When things don't go to plan!

As per my previous post, the midwife sent me for a scan to check the baby's position which didn't go so well unfortunately! 

Today was not a good day and it started with me trying to be clever and squeezing through a tight alley way which resulted in a massive scratch on my brand new car together with a bloody dent. Brilliant! 

I then went home to tidy up as Liam finished work early so we can go for a scan, then out for dinner to see the niece and cinema in the evening. Good plan so far! 

All spoiled when we found out during the scan that naughty baby has indeed changed position from head down to horizontal so across my ribs. Head in right rib, feet in left rib! Not only that but he's in danger on getting the cord somehow wrapped around him if I go into labour early. AND I will be in danger as well as his feet can come out first which can cause major bleeding for me so NOT GOOD at all! So mama is now staying in hospital until naughty baby arrives which thankfully won't be in 4 weeks as the doctor said o will get a C-section at 38 weeks if everything is still the same which is very likely.

My OCD then kicked in so all I could think of was SHIT!! I have so many things I needed to do like cooking some food for the freezer, washing all the baby's clothes, getting mentally ready! What about the cinema tonight? What about my baby shower in 2 days time? What about, what about, what about?????

I miss my home so much already! Next time I'll go back home is with a baby. I'm not going to see the dog now for a while :( God, this is so scary! I only came in for a scan. I didn't come in to have a baby.

The good thing is that we have brilliant family and friends who all offered to help and visit me so I am very happy with that.

My new home:

36 weeks pregnant

We are now 4(ish) weeks away from having a baby and it still hasn't sunk in.We now have everything we need for the hospital bag, I'm waiting for my last items to arrive hopefully by tomorrow and we should be good to go.

This past week has been no different than it was the week before apart from more groin and pelvic pains. We walked into town to watch the 10K Run and I actually felt like my feet were slowly giving way accompanied by blisters and sore toes. I'm now officially unable to walk for any longer distances than 100 metres without gasping for air and stopping for a break :( 

Main craving was watermelon, could eat one a day with no problems.

Also had some heartburn a couple of nights but quickly sorted with loads of milk.If the baby had the same hair i had when I was born then another little monkey will be born.

Been sick a few times, not actually sick but felt very sickly. Bleurgh!!! 

This baby has been well and truly active this week, kicking and punching my ribs, bladder and other painful areas.

I am loosing sleep at night due to kicks and wee breaks. Definitely trying to get me used to night feeds.

 

Seen the midwife as well who said she's not sure of the position of the baby so she's sent me for an emergency scan to double check that. No wonder I had all these ribs and vagina pains, if the baby is sat like we think he is then he's kicking me in the ribs with his fists and in the bladder with his feet. Amazing!

 

 

Our home

I decided to do a post about my favorite spots in the house as I am going through a very loving phase at the moment and I will miss this house very much when we move. Plus I want baby to see where he was born (is looking like this will be his house for a couple of days/weeks until we move).

 

 

New plant pot outside the front door which I'm very proud of (again is the little things in life)

Firstly is baby's room obviously. It used to be my dressing room and I was very proud of it but now we are used to be quite self contained so we get ready in our own bedroom where we now have a dressing table.
This bedroom was decorated by Liam and we are proud of it. He put the wallpaper up, carpet down and painted the walls,pipes and radiator so it was sparkling clean. He also built the nursery with the help of his brother and Dad. We still have a few stickers and photos to put up but we'll do this in the new house.

 

As mentioned, we now have a dressing table in our bedroom which I love as it has everything we need at hands reach. My favorite item is the sparkly mirror which we got from Liam's brother.

 

The next room is the lounge where we spend most of our time together. I always have fresh flowers on the fireplace stand and some candles burning. My favorite spot is the square bookcase which holds a few pictures and wooden words which very much reflect our home. We also have the most comfortable chair which our friends gave to us when they were renovating and is Liam's pride and joy. He doesn't get to sit on it as at the moment is the only thing that I'm comfortable to sit on.

 

We also have a spare room downstairs which used to be a dumping room before I moved in, to then transform into a dining room. We decided we weren't getting much use of it as we rarely eat at the table (more like TV dinners whilst watching Eastenders) and when I got pregnant we decided to transform it into a spare room with a sofa bed in case anyone stays over. For a while it was Liam's room as he did spend a few nights sleeping in there before he decided the sofa is a better option. Also the cheeky bastard dog decided that is was way better than his own bed so he used to make himself comfortable on the sofa bed.If we would have stayed in this house we would have used the room as a play room and also to put the pram and the toy box so there away from our lounge.

