Pregnancy Diary – Week 19

June 25, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

I can’t quite believe that I’m already nearly at the half way stage of this pregnancy. With two kids already and a hectic life-style the last 4 and a half months seem to have flown by.

Calm and Sunshine

Compared to many weeks it’s actually been a relatively calm one. A week of calm and sunshine. A few busy evenings where the kids need to be in different places, miles apart at the same time, but otherwise relatively quiet.

That’s probably for the best though as I seem to have picked up a nasty cough thingy that Master C has been brewing for a couple of weeks. I’m normally absolutely fine with stuff like that, but a cough that is so violent it makes your bump hurt is far from ideal. Add with it the hay fever and incredibly hot weather we’re having and I seem to spend most of my time coughing, sneezing or dealing with nose bleeds. Still, I dont want to moan. Things could be far worse.

I’m also still just so, so, so tired. When I can I’ve been having a sneaky afternoon nap, but even still I find myself falling asleep on the sofa once the kids are in bed at night. I blame the heat.

It might also be something to do with this little one never being still! I’ve been feeling him or her move since about ten weeks and they never seem to stop. Again, it’s a good thing, but I’m shattered. When using the doppler to listen at home I’m always amazed at how much you can hear the baby moving around as well.

Dreamgenii

One thing that I am really hoping will improve my sleep is the Dreamgenii that I’ve been sent to review. I was introduced to Dreamgenii at Blog On back in May and was intrigued at this strange looking pregnancy pillow. In previous pregnancies I’ve just had a normal pillow between my knees to try to stop pain my my hips and pelvis. Dreamgenii gives you that and so much more. I’ll be honest and say it’s taking a bit of getting used to – especially at night as I’m someone who rolls over a lot in my sleep – but for nap times it’s been a game changer so far. Rather than waking up feeling stiff or in pain, I actually feel refreshed. Far, far better! I’ll be trying it for a couple more weeks before getting a full review up.

For now though I’m just looking forward to hopefully shaking off this cough, and also my 20 week scan. It feels like an age since my first one, and I’m looking forward to seeing my baby again.

If you want to read some of my previous pregnancy diaries then take a look here.

Pregnancy Diary – Week 18

June 22, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

I’m a bit slow in writing this week’s pregnancy update. Mainly because I sort of didn’t feel that I had much to say. In a way it was quite a mundane week with the usual schools runs, swimming lessons, Brownies, Cubs and work. But in a way it also wasn’t.

The only real pregnancy related event of note was a consultant visit at the hospital. I have to admit that my experiences of the local hospital haven’t been great so far. Mainly due to things like them losing my handheld pregnancy notes (I thought that was my job!) but I have to admit that it only seems to be the admin there causing problems rather than any of the medical staff. Now that we’ve found a visitor’s car park that seemed to be some closely guarded secret until now appointments there have also become a whole lot easier!

This appointment isn’t due to any problems or complications, but more to talk about the aftermath of my son’s birth and my birth choices following it. I’ve always assumed I’d give birth naturally this time round, but after Master C’s birth left me needing surgery my midwife thought it worth talking through with the consultant.

I’m not going to go into gory details here, but it’s safe to say my son left his mark when he arrived, but without my medical notes from the hospital in question the consultant only has my hazy recollection of everything to base her decisions on. Her view was that without a crystal ball she can’t exactly say how it will be to give birth naturally again. It could all be fine, but at the same time she is more than happy to agree for me to have a c-section instead. The choice is mine. She is not recommending one over the other and made very clear that it is a choice.

Now I have to say that it wasn’t a choice that I was expecting to have. I expected that she’d listen to my story, tell me I couldn’t have the water as pain relief that I wanted and tell me not to have an ambition birth plan and send me on my way. As a result, it’s a choice I’m not sure how to make.

Assuming nothing else changes medically, both delivery methods have their pros and cons. Not only for me medically, but also for the impact, or potential impact, on my existing children, partner and work. There’s no right or wrong choice, but it’s one that we’ve got to make.

