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Pregnancy after multiple miscarriage: D-Day has arrived

Week: 40 Waist: 40 inches (no change) Feeling: Ready and waiting What can I say? Today is D-day and the Big Wait has begun. What a 40 weeks it’s been: I’ve put on 10 kilos – that’s one and a half stone in old money – my waist has expanded a whopping 13 inches and my chest has grown from a B to a D cup. I’ve felt enormous for pretty much the entire pregnancy, but looking back at the weekly pictures I started taking at 20 weeks it seems to me that back then I barely even looked pregnant. […]

Pregnancy after multiple miscarriage: spoiling the sibling

Week: 39 Waist: 40 inches (no change) Feeling: In the mood to spoil I’ve spent my first week of maternity leave thoroughly spoiling BB, knowing it could be the last week it’s just the two of us at home. I’m probably setting us up for problems with the level of spoiling that’s gone on, and as predicted, it’s been a fairly busy week. We’ve been to the park, the library, baked, eaten the products of our baking and this afternoon we’ve got a hotly anticipated trip to the cinema. This morning, with BB safely stowed at pre-school, I also had a pre-labour pedicure so my feet are now officially ready for the delivery suite (when I had BB I had one foot firmly wedged on the midwife’s shoulder, so thought it best to safe than sorry). […]

What IS it about David Beckham?

I’ve been pondering this since writing a story about Haig Club whisky, the result of a collaboration between Diageo (Smirnoff, Baileys) and Becks, before starting maternity leave this week (I’m not sure how much input the man himself actually had, or whether Diageo just threw money at him to front the brand). I don’t mean 1990s matching-leather-Gucci-and-hair-gelled-curtains David Beckham, I mean 2014 suited and booted designer-stubble-with-creases-around-the-eyes Beckham, who you’ll soon see supersized on ads promoting the whisky if you haven’t already (pictured). There’s no escaping it, he certainly looks better with age. Which got me thinking, can the same be said for the fairer sex? […]

By |October 22nd, 2014|Beauty, Family life, Fashion, Health, News, Parenting, Work life|0 Comments

Pregnancy after multiple miscarriage: maternity leave starts here

Week: 38 Waist: 40 inches (-1.5 inches, possibly owing to bump dropping further down) Feeling: Relieved At close of play today, I’m officially on maternity leave. As a freelance journalist I knew I couldn’t leave it too late to accept my last commission in case I couldn’t meet the deadline, but, at the end of a stressful few weeks and with less than half a day to go it looks like I’ve made it. It’s such a relief. Even so, I’m fried: I will have filed 7,250 words this week alone. With a bit of luck I’ll still have next week before anything happens – the plan is to recharge my batteries as much as possible, and spend time with BB doing mummy and daughter things as it’s the last time it will be just the two of us at home. The thing is, the list of activities she’d like to do is getting increasingly lengthy. Making Halloween cupcakes, going swimming, a trip to the cinema and a visit to the library are already on the agenda. I suggested it might be nice to rest on the sofa together but this was met with a definite no. […]

Running in pregnancy: I made it to 36 weeks

It is with the greatest regret that I have finally admitted defeat and hung up my running trainers. I made [...]

It’s probably not surprising she’s playing up…

Last night marked our ninth consecutive broken night. It all started when BB came down with a bug last Monday, and spent the majority of the day in her nightie on the sofa (pictured). So I expected an unsettled night or two, but not nine. She’s bright as rain now, but the bug has taken her usual night time routine with it. It takes her ages to settle, she cries repeatedly, and then she wakes throughout the night crying out for us. Not what we need when trying to conserve energy for our new arrival in a couple of weeks. Worst still, I’ve got absolutely no idea how to deal with it. It’s probably not surprising she’s playing up – the last month has seen several big changes including a new bed (her old one has been made back into a cot) and graduation from her nursery’s toddler unit to preschool, which unfortunately – and unavoidably – have come at the same time. Add to that impending threat arrival of a brother or sister, and I suppose it’s a recipe for disaster. […]

