Blogs for Babies Resident Blogger

As i mentioned in a post last week i had some exciting news regarding me becoming a resident blogger on a lovely site, well i am pleased to announce that i am now a resident blogger on the lovely Blogs for babies blog. I came across Blogs for babies when i first started blogging and joined twitter a few months ago and it is a brilliant blog created by the lovely Jenny who blogs at  great north mum and was set up as a place for parents to share stories of there pregnancy, labour and life with a baby. Lot's of great blogger's have shared there stories on this site and if you get a chance go and read them at Blogs for babies as there is some lovely written pieces. I kept meaning to share a story with blogs for babies but with setting my own blog up and learning how to blog when i find the chance i just never got around to writing a piece but i recently seen that blogs for babies were advertising for resident bloggers and i thought it would be a great opportunity for me as a new blogger to meet more bloggers and to also motivate me to post more often.

 I will still be blogging on here, i will just also be writing a post about my pregnancy or motherhood for blogs for babies once a fortnight also which i will be sure to share the links to on here and twitter ( you can find me if you search @nefamilylife)

I am really pleased to have been chosen to be a resident blogger as the other bloggers who are also resident bloggers are amazing and i love all there blogs and each of us bloggers are completely different. There is Susanne who blogs at Ghost writer mummy who is currently pregnant with her fourth child and her blog is absolutely lovely and so beautifully written. There is Ali who blogs at my life my love is a mummy of two and step mum too two and blogs about her family life with a new baby and again she has a gorgeous blog with some amazing photos. There is also Hannah who is one of the first bloggers i came across when i started out and i adore her blog Budding smiles she is blogging about her first pregnancy with baby c due any day now and she is just a genuinely lovely person who i love talking too and reading her blog. And there is also Rob who blogs at Daddy smurfs diary i have only recently discovered Rob's blog via blogs for babies and he blogs about being a daddy to be with his baby due around the same time as mine, his blog is very honest and funny and it is so nice to read a pregnancy blog from a dads view point.

If you get a chance go check out all the great blogs mentioned above as i love them all and be sure to check out blogs for babies to keep up to date with all of are stories as i can not wait to read every body's posts as we are all so different and even though we are all parent bloggers we all blog about different things which is lovely, and i am glad to be a part of it.

The Second Trimester

I am now almost 32 week's pregnant and i am well into my third and final trimester of my third pregnancy and i am getting so close to my due date, if baby was to arrive any time soon he would now have a very good chance of survival. So i thought that it would be nice to look back on what my second trimester was actually like, all the pregnancy books and magazine's often tell you that the second trimester is the best as you have energy, you get a bump and feel baby's movements for the first time and hopefully if you suffer morning sickness it should have disappeared by now and you are glowing and blooming and fully enjoying pregnancy. And i have to admit the second trimester is actually probably my best but for me personally it is not quiet as amazing as book's/ magazines and films actually make it out to be.

13 week scan

The second trimester runs from week's 13-28 of pregnancy and at week 13 of pregnancy i had just had my very first dating scan and found out baby's due date of 26.08.14, i was relieved to find out that everything seemed o.k with baby and we could finally tell everyone that we were going to have a baby! It was also discovered at 13 week's that i was suffering from pregnancy induced high blood pressure and i was put on medication for this. But apart from that i was feeling fine, i really have been lucky this pregnancy that i have not really suffered from any sickness, craving's , aches and pain's or heartburn etc.

I started to get a bump and due to this being my third baby i actually started feeling  kicks at around 14 week's and feeling baby's movement's really is the best part of pregnancy for me as it is so magical knowing there is a little person growing inside me and that he is o.k . I had my 20 week scan and even though we wanted to find out baby's gender we were unable to as he had his leg's crossed and also the placenta and his hand were in the way. We were going to keep baby's gender a surprise until birth but when i had a growth scan ( as there is concerns baby is a bit small due to my blood pressure medication) at 28 week's baby had it's legs wide open for all to see and it was obvious that we were having a little boy which was a huge shock as i had been so sure that i was having another little girl! But we are so happy to be having a boy and we already have his name picked out Jacob Oliver which is actually the name that we had picked out if Sophia had of been a little boy.

Health wise since starting my blood pressure medication my blood pressure has been completely normal and i have been getting it checked first weekly and then fortnightly throughout my second trimester so that if i do develop pre eclampsia which i am at risk of then it will hopefully be picked up early on. I have also had a glucose tolerance  test at 24 week's pregnant which was due to diabetes running in my mum's side of the family and thankfully that was fine and i do not have gestational diabetes.

Baby wise he is really active and he has developed a pattern of when he is most active, i normally get lot's of kicks after i have ate, when i am in the bath and when i go to bed, he is actually most active on a night time and often keeps me awake with his kicks. At first they were just little wriggles but towards the end of my second trimester i was getting big movements and you can actually see my tummy moving through my clothing and you can feel and see his little feet sticking out my side sometimes which is a little bit painful at times but still amazing to see.