 

Last and my favorite room is The Kitchen!! I bloody love my kitchen and I will definitely need a while to recover from the devastation of downgrading to a smaller one. We only had the kitchen done (by Liam again because he's clever like that) last year in September so is very new. I take much pride in the white floor and cupboards and clean it every day :) we also have a bar built in and is great for when we have people round for dinner which is more or less every week. We had some great little parties here and that is also how we got together ( came to see the bar apparently). It was also great for Christmas and New Year as we had drinks at the bar rather than go out and I'm sure it saved us a small fortune over the years having drinks at our bar. We also use the bar for a quick dinner although we now have one of them dining tables that folds back once is used and is great for us.

My kitchen has everything I need in it, loads of cupboards, shelves and the indispensable white appliances which I refuse to move out without. Now that I am fat I can't bend over or stretch to the higher shelves so I have a little prep station next to my amazing cooker with my oils, pastas and other spices I use all the time. I like to have things handy so I keep my mugs, kettle and coffee/tea next to each other as well. When I went on mat leave I organized all the cupboard so I know where everything is and unnecessary clutter is thrown away. 

Latest addition to my kitchen is the plant pots on the windowsill which I think it makes it look even nicer. The color on the walls was something that I also love as is my favorite color but I also think it makes it look fresher and cleaner.

 

 

Of course we also have a bathroom and a garden but I don't spend much time in any of them so not really worth mentioning. So Dear Baby, this is our home for the time being and I hope you will like it as much as we do for the time you're here. 

 

35 weeks pregnant

Being 35 weeks pregnant hurts. A lot! I am sat in the armchair as I'm writing this as I am unable to move due to pelvic and groin pains.When these are not painful then something else is like my lower back or my legs or my feet.

Is not enjoyable anymore and I am jealous on the mums who are enjoining these last weeks of being childless. Is so worrying when I get this pains but I found that going online (Baby Centre UK) helped more than a call to the Triage department as apparently is normal and the baby is just positioning into my pelvic bone ready for the birth.

This week hasn't seen major changes since last week apart from my bump getting heavier and bigger.I seem to eat a lot of fruit again especially juicy ones like watermelon,pineapple and oranges.Still enjoying my good old kiwi but I could literally murder a watermelon in no time.

We have been sleeping apart a few nights too as is just more comfortable for both of us with me needing my pregnancy cushions every second of the night.

I think I have gained most of my weight now as looking at photos of me,I don't really recognise the person anymore and is devastating.I have never been so heavy in my whole life and I cannot wait for the long walks in the park with the pram and my skinny jeans.

I can no longer shave my legs or down below so unfortunately Liam will have to assist me in doing it so i am not looking forward to what.I am a big believer in keeping some things for yourself and being unable to shave anymore was one of the things I was least looking forward to.

After the antenatal class last week,I have now decided that I will have a water birth with just gas and air.Of course if after 5 minutes of labour I will decide that I NEED an epidural or something stronger than sucking on gas then i will not hesitate to ask the midwife.I have very low pain threshold and I definitely don't want to think of the birth as the worst thing ever.

I have done the hospital bags for me and the baby, we just need to get a few more bits for me and the car seat from Liam's mum and with that we should be all sorted and ready for his arrival.

The house move is looking more like around the due date ( obviously,it couldn't have been easy and straightforward could it?) bit I'm fine with that. Is nothing we can do about it as is with the solicitors now so stressing about it will not do anything. We are lucky that we have a house and a family that can help if needed.

I am getting more dizziness and fatigue now so I think my sugar levels keep dropping randomly for some reason but thankfully it happens when I'm at home. I'm not risking long drives anymore as I am nearly 8 months pregnant now so not worth it especially with all these pains I have. I can imagine myself in the papers as the heavily pregnant lady who gave birth on the hard shoulder of the M6 because things like that happen to me.

I was sick once this week as well when I was cooking chicken drumsticks so I am now really put off by meat.I stocked up on Quorn and I must say I much prefer that and I will stick to it from now on.

The baby's movements are really noticeable through my clothes now and if I'm sat down or lying down you can just see fists and feet poking out.Liam felt it a lot and my ribs have too and I can't say is pleasant as is very painful now. There's me in all my glory:

My pregnancy style

I wanted to do a post on how to dress your bump when you're heavily pregnant,hot and bothered like I have been for a few months now. I found that after 26 weeks I was unable to wear any maternity pants (trousers, jeans) that were comfortable because of my groin pains so I decided to give up on them altogether and just wear leggings,tights and dresses.Not very adventurous unfortunately and I am gutted as I have a pair of great maternity jeans in denim,one in black and also a couple of bump bands which I could have used with my normal jeans...But I can't!