Luckily, the hospital run a birth options clinic where we can talk everything through with a midwife prior to making the decision. My consultant referred me to this clinic and also provided me with a pile of literature on caesarians to read. I’m in no rush to make a decision – I have until I”m 36 weeks to finally decide – but it’s still a big decision to make.

If only I had that crystal ball to know how each option might turn out.

Completely unrelated photo of the week from the circus skills workshop that Little Miss C attended with Brownies. For no reason other than it made me smile.

Improving underwater confidence with Zoggs

June 19, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

I’m a firm believer in children learning to swim. It’s just a life skill that all kids should have. That’s why I’ve always insisted in Little Miss C and Master C attending swimming lessons – even those weeks when it’s cold and seems like more hassle than it’s worth to get there in time. They attend weekly lessons at the local pool and each week put on their coloured hats complete with Zoggs logo on the side.

I’ve written before about how my opinions of Zoggs have been changed over the last year – and I certainly no longer look at them as just a logo on a swim hat. The last year has also seem both kids come on in leaps and bounds in the pool. Master C is already up to ASA Stage 3 and LMC spends her half an hour doing lengths of the 25m pool in Stage 6.

I’m incredibly proud of both of them, but it has made that half hour of “fun swimming” that we all do together around their lesson a bit more challenging for me. Their confidence levels are such that they want to be all over the place and under the water as much as possible. With my changed (and changing weekly) buoyancy status(!) it’s getting a bit harder to keep up with them. Luckily Zoggs have come to the rescue once more.

I’m keen to keep encouraging them in the water – especially when it comes to going underwater. Master C might have bit of a way to go in terms of refining his swimming strokes, but I’m keep to capture the enthusiasm he has right now. I saw another family in the pool using a set of Zoggs Dive Sticks and had one of those lightbulb moments about how perfect they would be for us right now.

Thanks to Zoggs the last few weeks I’ve gone to the pool with a bag full of their dive sticks and dive rings and it has totally changed how the kids use that family swimming time we have together. I always like that precious time in the pool together (away from distractions) and they have made it even better.

We now spend our time with me coming up with various competitions and challenged for the kids to do with the dive toys. It might be something like “find me a ring and a stick of a matching colour” and then I throw everything into the water in different directions. The kids then love going off to see who can complete the challenge first. There’s a great competitive spirit between them, and all the time they’re also improving their underwater swimming.

As for the toys themselves – they’re lovely bright colours, very tactile and the quality that you know and expect from Zoggs. For slightly older kids who need a little bit more stimulation and motivation when swimming for fun they’re perfect. Each toy has holes in specific places so that when in the water they fill with it, and then sink to the bottom of the pool. When you take them out the water then pours back out of the holes again.

If new swimming toys wasn’t enough LMC has also decided that now that she’s in Stage 6 it’s time for a slightly more grown up swimming costume. Zoggs to the rescue once again with their amazing Wonder Woman swimming costume. It has to be one of the coolest costumes I’ve ever seen, as well as being perfectly practical for all the swimming that she’s doing. My only complaint is that they haven’t made one yet in maternity sizes! I’m pretty sure everyone in my aquanatal class would have one if they could.

Disclaimer: We were sent the Zoggs products featured in this post. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Plastic Poppies: A Remembrance Day Craft

June 15, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

It used to be that all Remembrance Sunday or Remembrance Day poppies all looked the same. Occasionally you would get a handmade one, but they generally just followed the same uniform design. Then it seems the internet came along. The combination of sites and apps like Pinterest and Instagram seems to have coincided with more people making (and showing off) their own creations.

I’ve crocheted my own poppies before, but this time round I’m making plastic poppies as part of a piece of work that my WI is undertaking for a local event. I’ve set up a bit of a kitchen table production line to make plastic poppies which can be done very simply from plastic bottles. Here’s how.

What you need

Plastic drinks bottles – any size will do
Stanley knife or similar
Fine sandpaper
Red acrylic paint
Black acrylic paint or black sharpie pen
Paint brush

How to make the poppies

Firstly, use the knife to carefully cut the bottom off a plastic drinks bottle. I suggest cutting just above any dimples on the base of the bottle. These give the finally poppy a bit more shape. The remaining part of the bottle can be recycled.