How i have been feeling , i really have been feeling pretty good this trimester i have had more energy then i did in my first trimester but i have not had loads of energy like people often say you will but that is probably down to the fact that i am running around after a one year old toddler all day. Am i glowing like people often mention? I would not say so, yes my skin feels really smooth and my hair does not get dirty as quickly as normal but my hair has not went lovely and thick and long like it did with Sophia and i don't think i am glowing as most people just comment on how tired i look rather then how good i look. 

Do i have a big bump? You can obviously tell i am pregnant and have a bump but it is not huge and i would love to look hugely pregnant as sometimes i think i just look fat rather then pregnant, i feel like i am bigger all over this pregnancy i have actually gone up a clothes size in maternity clothes as i have gained weight all over my body. As for lovely big boob's that pregnant women are often blessed with? I think someone forgot to tell my body about this perk of pregnancy as it has not happend to me at all they have stayed the same size but they actually look smaller due to my huge belly. And one thing no one warns you about is crazy hormones turning me into a vile creature i don't know how my poor other half has not left me yet as all i do is nag him, have a go at him or burst into tears for no reason. 

Eating for two? one of the perks of pregnancy people often talk about is 'eating for two' obviously i know this is not recommended but pregnancy is the one time in a woman's life where she does not have to worry about her weight or her jean's being too tight, it is also a excuse to give into the cravings for cake's and other goodies that we normally deprive are self of and a great excuse to get the other half to go to the shop's for you late at night in the rain for a bar of chocolate. But you know what i have not really had any craving's i have ate thing's in this pregnancy that i would not normally eat like kebab - shudder. But i have not had any cravings like i did with the girls, i have never woke up in the middle of the night and ate cake's or pickled onions dipped in chocolate or any other weird food combinations that is often shown on t.v/ movies. I also have not really been eating a lot more then normal either i am normally starving in a morning when i wake up and have been eating a lot of carbs ( mainly bread) but other then that i have not been eating for two so i am rather disappointed i have pilled on so much weight i would not mind getting huge if i had been enjoying myself eating cakes and chinese food everyday but sadly i have not.

17 week bump

And lastly the thing that is often portrayed as a blissful amazing second trimester is that we spend all day baby shopping/reading baby magazines/being pampered / and having amazing date's with are partner. This is far from reality for me firstly i have not even started baby shopping yet i have brought baby one babygrow from next and two hats and a that's it so far, i know i really need to start baby shopping but i don't actually need that much stuff as i fell pregnant when Sophia was six month's old so i have all of the big stuff and i did not want to buy any clothes until i knew what gender baby was which i only found out a few week's ago. Reading baby books? I admit i do read mother and baby magazine every month but that's it i don't have any baby books and i don't have lots of apps on my phone that i check daily for updates on what baby is up to i have not got a clue what my baby should weigh or what developments it is reaching each week simply because i have been pregnant twice before and i know most of what the books will tell me any ways. Being pampered? Ha no chance i am so busy looking after my girls and the house there is no time for being pampered my idea of relaxation is a quick bath if i'm lucky. And date's with the other half? on the rare chance we get to go out for a meal these days the girls normally end up tagging along too as we don't have anyone to watch them.

28 week bump

But you know what , yes my second trimester has not been like what is portrayed as the perfect pregnancy in the media but i have loved every second of it and it has been good although it has flown over so quickly and i can not wait to discover what my third trimester is like and to meet my baby at the end of it .

30 Week's Pregnant

Once again i am late in posting my weekly pregnancy update as i am just so busy and have not had any time to blog, i tell a lie i have had the odd chance to blog on a night time but i have been so tired lately i just have had no motivation to do so. As i sit here now to type up this post i am now 31+4 day's pregnant and i am now down to single figure number of week's until baby number three's arrival.

Week 30 was quiet uneventful i did not have any midwife or hospital appointment's this week and we still have not started baby shopping either. I am still feeling pretty good with no sickness, heartburn, craving's or aches and pains. But i have been so tired this week i have no energy at all and i am also finding it really hard to sleep on a night time, as i keep waking up and finding it so hard to fall back to sleep again. Also the heat has really been getting to me and i get so hot and bothered and seem to be sweating loads. I am still feeling really breathless as well and i am getting so tired and out of breath just of doing normal everyday things like walking to the shop or doing housework, i feel like all my get up and go has got up and gone as i have no motivation at all to do anything. I do not have the luxury of being able to relax and rest as i have two children to look after and run around after non 

stop.

 Anyway as i mentioned last week at my 29 week midwife appointment i had a routine blood test and i got a letter from my G.P's surgery asking me to call them in regards to the blood test and i was told that they showed i had very low iron levels and they had prescribed iron tablet's for me to take three time's a day plus a higher dose folic acid tablet to take daily for the rest of my pregnancy. As my low iron levels are what has been making me feel so tired and breathless. So i am hoping once these tablet's kick in i will start to feel a bit more human as i really have been feeling rather dreadful, so i am now on eight tablets a day to help me through my pregnancy ( iron , blood pressure, asprin, and vitamins) now i just need to remember to take them daily which will be a challenge with my baby brain.

