I go to bed at night. Fast forward to 31 weeks where my tummy seems to be stretching more and more each day and I have begun slapping on the nearest lotion or potion to hand during the day as well, just to make sure my skin doesn't have a chance to become the slightest bit dry. Even if I am exhausted and can't bring myself to remove my make-up before hitting the pillow, I always make sure to tackle my tummy.

It is thought that stretch marks are hereditary and that if you are going to get them then there isn't much you can do about it. This is where I guess I take after my mum, as she didn't get them with her two pregnancies, there fore I have been more or less lucky, other than a couple of tiny purple slivers on my side/back that one one else would even notice. That being said, I do think (in my case at least) that constantly moisturising has helped, as I do have other stretch marks on my thighs where I gained weight quickly in my late teens when moisturing was at the bottom of my list to do list. So I would say regardless of how your skin is behaving in pregnancy it is important to pamper the belly whilst you have it.

These are some of the products I have been using depending how my skin has been on any given day. My favourite would have to be the Palmers Cocoa Butter as I love the smell of it. Whilst the Johnson's Baby Oil, is nothing special, I do like to lather it on just before I get out of the shower to lock moisture into my skin before I get dry and apply a moisturiser afterwards.

Sweet Almond Oil * Aveeno Moisturiser * Palmers Cocoa Butter * Johnson's Baby Oil * Garnier Intensive

If I am wanting something a bit lighter, I use a combination of the oils below to make sure the job gets done, also making sure to do my sides, back and not forgetting the boobs, bum and thighs as the bump isn't the only part that grows in pregnancy!

Sweet Almond Oil * Extra Virgin Olive Oil * Jojoba Oil

Now some of you may be thinking 'but olive oil is for cooking with', and I thought the same thing when people were first telling me to use it on my daughters afro hair. Since then, I have been surprised to learn about different kinds of products that we assume are for one thing only, when in fact they have a lot of other benefits too.

I like to mix them together in equal parts in a bottle which makes for easy application. I find the smell of the Sweet Almond Oil and Jojoba Oils counteract the smell of the Oilve Oil, however you can add a drop or two of Lavender Oil if the smell is bothering you.

I don't know that there is one moisturiser, oil or concoction that has the ability to work better than any other so it really is a case of seeing what works best for you. And I truly believe that an expensive lotion will work no better than a cheaper one as long you are lubricating your skin. If stretch marks are going to rear their ugly head, they will do so regardless of how pretty the packaging or how much you have spent.

xxx

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 30 (Prenatal Listening System Review)

There has been no real changes to report this week so I thought I would review the Prenatal Listening System which my mum kindly bought for me. It is not something I would have purchased myself as it isn't a necessity in pregnancy however, since I was given it, I thought it would be fun to try out with the kids as a way of including them in their new siblings journey. 

The instructions suggest using it from 28 weeks to ensure there is a strong enough heartbeat, so as not to panic a mum to be who may not hear something in the earlier weeks of pregnancy.

It comes with two sets of ear phones and a band which you fix the monitor onto so it can be strapped to your tummy. It is pretty self explanatory when it comes to working the device.

Was it as good as I expected it to be? Disappointingly, no.

I thought it would sound similar to what I hear when the midwife listens for the baby's heartbeat at my regular check ups. However instead it sounds like a very faint drum beat which I can just about make out and I can tell the kids can barely make sense of what they are hearing, if at all. That being said, they still ask if they can listen in on the baby every couple of days so I think the idea of hearing the baby is exciting enough for them and makes them feel like they are part of what is going on in mummy's tummy.

Would I buy it myself? Quite simply, the answer is no.

Having read other reviews on it only reiterates the problem of poor sound quality, which some mothers may find distressing if they think they can't find their baby's heartbeat. Depending where you buy, it retails at around £24.99 (£12.99 in TK MAXX), it hardly breaks the bank although I think the money could be better spent on something else.

Has anyone else tried using one of these? What were your thoughts on the device? I would love to know. 

xxx