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

Girls Day in Edinburgh Vlog

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 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

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