Also this week my bump seem's to have stopped growing as much it does not seem so big this week, but i am not worried as i am sure its just due to baby moving position and i am sure i will get bigger in the next few weeks as i near my due date. Baby is still very active and is wriggling and kicking a lot more now and seems to like to kick me under the ribs, ouch! He gets the hiccups a lot now too which i love the feeling of its like little bubbles popping in my tummy.

I Still have no craving's and i am eating the same as before and my appetite has returned to normal after having a few weeks of constantly feeling hungry. With the weather being hot i have realised i have been wanting to eat more salads and fruit and ice lollies but i still love my carbs and bread is still a firm favourite at the moment.

My crazy hormone's still seem to be under control i have had the odd snappy/ grumpy moment but no bursting into tear's for no reason and i feel like my normal happy self most of the time now which is brilliant.

In blogging new's this week i have appeared on two other blog's which i love firstly i appeared on The Ls mum daily routine's series which is a feature where other bloggers share there daily routines, i love this series as i am nosy and like seeing what other peoples life and routines are really like and i shared what are daily routine is like. I also appeared on Mum's days blog where there is a collection of birth story's (over 50) and i shared my second birth story with Sophia , again i love reading all these story's as now i am pregnant i love reading birth story's and how every birth is different as i feel like it prepares me in case something unexpected happens during labour but it also inspires me that my third labour could be super easy. That's all that has been happening this week , i will update on what week 31 of pregnancy was like soon.

Review: The school for good and evil book.

As i have mentioned many time's before i love reading and have done ever since i was a child whenever i get the chance i love to lose myself in a good book. I had always hoped that my children would follow in my footstep's in my love for reading book's my oldest daughter Chloe use to enjoy reading when she was younger but now that she is 11 she would rather spend time on her tablet or out with her friend's then reading even though we have brought her lots of books which i am slightly disappointed at. So when i was recently giving the chance to review a book by Harper Collins aimed at girls aged 10+ i thought this might be the perfect chance to get her to actually read a book!

We were sent The school for good and evil written by Soman Chainani. The tag line on the front page of the book reads 'One witch, one princess. one happily never after' and it looked and sounded perfect for a girl of Chloe's age who is at that in between tweenager age where they are too old for story book's yet too young for adult book's.

Chloe recently went on holiday to Spain so i packed this book in her hand luggage for her to read on the flight if she got bored and i am amazed that she did in fact actually read this book. I was told she never put it down the whole flight and had finished it by the first day of her holiday, which is unheard of for Chloe as she literally never reads more then the first few pages of a book before getting bored and giving up on it.

On her return from holiday i asked Chloe what the book was about and she said it is about two girls called Sophie and Agatha who live in a village and every few years two children one good and one bad are stolen during the night and taken away from there family to the school for good and evil. The good children go to the good school and the bad children go to evil school where the good become princess and the bad witches. And it is really interesting because the girl you think will go to the good school and be a princess and the girl you think is bad and will be a witch is not what happens in the story and the book is really good and you want to keep reading because you want to find out what happens and magical things happen and the girls in the story are friends and then fall out and they meet boys they like and lots of things happen to them at the school and then they get to go home.

She described the book as make believe fairytale for big kids that you wish was real life or a film as it is lots of fun and you want to know what happens next. I don't feel like i can say much more on the book as i have never read it myself and i just have to go on what Chloe says about it , but it is quiet a voluminous book with 488 pages and has the odd illustration dotted throughout the book to make the story more imaginable to children.

The fact that she actually read a book on her own free will for the first time in year's speaks volumes and she has already lent her copy to her friend as she told her it was so good and she never talks about books with her friend's.

 I was also very kindly sent the second book in this series The school for good and evil a world without princes and Chloe was overjoyed when i showed her this and has been engrossed in it since she came back off her holiday. And i think she will be very happy to learn that the film rights to this book have been brought by universal pictures. I think that any child Chloe's age would love these book's and they are available to buy on amazon and i am very glad that i was sent them as it has encouraged Chloe to rediscover her love of reading.

* Disclosure: i was kindly sent these two book's for free for the purpose of this review however all words and opinions of these books are mine and my daughters own honest view on these books and we were not paid for this post.

Week 29 pregnancy update

I am now 30+4 day's pregnant so i am a bit late in writing up my week 29 pregnancy update as usual.  I had a midwife appointment when i was exactly 29 week's pregnant and my blood pressure and urine are fine so thankfully my blood pressure medication still seems to be working and there is no sign of pre-eclampsia. I also had my blood's taken to check my sugar levels, iron count etc, i use to hate getting my blood's taken but now after two pregnancy's in a year and suffering gallstones and having surgery its like second nature to me and it doesn't bother me at all any more.

My bump was also measured and i was told that my bump is measuring four weeks ahead and i will be having a big baby well this totally confused me as at my growth scan the week before i had been told that baby was measuring small! So i don't know what to think as in my pregnancy with Sophia my bump was small and i hardly put any weight on yet she was 8lb 2oz so i am just taking what they say with a pinch of salt at the moment as everyone seems happy with how my pregnancy is going and baby seems healthy which is all that matters , maybe i have just been eating too much or maybe baby will be a chunky little 10lb baby only time will tell.