Plastic Poppies Remembrance Day Remembrance Sunday

Once you’re bottle bottoms are detached, use either the knife or sandpaper to remove any sharp edges. If you’re planning on doing this craft with children you might want to do everything with the knife before getting them involved.

Paint the inside of the bottle bottoms with two (or more) coats of red acrylic paint. Experimentation told me that two was sufficient to give complete coverage, but you may need to do more depending on the plastic bottles you are using.

Once the red paint is dry, use either black paint or black sharpie to colour in the centre of the poppy. The texture of the original bottle may mean that one method works better than the other.

And there you have it – plastic poppies, made from recycled drinks bottles. An easy, yet effective, Remembrance Day craft, that also makes use of plastic that might otherwise end up in landfill.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Pregnancy Diary – Week 17

June 12, 2018 by Penny 1 Comment

After a week in which I hardly had time to think about being pregnant, week 17 has been the complete opposite. Loads of time to concentrate on the little one growing inside me and how it feels to be pregnant.

Aquanatal

Firstly , after a couple of weeks off I was finally able to go back to my weekly aquanatal class. I’ve gone back to exactly the same class that I did when pregnant with Little Miss C and Master C and it’s so so lovely to be back. A 45 minute long weekly class run by a midwife from the local hospital and it is just perfect. There’s so much I want to say about the benefits of aquanatal (and I will write that post very soon – especially since Zoggs have given me a couple of maternity swimsuits to review!) but as well as loving the woman who runs it, I just find it a perfect once a week treat to indulge in being pregnant.

It’s also great exercise (if hard work at times!) and wonderful to meet some other women who are expecting babies at similar times. It is a little strange going back as so much has changed since I was last there six years ago. But at the same time it’s nice to also have a bit of a link to my past pregnancies too.

Midwife Appointment

Also this week I had my 16 week midwife appointment down at the doctors surgery. My maternity care has been a bit all over the place so far this pregnancy. Having moved house I had to register with a new doctors practice, and I chose one based on having a community midwife attached to it so that I don’t have to go to the hospital (and pay for their parking) every appointment. They got my notes transferred over and booked me in for a first appointment and there were no problems. At this they organised for the midwife to come to me at home for the booking appointment, but unfortunately a family bereavement meant she had to cancel and then the appointment was picked up by someone else a week later. All fine. These things happen I thought.

That booking appointment all went fine – despite struggling to take blood samples from me – and I was then booked in for the 16 week appointment (in week 17 to avoid having to take the kids with me during half term). To be honest though I’m not really all that sure what the purpose of the appointment was. Yes my blood pressure was taken and a urine sample tested for signs of protein, but that was pretty much it. She looked at my blood test results and told me they were all ok. She also told me to go and book myself in for a whooping cough jab with the nurse, but that was it. No listening to baby’s heartbeat. No asking how I was even.

I left feeling a bit surprised and I guess let down. Pregnancy always comes with a few worries, so I was hoping to at least be measured and his or her heart listened to just to know that everything was OK in there. For our own peace of mind we’ve bought a doppler online, but I’d much rather have had a professional just tell me if you see what I mean.

I have my 20 week scan to look forward to, and she told me that they will finally listen to the heartbeat at the week 25 appointment. Both of those just seem so far away right now.

Tots 100

My final bit of baby related news for the week is that I’m delighted to be the new Tots 100 Pregnancy Round Up Editor. As I’ve said before, being pregnant feels so different this time round. I’m also realising how much I’ve forgotten over the last 6 years so reading pregnancy blogs has filled a bit of a gap in my knowledge. I’m really looking forward to following other blogger’s pregnancy journeys, and continuing to pick up all the things I’ve forgotten from them all!