By |October 8th, 2014|Discipline, Family life, Health, Parenting, Pregnancy|4 Comments

Pregnancy after multiple miscarriage: we’re technically full term

Week: 37 Waist: 41.5 inches (+ 1 inch) Feeling: Grumpy At 37 weeks – that’s technically full term – the trials and tribulations of pregnancy are catching up with me. It’s been another hormonal week thanks to Braxton Hicks making my evenings uncomfortable, hot flushes playing havoc with my sleep and the discovery of a lump on one of my boobs. I went to the doctor who found not one but three lumps, but because they are all roughly the same size and shape he’s ‘confident’ they’re enlarged milk glands and told me to keep an eye on them and come back if they get bigger, change shape or don’t disappear after breast feeding. I reported this information to my midwife, who helpfully told me she has a friend who found similar lumps while pregnant which turned out not to be enlarged milk ducts, and she had to have them removed. Why did she tell me this? Why why why? […]

Pregnancy after multiple miscarriage: it’s been a BAD WEEK

Week: 35 Waist: 40.5 (+0.5 inches) Feeling: Hormonal Highs are always followed by lows. This time last week I was feeling rather smug after the baby’s head engaged and instead of feeling even more uncomfortable and full of pressure I felt liberated because I could breathe freely and my heartburn subsided. I did a five mile run in which I felt like I was skipping and marvelled at how well I felt. Not anymore. This is probably the result of it having been a trying couple of weeks owing to Misery Guts spending two days in hospital with a severe migraine (again) and almost two weeks recovering at home (it’s a long story) and my tiredness from the whole ordeal finally catching up with me. It all started when we went to Ikea to collect a chest of drawers big enough to take BB’s and the new baby’s clothes. I’d never been to an Ikea before, and I never want to again. It brought out the worst in me, and next time I’ll happily pay the £39 charge to have an item delivered to my door. In fact I would pay more than that if it meant not having to drive for two hours, queue to get into the car park, battle my way through people wandering about in no particular direction in a windowless vacuum with lights that are too bright only to queue to collect the damned thing and then again to pay. […]

Pregnancy after multiple miscarriage: we’re engaged!

Week: 34 Waist: 40 inches (+ 1.5 inches, possibly owing to engagement) Feeling: Nice and comfy It’s official: the baby’s head is engaged. The midwife confirmed the momentous milestone on Tuesday morning, but I already knew because I felt it happen last Friday. I cannot describe the relief – my whole bump has dropped a good inch or so, meaning I can breathe again, eat a whole meal again, I no longer have heartburn and my whole upper body feels free. I’m so much more comfortable – for now. The realisation this had happened sent me running to Boots for all the necessary for my hospital bag, which I’ve now started packing. It also reminded me how unglamorous the immediate aftermath of child birth is. Big pants, breast pads and super strong night-time pads (or ‘wadding for every orifice’ as Misery Guts helpfully called them) are now in a bag by the bedroom door, as are new born nappies and enough pound coins to feed the hospital car park for a day or so. […]

I need a food net umbrella – for a baby

I swear both our cats knew I was pregnant before I did. Our eldest, Eddie, has been following me around from the word go, while our youngest, Daisy, was instantly more loving than usual. Eight months on she curls up alongside my bump at every available opportunity (pictured), and Eddie is never far away. Both of them are quite happy sitting on top of my bump even though the baby now kicks back as they paw before settling down, and when the baby shifts position they simply shift too. I’m guessing it’s all to do with pheromones, but either way, it’s got me thinking about how loving and cuddly they’ll be when the baby actually arrives. Eddie will probably run a mile, as he did with BB, but I don’t trust Daisy one bit. She would curl up on or alongside BB whenever she could (pictured), meaning a cat net for the moses basket is definitely in order. […]

If someone had told me this is what lunchtimes would involve, I wouldn’t have believed them