I am still feeling pretty good considering i am now into my third trimester which i normally find the hardest,  i am still sailing through this pregnancy i still have no sickness, heartburn , stretchmarks or aches and pains. My skin is still glowing and my hair is still thick and shiny. My bump is growing all the time and i am feeling bigger all over this pregnancy i have put weight on all over my body not just my bump. Baby deffinatly has a routine for kicks now and i can predict when he is going to be active and the movements are so big now i can actually feel his little feet sticking out my tummy at times and he like's to get them stuck under my ribs which can be quiet painful at time's but i love feeling him move its the best part of pregnancy for me. I still have no craving's i am eating pretty much anything, i am eating some thing's that i probably would not normally eat but there not cravings i am just more open to trying new food's now i am pregnant as i am normally quiet a fussy eater. My appetite seems to have growing i am starving when i wake up in the mornings and i am eating so much toast but i am hardly hungry in a evening.

It has been really hot this week and i am starting to really struggle with the heat i just feel so big and tired and the heat gets to me so easily i feel all sweaty and out of breath just off walking to the shops and i have to have a sit down and recover when i get home which makes me feel about 90 years old. I am also still finding it hard to sleep thankfully i am still able to get comfortable in bed i just keep waking up lots during the night needing the bathroom and finding it hard to fall back to sleep. And someday i really struggle with a lack of energy which i am sure is just down to the heat and running around after Sophia non stop all day long. I have got quiet lazy lately though i sometimes really lack the motivation to do thing's like go shopping or do housework which is quiet bad , i do the basic housework but i have a huge list of things i want done to the house before baby arrives but i just have no motivation to do it. Thankfully my hormones seem to be back under control this week and i have not been crying and snapping so much which is good.

I have had quiet a busy week this week with life in general we attended a 2nd birthday party and it was such hard work running around after Sophia in the heat and being so big but both girls had a great time. It was also fathers day and we just had a quiet day at home and i cooked a roast as my dad and the others half's dad's were both away on holiday's. And me and the other half actually went out for a meal together to a Italians which was lovely as we never get the chance to do anything like that these day's and we use to all the time.

In baby news i still haven't started baby shopping but i really must start as i only have nine week's left and i have a feeling baby might arrive early mind you he will probably be late as both the girl's were overdue. I have also signed up to a exciting blogging opportunity this week to be a resident blogger on a fab site so keep a eye out for an update on that soon too as i really am going to start taking my blogging more seriously i have even brought my own domain name for my blog and everything this week and i managed set it up all on my own with thanks to google of course.

Review: The skeleton cupboard by Dr Tanya Byron

I have always loved reading ever since i was a child i have loved nothing more then getting lost in a good book but now that i am a mum of two soon to be three, i find that i rarely get the time to indulge in my passion for reading book's. However i was recently lucky enough to be sent a copy of The skeleton cupboard a new book by Dr Tanya Byron by Mumsnet book club and i couldn't wait to have a read.

I use to love watching Dr Tanya Byron's program's on t.v the house of tiny tearaways and little angel's were must see viewing for me as a parent a few year's ago. So i was expecting the book to be along the line's of children behaviour problem's etc. But when the book arrived i realised that this book was totally different and it was actually about her time as a trainee clinical psychologist in the 1990's in a range of different settings such as a hospital outpatient psychiatric department , a residential child crisis unit, g.p surgery, eating disorder unit, substance misuse and a geriatric home. Each chapter of the book covers one of these setting's and the challenges and 'patients' she meets during her training and it seems so real and autobiographical as it is written in the first person but its not real at all as all of the characters and situations in the book are fictional.

I quickly become totally absorbed in this book i literally could not put it down and i was fascinated by the characters that Tanya encounters in each chapter the book is so well written that the characters come to life and i actually felt sorry for some of them and read on with a lump in my throat when a 12 year old girl wanted to kill herself and i was hoping that she would have a happy ever after but knowing that unfortunately some of the characters you meet such as a elderly holocaust victim with dementia will never have a happy ending . Having worked within mental health and with people with learning disabilities myself i could totally relate to a lot of the situations and story's in this book but i am sure that anyone with not the hint of this world would totally understand and get drawn into this book also.

As i mentioned each chapter of the book follows Tanya throughout her training to be a clinical psychologist and the first chapter is set in her very first placement while a trainee in a psychiatric outpatient department in a hospital and tell's of her first day nerves, patients she meets and her fears , mistakes and hopes she has while such an inexperienced student. And so the book goes on with each chapter based in a different setting she worked in during her three years training and we get to know more of Tanya throughout the book and to see her confidence grow and we meet some amazing characters throughout the book who you will feel sorry for , angry at , disappointed with and amazed by. Every chapter left me wanting to know more and the story to continue while also being eager to read and discover the characters in the next chapter. I really could not put the book down and dipped into it whenever i had the chance.

This book really got me thinking as the characters are so believable you could relate to some of them and they made me think of people i had met myself during my work in mental health and during my everyday life. The job of a clinical psychologist is not something that you hear alot of in everyday life but this book opens your eyes to what a difficult yet rewarding and fascinating yet complex job this can be. Tanya is so honest and down to earth in this book and you learn so much about her and her past and how she got to where she is today and you start to feel like you know her like she is a friend telling you there secrets even though alot of this book and all of the characters are fictional.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who fancy's a good read yes it can be sad and thought provoking but it so beautifully written you will be left wanting more.