Is very hard to dress on a budget but what I did was i wore a lot of cardis,smart coloured jackets and larger than normal cheap tops that I can use after the baby.The shops I mostly used to buy maternity wear are H&M, New Look online and Primark( I love it no matter what people say).

Bump at 27 weeks - all items from New Look : midi long sleeved maternity dress size 10,maternity tights and brown frilly boots size 5.Last time I wore heels as well :(

Bump at 31 weeks- seamless black leggings from New Look in medium,Grey bump band,top from Primark in size 14( one of my best buys),simple black cardi from Very,Beige Tote bag from Primark and scarf from Miss Selfridges. Also Toms style flats from New Look in navy

Bump at 33 weeks - denim jeggings from New Look in medium,black bump band( these jeggings make me look like I have a massive camel toe so coverage is required all the time),a very cheap vest from Primark in size 12 (another great buy), stripy jacket from River Island size 8 (**wink wink**) and ballet pumps in blush from New Look.

I was covering my face as I had no make up on and just awoke from a nap and no one deserves to see that face apart from Liam as he got me in this mess hahahahaha

Bump at 32 weeks(ish) - apologise for the quality I had to take it myself like a looser as I forgot to ask Liam to do it. Wearing the seamless black leggings again from New Look with the flowery top from Primark in size 14, a beige jacket from Gap in size 12 and purple flats from New Look in size 5(don't fit anymore so feet are now wearing flip flops :( ).

Last but not least,Bump at 34 weeks and my favourite - long stripy vest in size 10 from H&M,maternity footless tights,Gap jacket, skull print scarf from Primark and pumps from New Look

Must mention that all the bits and bobs like tights,bump bands,leggings,etc were purchased from New Look as they are reasonable priced and I have a New Look card which often gets me some good discounts :D

34 weeks pregnant

               
                        My 34th week also marks the last week in work for me as per my last post.

A lot of people have of course shared their very much appreciated opinion that I have finished work very early and I will wish that I would have finished a bit later just so I can get more time with the baby when he's here. Well, yes, I would have loved to work until a week before the baby is due and have a decent salary until probably August as opposite to getting only 90% of my not so great salary at the end of June just in time for the baby's arrival. I would have loved to have 5 weeks extra with my baby next year rather than sit at home now and watch Jeremy Kyle all day and obsessively clean the house/arrange baby clothes/re-arrange baby clothes/ count nappies/worry about the house/worry about the how we are going to raise a child on one and a half wage with a mortgage,new car,other crap/ worry in general just to fill up my 6 weeks which I could have spent with my child. But try and explain this to my horrendously painful back and vagina area. Also to my feet that look like they've been pumped up by 10am,to my legs that refuse to function if I sit down for more than 20 minutes,fatigue and dizziness I get every day around lunchtime to name a few.

This week hasn't been great for me as i am getting heavier and I am happy I have finished so early not just for me but for the baby as I feel I have been putting a lot of strain on him by not resting when I need to and forcing myself to do stuff like cooking every night after work,a bit of cleaning here and there,not getting up from the desk every 20 minutes and all this. I also feel like I've been a useless girlfriend for the same reason as All I do is moan with pain,sit down like a vegetable and just be miserable. Long gone are the days when I used to cook from scratch nice dinners and cuddle on the sofa or go for a walk. Now is more like a quick pasta with a ready made sauce and quick return to the sofa where I practically rot until is shower and bed time.Not exactly romantic ( especially when you have hairy legs and other bits so basically not much going for you as a woman)!

Baby's movements are getting very painful as well as he seems to get some limbs stuck in my ribs all the time and this week I managed to get him filmed as well.Freaky shit that! It still amazes and freaks me out but is also an amazing feeling.

I am seeing the midwife on Tuesday for my 34 week,can't wait to see who is replacing Fat Julie this week. Long story short,my midwife ( lady called Julie who was too fat to get off her chair so she was always accompanied by someone who did all the moving for her) went off sick after my 16 week appointment so I saw a different one at each appointment which is very annoying as I had to explain to each one of them my back pains and my SPD which I also diagnosed myself with.This is also one of the reasons why I finished work early,my midwife didn't refer me to a physiotherapist until 2 weeks ago when It was bit too late for them to do anything with my crushed pelvic bone and 'wonky spine' and basically I kind of self certified myself and decided to finish work and rest my back.

On a more positive note though, I am not in so much pain anymore,maybe cuz my body is now immune to pain after suffering for so long and I am finally looking forward to baby's arrival so I am in a happy mood.The baby shower is on 1st June and after that only 3 weeks left if the baby is a good boy and comes on time.