She might have just turned 3, but BB is itching to start school. She asks me daily what colour her uniform will be (I don’t know because it depends which over-subscribed school we actually manage to get her into), who will collect her and pick her up (again I don’t know because it depends how far away said school is) and can she go to the school in Time For School on Cbeebies (at last a question I can actually answer – no.) Being an August baby by this time next year she will be in reception class, but until then I’ve got to come up with ways to satisfy her school curiosity or suffer death by questioning. So when aplaceforeverything.co.uk asked me to review LEGO’s latest lunch box set, launched to celebrate the release of the LEGO movie, I had an idea: we could start, like school, having ‘packed lunch’ at home (pictured). This is a brilliant idea, even if I do say so myself. I realise it’s a total waste of cling film, but the look on her face as she unwraps each item and says ‘wow’ is worth it (also pictured). […]

By |September 15th, 2014|Family life, Food, Money, Parenting, Reviews, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Aldi maternity clothes: you could get more than you bargained for

As a forces child I spent several years living in Germany, where our local supermarket was Aldi. I used to like going there because of the bins of totally non-supermarket and often pointless items, like watering cans in the shape of gnomes and solar sunflowers for the garden we didn’t have, which ran up the middle of the shop. As of next week those UK bins are now going to contain a ‘capsule’ collection of maternity and baby clothes, and I’ve been sent a few by way of sneak preview. There are dresses (£11.99, pictured), leggings (£6), tops (£9.99) and even a nappy changing bag (£14.99). The range is part of Aldi’s ‘specialbuys’ collection, which go in store every Thursday and Sunday and are only available while stocks last. It will be interesting to see how long these stocks last. […]

By |September 12th, 2014|Beauty, Breast feeding, Family life, Fashion, Parenting, Pregnancy, Reviews|0 Comments

Pregnancy after multiple miscarriage: it’s no surprise my waist has expanded this week

Week: 32 Waist: 38.5 inches (+0.5 inches) Feeling: Crampy legged I’m pleased to be able to report my craving for chicken soup now appears to have passed. In fact I don’t think I’ll be eating any for a very long time. Instead I’m eating and drinking other things it would never occur to me to consume normally, like squash (the liquid kind). I’ve been ridiculously thirsty throughout the entire pregnancy, and lately I’ve really been fancying squash, which I haven’t drunk for years. So when the nice people at Vimto kindly sent me some samples of their new no added sugar Squeezy water enhancer they came at the perfect time. […]

Foot rubs: I’ve made a rod for my own back

I’ve been rubbing BB’s feet ever since she was a baby. We didn’t go to any baby massage classes, and I have absolutely no training or knowledge of foot massage, I just like my feet being rubbed so thought she might too. What I didn’t bank on was just quite how much she would like it. The plea to ‘rub my feet’ is made several times a week (pictured – excuse the chipped nails and polish, beauty therapist I am not), and must include the whole foot and each individual toe or she shakes it in frustration saying ‘do it properly’. And if I don’t or can’t drop everything to complete the said foot rub she can turn into quite a little Veruca Salt. I thought foot rubs would be a good way of showing her how to have ‘time out’ and of recognising that it’s good to sit back and relax sometimes, but there’s no doubt I’ve made a rod for my own back. […]

By |September 3rd, 2014|Beauty, Family life, Health, Parenting|10 Comments

Pregnancy after multiple miscarriage: procrastination, procrastination, procrastination

Week: 31 Waist: 38 inches (+ 1 inch) Feeling: Sore armed thanks to whooping cough vaccination (for baby, not me) It might be September next week, but I’m still too scared to actually do anything to prepare for the baby’s arrival in case something goes wrong. I told myself I’d start a ‘to do’ list after we got back from holiday, but now that time has come I’m procrastinating. It’s not even a lengthy list, but includes things that mean it could Really Be Happening like unpacking BB’s new born clothes, buying tiny nappies and packing a hospital bag. Things that really do need to get done, preferably before going into labour. […]