* Disclosure: i was sent this book for free by Mumsnet book club for the purpose of this review but all word's and opinions in this post are my own honest account of this book.

Sophia's 12 month update

I can not believe that my baby girl Sophia turned one the other week and she is no longer a baby but an actual little toddler, i am sure that time speed's up when you are a parent as the last year really has flown by so quickly! So here is a quick look at what Sophia was like at 12 month's old.

We celebrated her very first birthday and she had a party at the local soft play with her little friends and she absolutely loved it and was running around and loved the slides although she was a bit unsure of the bouncy castle's. She also loved her birthday cake which was a good job as we booked a first birthday cake smash photo shoot for a few day's after her birthday which was very messy but resulted in some amazing photograph's which i totally love!

Sophia had her one year check up with the health visitor and she now weighs 23lbs she fits into most of her 12-18 month clothes and is wearing size 5 nappies we have noticed that Sophia is really tall compared to other babies her age she has long legs like her daddy. She still only has 8 teeth but i think she may be teething again as she is getting dribbly but luckily we have never had any problems with her with teething. The health visitor was really happy with her development and she is doing everything she should be doing at her age. 

She is walking everywhere now and she just wants to be out her buggy and walking all over she is so much harder work now she is walking as she climbs up on everything and grabs everything and is constantly making a mess and she seems to always want to grab and play with things that she can not have like remotes and the house phone wire . She has also started to have little tantrums now if she can not get her own way she will whinge and stamp her feet like a proper little madam. She also thinks it is great fun to sit in her highchair and throw things on the floor and laugh when you go to pick things up. I forgot how much hard work toddlers are she was much easier as a newborn!

She still has the same routine that she has had since birth she wake's at 7.30am now instead of 6am which i love and she comes downstairs gets dressed and then has her breakfast and watches TV she then sometimes has a morning nap around 9am but we have found since she is waking later sometimes she is having her nap later so some days she just has one nap instead of two. We then normally go out somewhere like the park, shopping or baby groups we return home she has lunch if we haven't had lunch out and then sometimes she will have a afternoon nap she will then spend time playing with her toys then has her tea and then spends time with her daddy after he gets in from work and then has her bath at 6.30 and bed for 7pm but she is taken ages to fall asleep with the light summer nights. She is sleeping right through the night now too we normally find her on her front with her bum in the air squashed in the top corner of the cot.

Sophia loves her food now and she will eat whatever you put in front of her she love's fruit and veg and her favourite foods are carrots, broccoli, strawberries, cheese, toast, yogurts,quiche, chocolate buttons, chicken nuggets ,sausages and yorkshires. She also really loves pizza and garlic dip which we discovered when we went out for a Italian meal recently and she also had her first ice cream of the ice cream man and she loved it. She still loves her bottles of milk , we give her cows milk but she still has baby formula before bed she will drink out of her sippy cup during the day but she loves milk out of a bottle to go to sleep so i think it is a comfort for her and we are finding it hard to get her off bottles and onto beakers for her milk.

She is still a little chatterbox and try's to copy everything you say to her and she is saying new words all of the time. She also sings along to things in her own little baby language and dances which is so cute. She understands so much that you say to her now too things such as if you ask her where something is she will point or if you say give bear a kiss she will pick her bear up and kiss it.

She still loves everyone she meets and smiles away nonstop to people when we are out she has never cried at anyone and she is still not at all clingy and will happily let anyone pick her up and talk to her and she will stay with relatives no problem even if she does not know them well. Her sister Chloe recently went on holiday for a week to Spain and i think Sophia realised and missed her as she kept shouting for her and looking in her bedroom for her and she was playing up all week and she was so happy when she came home.

I really am so lucky to have such a lovely happy little girl and i just hope she will be OK when her new little baby brother arrives in two months time, i still can not believe she is going to be a big sister when she is still so young herself. But we have said we will keep her routine the same and make sure she still gets lots of attention and try to involve her in things with the baby.

We have loved having Sophia in are life's for the last year and it has been so lovely to watch her grow and learn and turn into a lovely little girl she is learning new things every single day and she makes us all laugh every day with her funny cute little personality which she is developing.

Week 28 pregnancy update

Wow i can not believe that i am 28 week's pregnant and i am in the final trimester only 12 more week's to go until baby arrives! Lot's has been happening this week i had a scan and a consultant appointment when i was exactly 28 week's pregnant due to me being a high risk pregnancy and being on medication for my blood pressure i have to have extra growth scans in my last trimester just to check baby's growth and that the placenta is functioning o.k. We had the scan first of all and we found out that baby is a little boy!!! I was so shocked i couldn't believe it i am still finding it hard to believe that i am having a boy and it was over a week ago since i had my scan now, i was so sure i was having another girl, so much for mothers intuition i have been wrong with all three of my pregnancy's now. 