Tomorrow I will start doing the hospital bags because I am a control freak and like to be organised,especially after having this weird dreams that I'm going into labour and I'm not ready for it!!! It was awful because in my dreams I was upset about the fact that I haven't been organised not because my baby was born premature! I really hope this nesting crap goes away once I give birth,I can't start obsessively tidying and cleaning and organising with a newborn baby like i do now.

I am very happy that I have no stretch marks to show for this pregnancy and will credit Bio Oil and Palmers Cocoa Butter for it. I however seems to have gained quite a lot of cellulite :( as I haven't been able to do any exercise since January because of this back and groin pains. I am planning to go for the longest walks with the baby and the stepdog so I'm not worried about that.

Someone said to me today to stop questioning why I'm tired or hungry or hot and just deal with it so I had a nap yesterday and today and still went to bed at my usual time. I think my body knows that I finished work and is now catching up on sleep.Sleep is lovely!

P.S. sorry for the blurry photo. I haven't got a clue why is like that as is perfectly clear on my phone.

Last day in work pre-baby

What an emotional day! Not only was my last day in work but we picked up my new car and didn't have time to say a proper goodbye to my old one :(

So as I said,today was the last day I got up at 7am to go to work.Well, I actually got up at 5:30am(!!!!!!) because I kept dreaming that I'm going into labour on my last day and don't have time to handover and to say goodbye.Liam wasn't well either and he got up earlier than me so him not being in bed was weird too.

Me and my friend Michelle slaved away last night baking buns,cakes and brownies for work people, nothing better than a dress down Friday with cakes for breakfast, they went down very well.
***I am really getting into baking and even treated myself today with some new baking trays.I know! Is the little things nowadays***

It was so strange to walk through the doors and make my coffee and generally following the same routine I do every day knowing it'll be the last time I'm doing it.Everyone kept asking if I'm getting emotional and I must say that I did get very sad but didn't really have time to get sad and sulk as I was so busy trying to get work done.

I must say that my work colleagues are ace and they are the only reason I am still in that job. The banter we have and the inappropriate jokes kept us going during these awful past months where there weren't enough people for the amount of work we had.

I was so spoiled with gifts for the baby,cards, flowers, wine (mwahahahaha, more for mama,I have a couple of bottles of rosé with my name on them after baby), chocolates and whatnot.

Not sure how long I will be off as we haven't yet thought about childcare so for now I just want to enjoy some time off, try and spend as much time as possible with Liam and hopefully move house before the baby comes.

A few photos from today:

Sexy cakes

And the piece au resistance for after baby shenigans:

Mmmm...I will love it, each sip of it!

P.S. I must mention the most hilarious thing Shaz from work got us for the baby (the massive yellow flower in the pictured):

www.bloomingbath.com
Check it out! I love Shaz for finding the most random things ever online ! Xx

Love this song! Love it!!!!!!

I've heard it on the radio this morning and been on repeat since. That's all!!

Naughty Boy ft Sam Smith - La La La

Our Bank Holiday Weekend

This was the hottest weekend of the year so far and boy you could tell! Pubs were packed, the coffee shop at the park was bursting with the queue longer than a January pay day(so veryyyy long), lots and lots of pasty skin on show, it was amazing!

This is our weekend in pictures:

We went to the park.Me and the dog went man down after 10 minutes of walking.Me because the baby was pressing on my bladder and it hurt like hell and the dog because it was hot and he can't deal with heat. So we ended up with a hot dog.

We then met friends in the evening for drinks.It made me miss booze even more,I cannot wait for a Koppereberg Cider.

We had big,fluffy American pancakes for breakfast covered in chocolate,honey and fruit. They were beyond delicious and we decided to have them every Sunday morning now.

We took a nice photo of us.

We bought a car.Without trying to be smug,we needed a bigger car so it wasn't by choice.The finance deal on it is not great.

We sunbathed in the garden with Naomi and drank Bucks Fizz ( had 2 glasses,could have finished the bottle it was that nice)

We had a BBQ dinner. This is my plate ( see how healthy I eat???). For dessert I had fruit salad and POSSIBLY a brownie with squirty cream....

That's what we did. It was lovely and can't wait to do this with the baby.Being a lady of leisure suits me :) x

American Breakfast Pancakes

AMERICAN BREAKFAST PANCAKES | Recipes | Nigella Lawson

This is the recipe I followed for the amazing pancakes I made in the previous post.By the way, I just made 2 big ones rather than small individual ones.

