Pregnancy Diary – Week 20

July 3, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

Flippin’ heck it’s hot out there! Especially when you have your own “bun in the oven”. Pregnancy is hard work when it’s this warm.

That’s probably the main thing I have to say about the last week of being pregnant. I’m really struggling in this heat. It’s making everything so much harder. I’m finding sleeping at nighttime almost impossible too so I’m tired, grumpy and a bit snappy. Then again so are the kids as they’re not sleeping well either.

All I really want to do is find somewhere cool to sit and watch the world go round with an ice filled drink. The discovery that Morrisons sell a range of pre-mixed mocktails has been revolutionary. They really do taste like the real thing and I’ll be back to buy more very soon.

It’s amazing what a difference a mid-afternoon nap is though. Over the last week I think I’ve napped more afternoons than not, and I’m so glad I am. The Dreamgenii that I mentioned last week has been brilliant for these day time naps in particular.

Last week was also the week that we were hoping to find out the gender of our baby. We went off to our 20 week scan looking forward to finding out if we were having a boy or a girl – even if we were still undecided as to whether or not we’d tell people that we knew or not. What quickly became obvious though was that this little one is going to want the final say on things. They kept their legs firmly together for the whole duration of the scan!

I’m pleased to report that everything looked fine on the scan. All the things that they check at this stage on the anomaly scan appeared to be fine, even if it did take me having to go and have a walk and a drink in the middle as it wouldn’t cooperate to let the sonographer see the spine properly at first! Are you noticing a pattern here. A baby who is already uncooperative and calling the shots. Hmmmm….

Week 20 was also the week when Bonn and I managed to squeeze in a mid-week weekend away. That might be stretching the truth a little bit. What we did manage was a night away in Birmingham. We’d had tickets to see the Flight of the Conchords back in March, but after Bret broke his hand the gig was delayed by 3 months.

In a way, the rearranged date actually worked much better for us (we’d moved house two days before the original date) so we made the most of it to enjoy a night in a hotel with air conditioning! We’d enough hotel loyalty points from work trips to make it a free night in a hotel too. Even better. Jerome and Bret were definitely worth the wait. The show itself was amazing.

Despite the crazy heat we managed to squeeze in a nice wander around some old haunts of mine there and also geek out over the Centenary Lounge at Birmingham Moor Street station. A must for any fellow train and tea lovers out there. Especially when you see their range of GWR crockery!

I’m hoping week 21 means the the start of slowing down a little bit. Oh and some cooler nights too. I’m not sure how much longer I can go on without sleep this side fo giving birth.

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.