I am so happy to be having a little boy it will be so nice to experience having a boy and buying boy clothes and toy's after having two girls although i am a little bit nervous that i wont know what to do with a boy and it will be so strange changing a little boy's nappy. Anyway back to my scan they said that baby was weighing about 2lbs and that everything seemed perfect with him and the placenta was fine and i had the right amount of fluid but that baby was measuring a bit smaller then he should be but they weren't to concerned and i will have another scan in four week's to check to see if his growth has increased or if he is still a bit small. I then had my appointment with my consultant and my blood pressure was a little bit high but my urine and everything was fine and i was just told to get my blood pressure checked at my midwifes appointment next week.

 I then had a appointment with the anaesthetist due to me being a high risk pregnancy who just spoke to me about c-sections and epidurals which i am hoping to avoid as i managed my last two labours with just gas and air and diamorphine so i am hoping to do the same again this time. Even though they have said baby is small i feel so huge i feel like i am so much bigger then my last pregnancy, i certainly weigh more and even though i am wearing maternity clothes my maternity tops are starting feel a bit small and keep riding up and showing my tummy which i hate i just feel huge all over and big and heavy. 

I am really struggling in this heat with being so big and pregnant i get out of breath so easily and the heat is making me so uncomfortable. Apart from that though i am still feeling pretty good and i am sailing through this pregnancy with no sickness,heartburn, cravings or aches and pains i cant believe how different it is to my other pregnancy's. I am suffering a little bit from insomnia which is probably just due to the heat and the need to get up during the night to pee alot and little baby always seems to come to life and kick and wriggle lots when i go to bed it is when he is the most active. I have realised that i am getting tired a lot more easily now too i don't know if that is due to lack of sleep and running around after a toddling one year old or just of nearing the end of my pregnancy.

I still have not started baby shopping but we are going to soon i have started looking online at little boy things and i have made a list of what we need so i think i probably start ordering some things online as i have discovered some lovely website who sell gorgeous baby things.

Also this week Chloe my eldest daughter fell off a climbing frame at school and hit and twisted her arm so i had a phone call from the school to go and get her and take her to hospital as they thought she may have broke it.The other half was at work so i had to take her and of course i couldn't go in the x-ray with her when i am pregnant so she was in a bit of a huff with me about that but thankfully she has not broken it she has just badly bruised and sprained it.

That's all i have been up to this week really I'm still loving being pregnant and enjoying every second i am still very unorganised for baby's arrival but i no that i will get everything sorted in time so i am not panicking yet, you can tell this is my third baby i had everything brought by now with my first.

So that's another pregnancy week over with and another week closer to meeting my baby boy and becoming a family of five and i can not wait.

massive 28 week bump

28 week scan and we found out baby's sex!

As you may know i have been suffering from pregnancy induced high blood pressure this pregnancy and i was put on blood pressure medication by my hospital consultant when i was 13 week's pregnant to try and control this and so far my blood pressure has been perfectly normal thanks to these tablet's. However due to me being on this medication there is a risk that they could be making baby small and as i am at risk of pre-eclamspia (due to my blood pressure and suffering it in my first pregnancy) and having high blood pressure there is also a risk that my placenta could stop working properly so i have to have extra scans in my third trimester just to check baby's size and the function of my placenta. So on Tuesday when i was exactly 28 week's pregnant i went to hospital for my first growth scan and an appointment with my consultant to see how thing's were.

I had my scan and everything was perfect with baby and also with the placenta function although they did mention that baby was a bit smaller then they would expect so i have to have another scan at 32 week's to see if it is still on the small side or if things are o.k.

We were also able to find out the sex of baby at this scan. I was in two mind's about finding out baby's sex with my first daughter Chloe i never found out what she was and it was lovely to have the surprise of finding out she was a little girl when she was born as i had been so sure she was a boy! But in my second pregnancy we asked to find out what baby was and we found out Sophia was a girl at are 20 week scan and i loved being able to buy little girl outfits and girly bedding for her and i also felt closer to her when she was born as we knew she was going to be Sophia and she was just how i imagined she would be.

So at my 20 week scan this time around we agreed to find out what baby's gender was as Chloe was dying to no and me and the other half are rather impatient and wanted to know too. However baby had other idea's and not only did it have it's leg's crossed but also its cord in the way and a hand it clearly did not want us to find out. So when it came to my 28 week scan i was in two minds if i wanted to find out or not as i was getting use to the idea of having a surprise but the other half really wanted to find out and so did Chloe.

So at my scan i mentioned to the sonographer that i was convinced baby was a girl i don't know why i though this as i have had a totally different pregnancy this time around but i was just convinced baby was a girl and i have been so tempted to buy little girl outfits and worrying about a girls name. The sonographer looked at me and said well your wrong look and baby had its legs wide open and it was a little boy!!

 I couldn't believe it i had been so sure we were having another little girl, so my mothers intuition was totally wrong yet again. The other half was over the moon i think he secretly wanted a little boy after being stuck in a house with 3 girls and he never stopped smiling all day. So we are having a little boy in 12 week's time and he is perfect. I don't no how i didn't guess it was a boy this pregnancy has been so easy and so different to the girls and he is a lot lazier then the girls were. I am still a bit shocked but i am so happy that we are having a little boy we already have his name picked out and i now can not wait to go and buy lot's of little boy outfits and start baby shopping. I am really happy that we were able to find out what we are having as it has made this baby seem more real . He will complete are family and we are all so excited and cant wait to meet him in august and we love him lot's already.