Hope you love'em as much as we did ;)

33 weeks pregnant

I am now 33 weeks,7 weeks away from baby's arrival. This has been a very exciting week for us and this is how the bump looks:

This week we've got another thing baby related: a new car. It had to be done and I love it. My old car had only 3 doors and a boot big enough to fit 2 carrier bags from Lidl which is not ideal when you have to get a pram around and a car seat in the back.I loved my Yaris and it breaks my heart to get rid of her( is a she of course and her name is Didina!) but is yet another thing we had to sacrifice.Our new car is a fairly new Peugeot 308 with 5 DOORS and A MASSIVE BOOT!!! how fancy are we??

This is also my last week in work and I am so ready for it. I am so tired all the time and achy,9 hours sat down each day is taking its toll on my back.I will be very sad to finish work as I do enjoy my job,I love the rude jokes we make in the office and random conversations/debates mostly vagina related(with 4 girls being pregnant in work at the same time) we all have around midday when everyone is too hot and bored to do any more work, I will miss the routine I have every day and I will very much miss the excitement of being Friday! I bloody love Fridays and love how everyone is in such good mood.

No cravings this week, I did however make American pancakes this morning as I saw someone on TV making some and my mouth was dribbling so had to make some immediately. Photos and recipe tomorrow ;) I did however devoured so much whole milk every day,I had awful heartburn and milk seems to sort it out so had lots of it.

I no longer have ankles,I have cankles! My fingers look like cocktail sausages.

I walk like an injured penguin and my legs are chaffing.

I somehow gone off puddings and junk food. No, I'm lying actually! We did have a McDonald yesterday to celebrate the new car but is was horrible and it made me sick. I have a Waitrose chocolate brownie in the fridge and it has been there for a while and I don't really want it :/ I also have loads of nice ice creams in the freezer that don't seem to appeal to me :/ whaaaaat? This is the only time in my life when I can get away with eating crap and ice cream for breakfast( ahem...Course I haven't had a tub of Ben& Jerrys by 10am before).

I just seem to eat a lot of fruit which I always have anyway but now is beyond ridiculous.Last night I felt a bit sick and was very tired but still got up and dragged myself to the kitchen to make a healthy mushroom and asparagus risotto. I never made risotto before but it was nice. Liam had half of a large Dominos Pizza instead. Apparently my risotto looked like baby sick. For dessert I had a big bowl of strawberries.

I am now off to eat a whole pineapple! Xxx

My favorite eye make up - smokey

Every since I was a teenager, I somehow teached myself to do my own make up and it kinda evolved from there. I always loved makeup and would spend all my money on bits and bobs of it. I feel more confident when I have it on and have always been very particular about my skin. I treat it well, moisturize it every morning and night and very very rarely sleep with any make up on.

Everyone used to say to me that I'll look like an old hag at 20 because of all the makeup I used to wear. Fortunately I don't , my only niggle is that I have very dark circles around my eyes and I look yellow if I don't put some makeup and maybe this is the reason I always chose to wear it.

So for this post I will show you what I very often use to do my eyes:

-First I start with foundation which at the moment is L'Oreal True Match in beige which is the perfect shade for my olive/yellow looking skin( when I don't wear it people ask me if I'm coming down with something :/)
- after foundation I apply Rimmel concealer in beige as well on the dark circles around my eyes and any spots that I might have
- last covering step is my Stay Matte Pressed Powder from Rimmel again in nude,using a make up sponge I apply powder where I applied concealer as I don't like shiny eyes and with my skin it tends to look like really white fine lines under my lower lashes

To get the smoky eye effect,I use the following products :

- first I cover my eyebrow bone in a very light shimmery beige shade from L'Oreal ( the single colour pot)
- apply dark eyeshadow on the lid covering it from the corner of the eye to the waterline, palette from L'Oreal ( I use the darker one and the upper white one mostly)
- apply a light shade for the inner corner of the eye
- pencil in the inside of your lower lid
- apply eyeliner from the middle of the eye towards to outer corner to create a cat eye effect as per below photo
- apply a couple of coats of mascara,I forgot to take a picture but I use L'Oreal Telescopic in jet black ( the gold one) and have been for a couple of years and is the best one

The result ( not modified or photoshopped):

Bump pictures week 16 to 31

Just been reading through past posts as I am still trying to figure this blogging thing out and noticed that my '32 weeks of pregnancy' has vanished into thin air!!! How is that possible? Even Google can't explain it so the best solution is to re-post it or better said re-write it which is not ideal as I had other posts I wanted to write.Anyway see below the progress of my "twins","must be a lot of water","you must be bloated a lot" or the best one "bloody hell you're massive":