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

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 Vlog: 33 Weeks - Weight Gain Stretch Marks & Braxton H...

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 32

What a yucky week this has been, hence me not doing any vlogs or other blog posts. My morning sickness returned for over a week which took me right back to the beginning of my pregnancy where you feel helpless and just want to get on with things but can't. This along with feeling faint at times was not fun but have been told it's normal at this point in pregnancy so long as I don't experience other symptoms such as swelling of the hands, feet or face.

On the upside, I went to see a dermatologist about my skin, given the eczema I have had during this pregnancy. As I have blogged about previously, with trying numerous prescribed creams which failed to work, I began to give up hope. Slightly reassuring, was a nurse telling me that in other cases of pregnancy related eczema, brought on by hormones, she has seen women recover from it within 1-2 weeks of giving birth. Thinking that I would only get relief from the pain, itching and redness after the birth, I am over the moon to find the latest, stronger cream prescribed to me has worked and I now feel more like myself again. I hadn't noticed just how much my confidence was knocked until my skin improved. I am back!

The bump at 32 weeks

At the stage in the game, the end isn't too far off however when I had 24 hours of contraction, pains and tightenings, I had started to wonder if this baby was coming sooner rather than later but it all died down eventually and we are on track for the 8 week countdown!

Talking of counting down, I have been so laid back about the baby's arrival that I'm still not fully prepared just yet. I have most of the necessary items but still have a couple of things to buy so that I have all the basics covered. I'm not panicked yet and the great thing is that this is another of life's problems that can easily be rectified by hitting the shops!

xxx

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 28 - 3rd Trimester!???

We are officially in the third trimester... I think! If you look on line you will find differing opinions on when the third trimester actually begins. Some say it's anywhere between 25-28 weeks and others state around 27-29 weeks pregnant. I'm going with 28 weeks, not that it matters a great deal.

The tummy is starting to get in the way is week. Bending down to put on socks and shoes can be tricky as by the time I lean forward, boobs rest on the belly, belly on the thighs, there is no where left to go. So rather than go to the feet, I bring the feet up to me when sitting down, sooo much easier! I have also begun belly bashing my way around with me mis-judging spaces I have to squeeze through versus the actual size of my ever expanding middle. I'm getting good at apologising for bumping into people, telling them it wasn't me, it was the belly honestly. Life was so much easier when I had a waist!

28 weeks

I had a routine appointment for a check up with the midwife and all was fine until it came to getting blood taken. It was going well until she accidentally pulled out the needle before she got enough blood so began again. Nothing was coming out despite, and I quote my 'beautiful veins' (there are other things I'd rather be praised for but hey). All in all it took five attempts before the job was done by which point I was left feeling a bit like a pin cushion. Good job I don't have a phobia of needles.

On a more pleasant note, an exciting part of this week was ordering my pram. I won't go into detail now as I may do a separate post on that but it was the first step in making the baby's arrival a reality, scary stuff!

That's all for now. xxx

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 27

This week I have been experiencing the start of braxton hicks contractions. At 27 weeks these are happening a little earlier than I expected. The feeling is hard to describe if you haven't had them before but I would say they feel a bit like someone is tightening a belt around the middle of your stomach and it goes hard. To look at,  it's like the baby has curled into a ball and everything is more compact. I have found myself breathing through the braxton hicks, which does feel a bit silly considering it's not as if I'm in full labour with the pain taking it's toll. However they can be uncomfortable and the deep, controlled breathing gives me something else to focus on instead of thinking about the tightening's. These have been happening most days so I'm hoping they don't get more intense just yet. With the baby only being the size of a cauliflower, 14.5 inches long and weighing around 2 lbs, there is still some cooking left to be done in there!

In the last few days I have also noticed a feeling like the babies foot coming out! Obviously this is not the case but sometimes when I'm standing, there is the sensation of this little one lying low as if something is going to appear. I did have this in my last pregnancy so I know there is nothing wrong, it just feels really weird *pulls strange face*.

I initially thought this was the first week of my third trimester but turns out that's not until next week, oops, so as this is the LAST week of my SECOND trimester I have put together some pictures of my growing bump side by side to compare the weeks. A lot can change in 27 weeks.

Week 5 * Week 17 * Week 23

Week 25 * Week 26 * Week 27

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 26

This hasn't been my best week with no real reason other than hormones to blame I guess. I have been feeling extremely tired and rather emotional. I could cry about nothing and everything, and have found myself waking up on the wrong side of bed which has only served to make the days more frustrating. One day I even got upset because I felt so uncomfortable with baby taking up all the space, that there was no room left for dinner. FYI - I love my food!
My red and inflamed skin hasn't helped. Despite my taking anti-histamines, the itchiness has returned resulting in me spending a couple of nights lying awake scratching, applying cream then repeating the process until I could no longer keep my eyes open. It is really taking it's toll one me now as it affects every aspect of my day from showering, the clothes I wear, being in the kitchen to something as simple as my holding my children's hands. As I have said previously, I am I prone to mild eczema on occasion generally and is apparently common for it to become worse when pregnant although have never experienced the condition to this severe extent.  I swear I could open up a pharmacy with the creams I have collected during this pregnancy but to no avail.

As I get closer to my due date, there is a part of me beginning to feel sad I will never carry another baby, feeling a kick and sharing special moments between my baby and I that no one else gets to encounter. On the other hand, I can't help but think of the day when hopefully my hormones revert back to normal and I don't need to live in constant pain. The things we do for our children huh?!

Pregnancy Diaries: Catch Up Week 20 Half Way There!

The best part of getting to week 20 was having our second scan. We took the kids along with us so they could be part of the experience, which I was super excited about. However, whilst they understood that what they were seeing on the screen was the baby, I think they found it hard to make out what was what. Other than the heart and feet, it was all a bit of a blur to them but to be fair, the hospital was short staffed and it did feel like the sonographer whizzed through everything. The main thing though, is that the baby is healthy and growing as it should.

We decided not to find out the sex, unlike with our last two, as I would like to have a surprise at the end, even though my husband is to keen to know. I just feel that this is the last time we are going to do this and want to make the most of every moment. I would like to know what it feels like to be in labour and have the excitement of wondering whether we are going to be handed a boy or girl and thankfully my darling better half was happy to go along with my preference.

Having had two children already, means that I know what items we need straight away and what things can wait a couple of weeks or months after the baby arrives. So whilst I do want to go down the route of dressing or co-ordinating colours to suit the gender, I know that I don't necessarily need to have everything the baby will use in it's first six months of life, before it is born. This makes my decision for a surprise less stressful however I do understand why people feel they need to know so they can be more organised before the kaos begins.
Having said all of this, it hasn't stopped myself or everyone else trying to have guess at what we may be having. The majority say it's a boy, guess we'll find out in 20 weeks time!