Week 27 pregnancy update

I am now 28 week's pregnant so here is a quick update on what week 27 was like. I did not have any midwife or hospital appointments this week and i have still been feeling pretty good with no heartburn or sickness , yay! I still have no craving's either and no sign of any stretch mark's. I am still getting a little bit of lower back pain when i am doing housework or when i get out of bed in the morning's but it is not too bad. My skin is still lovely and clear and soft and my hair is still thick and shiny and does not get greasy very much. 

I mentioned last week that i thought baby was breach as all the movements i was feeling were very low down but i think baby must have turned now as i am getting lot's of kicks under my ribs and in my side's and i am also now constantly needing to wee and i am waking up lot's during the night for trips to the bathroom. I also feel really big and heavy and get uncomfortable when i walk and i am getting short of breath really easily , i feel about 90 at times. 

My hormone's are still going crazy too and i am crying at everything i cry at least once a day which is so unlike me. I have also been feeling so exhausted lately i have not had the energy to do anything and i have been going to bed super early each night.

In other news's this week Chloe came home from her holiday, i had missed her loads but it seems like she has had a brilliant time and has a lovely suntan. I haven't really done much else this week other then normal mum task's like shopping, cooking, cleaning and running about after the girl's.

I am still finding this pregnancy so easy and enjoyable compared to my previous two it is going by so quick and i am finding it so easy and i do not even feel pregnant half the time i really do feel so lucky and it is so nice to actually be able to enjoy the experience and have a nice pregnancy this time around.

One thing i have noticed since i have been pregnant is that everyone keeps commenting on the sex of baby and keeps saying to us "oh i bet you want a boy" i honestly do not mind what sex the baby is in some way's i would like a boy as i have two girl's and it would be nice to experience what having a boy would be like and buy boy clothes and toys instead of being surrounded by pink and dolls. But in a way i would also like another girl as i feel like i no what to do with girls and i have so much girl things i would hardly have to buy anything for the baby.

That's all that's been going on this week, just a quick update as not much has been going on but i like to record my pregnancy so i can look back on it as this is probably my last pregnancy.

First birthday cake smash

As you may know Sophia celebrated her very first birthday recently and we booked her a cake smash photo shoot as we thought it was a lovely way to capture and remember her first birthday. I had not heard of cake smash's until a year or two ago when a few friends posted photograph's of there children getting them done for there first birthday's and i thought they looked brilliant so a few month's ago i booked a one for a few day's after Sophia's birthday as she had a party on her actual birthday.

 A lot of people actually do the shoots at home and take the pictures themselves but i am a useless photographer and i wanted the photo's to look nice and professional looking so that i can get a photo made into a canvas to hang in are living room . We got 70 images in both colour and black and white and i absolutely love them all.

Sophia has a real sweet tooth and loves to make a mess so when we arrived at the shoot and put her in front of the cake she got stuck straight in and grabbed some cake with her hand and ate it and said "mm nice" she then went on to hit the cake with her spoons and stick her hands , feet and even her bum in the cake she was absolutely covered in icing and cake but she looked like she was having a great time as she was laughing and smiling throughout.

Although she made a bit a lot of a mess with little icing footprints and hand prints all over as she kept wondering off trying to grab the wires and lights set up by the photographer and she also got me and her daddy covered in cake too. So we were glad we had put her in a pair of frillys for the shoot and not in a outfit as she was covered in cake by the time she had finished. Here are a few of the photograph's from Sophia's first birthday cake smash.

I got these photograph's taken by a local photographer called Inspired By Abbey. Sophia's gorgeous frillys are from itsy-bits and they cost £6.50  and her cake is from Gregg's the bakers ( Sophia's daddy work's for them so we got it cheaper but i think there about £12 to buy in the shop's)                                                                                                                      

Sophia's first birthday

Sophia turned one last week and we had a lovely day she was spoilt with some lovely presents and we had a lovely little party for her at the local soft play which she really enjoyed and she loved her birthday cake the only thing missing from the day was her big sister Chloe who had jetted off to Spain early on the morning of her birthday for a week with her grandad ( my dad).

Due to Chloe being away on Sophia's birthday we held a small tea party the day before for Sophia, Chloe and there cousin Heidi with cakes and party food's and Chloe give her a present off her a Doc mcstuffin ride on which Sophia loved as she is doc mcstuffin mad.

On the morning of Sophia's birthday she woke up early at around 6am and we brought her downstairs and she was amazed when she seen the living room as the night before me and her daddy had decorated it with banners and balloons and set her new toys up in the living room for her. We got her a pink smart trike bike, a ball pool and balls, a little blow up Doc mcstuffin arm chair and a talking lambie ted off Doc mcstuffin we didn't want to get her to many presents as she has so many toys already and she got so many presents of family and friends too. She loved her ball pool and spent most of the morning sitting in it playing with her toy's. I think the excitement got too much for her though as she was flat out asleep by 8am having her morning nap.