Being Mum

And in-between all that baby-related activity the week has really just been all about being a mum to my other two. Lots of taxi driving services for swimming lessons and Cubs, as well as a very important 8th birthday to prepare for. I somehow managed to pull off making her the much wanted unicorn cake. Not totally sure I would have succeeded had it not been for B suddenly revealing amazing cake decorating skills that I didn’t know he had! Look out for a “how to” post coming very soon.

Pregnancy Diary – Week 16

June 6, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

I’ve been meaning to start my third pregnancy diary ever since I first got those blue lines back in March. But the thing that I’m quickly discovering is that when you get to a third pregnancy you don’t really have much time to think about being pregnant!

Week 16 coincided with half term. And also a trip to Rotterdam with Bonn to attend a blogging conference. Not exactly time to stop and put my feet up.

Rotterdam was amazing fun, but the trip really made me realise just how much I need to listen to my body and slow down a bit.

We took a bit of a roundabout route to get to Rotterdam. We were late to sort flights so instead decided to take the ferry and save money. I’m so glad we did as it was so much more relaxed than flying. I liked being able to get on when we were ready and having a cabin to retreat to. Sleeping in bunk beds was absolutely fine although the early morning arrivals did mean daytime naps were necessary. I’m a huge fan of ferry travel though and there will be a post and video about the journey very soon over on Penny Travels.

For the conference itself I really realised the benefit of a good comfortable seat. My back was killing me at the end of some of the sessions. I also quickly discovered that whilst The Netherlands are fantastic for the availability of non-alcoholic beer, they don’t have much by way of decaffeinated tea or coffee. Luckily those handbag supplies of decaf Yorkshire Tea was very much appreciated!

One of the best things we did was buy travel card equivalents for the tram network. It meant that we could just jump on the tram for short journeys which was so invaluable with it being about 28 degrees most days. Our days were quick packed with the conference schedule but we still squeezed in a spot of sightseeing between the naps and talks!

When we got back from Rotterdam my kids and step-daughter came to stay for the rest of half term. My mum also came for the last weekend, although a full house meant she stayed in the hotel at the end of the road! It was lovely having a long chunk of time with the kids, but boy did it make me miss them when they went back to school and their Dad’s on Monday.

It was also so much help having Mum to stay. Things like the washing up and the laundry just happened and I was able to properly put my feet up for a bit. Whilst we popped to town to sort out some mobile phone contracts in town she got all the kids doing a spot of gardening too. I really need to learn how she actually gets them to do what she tells them to do – as I seem to fail at that.

We had some great days out too. Whilst Little Miss C was at technology camp one day, Master C and I did a day of train travel. He’s been desperate to go on a Pendolino for ages, so we managed to fit in a trip from Watford to Coventry. A good couple of hours were also spent watching trains at both Watford Junction and Coventry stations. He had an absolute blast, and it was lovely to spend some time just the two of us, but I was shattered when I finally got home.

All six of us spent a lovely day at the National Trust’s Waddesdon Manor too. We got gorgeous weather and the kids really enjoyed the playground there in particular. The hour it took us to go round the house was a bit like hard work on my back, but Mum enjoyed seeing it for the first time and the kids also enjoyed the children’s trail around.

The highlight of the day was a visit to Colourscape in the grounds. It’s one of the hardest things to explain, and strangely one of the best explanations possibly can be found on Wikipedia.

It’s basically a large inflatable structure of 56 interlinking chambers, where each one is a different colour. Visitors go in barefoot and wear a coloured cape as they wander around. In our case there was also musicians in one chamber and their music was piped around the whole structure. It’s probably worth a whole blog post in itself, but it was in short an amazing experience. If a somewhat bizarre one!

The colours make everything look and feel so different. Slightly trippy I guess. It makes for some fantastic photographs though. And I loved the fact that everyone from five year old Master C up to his Granny thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The queuing to get in was hard work for my back, so so worthwhile.

And that, in a flash, was week 16. Basically a week in which the main reminders of being pregnant were back ache and the need to nap! Oh, and Master C trying to insist that I drink 4 pints of milk a day as he’s concerned that I’m not drinking enough for the baby to get enough. Bless him!