We brought Sophia a lovely little party dress and cardigan to wear on her special day from next ( i love that shop for children's clothes) and she looked super cute in it. We then headed to the soft play where we had invited ten of Sophia's little friends and relatives to join her for her birthday as Sophia loves the soft play and being around other children, and are house is way to small to invite all the family and friends around for a celebration. The children spent a hour and a half playing on the bouncy castles and slides and Sophia loved just running around after the other children and she really loved the slides although she was a bit unsure of the bouncy castles at first.

 Then the children all had a meal and Sophia had chicken nuggets and chips and she loved them and polished them all off which we were amazed at as its the first time she has ate something like that before.

We had got Sophia a Sofia the first birthday cake made as we had a Sophia the first themed birthday party the invites were Sofia the first, the goody bags, balloon and the cake as it is one of her favourite TV shows. When we brung the cake out and everyone sung happy birthday to her she looked so happy although she didn't have a clue what was going on and was trying to grab the cake.

After the party we headed to the local weatherspoons for some lunch with some of are family but Sophia was shattered and fell asleep in her pram. She loved opening her presents when she returned home and she got some lovely toys a swing for the garden and lots of clothes and some money which we are going to use to buy her a slide as she loved the ones at soft play. She loved her birthday cake and so did me and her daddy as it was delicious.

Sophia had a really great day and she laughed and smiled all day long and she loved all the attention and her presents. I cant believe she is now a one year old toddler but we had a fantastic day and it was lovely to celebrate her day with family and friends. It is a day that me and her daddy will remember fondly forever as it was such a lovely relaxed happy day.

26 week's pregnant

I am late in writing this post as i am now actually 27+6 day's pregnant, this pregnancy really is going by so fast ! I have had a super busy week so i am behind with all of my blog posts i was just going to do a week 26 and 27 update in one post but so much has been going on i thought it was best to stick to weekly updates. Well when i was 26 week's pregnant i was so busy as Sophia had her very first birthday and i was busy getting sorted for that. Also Chloe went on holiday to Spain and it was a last minute holiday with her grandad so i had a mad rush of getting her passport renewed in time and getting her holiday clothes and everything else sorted in time. And the other half has been at work a lot lately doing extra shifts so i have been rushed of my feet trying juggle all the housework , cooking , cleaning and childcare on my own and now Sophia is walking everywhere it is impossible to get anything done as i am constantly having to watch her and chase her around as she is into everything.

I have been feeling so tired lately also i think its a mix of being pregnant and being so busy but i have been going to bed super early each night as i just feel so exhausted. I have forgot to take a bump shot yet again, i really need to start taking photos as i have hardly any this pregnancy. But so many people have commented on the size of my bump this week and have said my bump looks the same size now as it did at full term with Sophia so i think i am having a big baby this time - i have a growth scan booked in at 28 weeks so i will be able to tell if baby is actually big or if i am just piling on the pounds but still no stretch marks which is brilliant.

 Although i don't think i am eating more then normal I'm probably eating a bit less as i am getting full so quick. I still don't have any cravings either even though i have been willing baby to want something nice to eat i would love a chocolate or Chinese craving then i would have a excuse to eat them all the time but no such luck baby is still happy eating pretty much anything.

I have not had any hospital or midwife appointments this week but apart from the tiredness i am feeling pretty good no sickness or heartburn or any nasty pregnancy side effects. I am getting lower back pain still now and then mostly if i have been doing housework and bending down and i am a bit stiff if i have been sitting down for a while and when i get out of bed but that's all. I have been sleeping loads better no more insomnia in the middle of the night but i have started waking up in middle of the night with trips to the bathroom to wee now baby is getting bigger.

Baby is moving loads now but all of the kicks are really low down still so i think baby might be breech at moment but there is still plenty time for it to turn so I'm not worrying yet. We still haven't picked a girls name and even though we do not know what baby is i am 99 per cent sure it is another girl. We still haven't done any baby shopping yet either i am so disorganised third time around. I think i am a lot more relaxed this pregnancy though i feel like i no what to expect and i am just finding this pregnancy so easy and straightforward and enjoyable compared to my other two.

The only downside to this pregnancy is me and the other half are clashing alot on a night time when the girls are in bed he wants to watch films and spend time together but i just don't have the energy, i am just so tired and want my bed and i feel a bit of a mess if I'm honest as i just never seem to have the time to do my hair and make up like i use to and i am always living in leggings and maternity tops so i feel a bit of frump.

I also think i am finding it strange not going to work anymore and not having my own money each month i guess i am finding it a bit hard to adjust to. I still love him loads i just feel a bit rubbish that i don't have time for him anymore and i miss how things use to be with us as we use spend so much time together and go out to loads of nice places and have a laugh together now I'm just boring and grumpy and tired all the time. I am such a cry baby lately too i cry at anything and everything i so hate pregnancy hormones they have been a real nightmare this pregnancy and turned me into a right grumpy crying witch .

Anyway's i best go now even though i have more to say as Sophia has just woke from her nap and is now trying to break the laptop and if i just save this post in my drafts i will never get around to actually publishing it.