Life as a Mum...

Firstly, apologies for the long overdue blog... it's fair to say I've had my hands pretty full with juggling 24 hour a day baby care, keeping a check on my own business, helping my husband and step-dad set up a new building business (City Coast & Country), general running of the house (something usually James does the majority of but as I'm home a bit more I've taken on a few more chores so he can spend more time with India when he's not out at work) and of course a fair amount of socialising with friends and family. Whoops that sounds like a list of excuses doesn't it!!

Anyway I'm here now, poised with my laptop in front of me and the gorgeous India sound asleep on a pile of cushions beside me after her morning feed, so before she wakes let's see how much of this blog I can get written... Now you must appreciate that everything takes longer than normal now, that's one thing I've established since being a Mum, and not necessarily for the reasons you're thinking. For me it's that I often find myself staring at India not being able to believe she's mine and wowing over how perfect she is. If I'm not doing this then I'm probably kissing her head, cheeks, lips, ears or stroking her hands - it's totally addictive. Babies are so super scrummy, especially when they're yours!!

Ok so having had a good stare and tickle behind her ears between paragraphs here goes, my account of the first ten weeks of motherhood...

Yep, she'll sleep anywhere!

It's been the most diverse and colourful ten weeks of my life. As you have probably guessed from the gassing above my heart has been melted. From the moment I took my little girl into my arms in the birthing pool and fed her whilst she was still attached and in the water with me the bond I have felt has been immense. Coming home with her was a little strange, as it was less than 24 hours previously that I was pregnant and we were deciding what to have for dinner and now we're sitting in the lounge with a take away to eat after an exhausting day and a tiny newborn baby that we, between us, have created - how amazing is that!! I'm pleased how confident James is at holding her already, it's so different and so much easier when they're your own. We had James' parents, my Mum, step-dad, sister, brother and his partner James all come and visit that evening for a quick cuddle with their new granddaughter and niece. My brother lives an hour and a half away but couldn't wait until the next day as was so excited, bless him! It's safe to say that from that first evening we know she is going to be a very loved little girl, how lucky we are to have such a great family!

Over the first few weeks we had heaps of visitors and went through what seemed like hundreds of tea bags and gallons of milk. I'd imagine India was held by about 40 different people within the first two weeks, so she is already used to lots of different voices and smells etc. Lots of people hold back on visiting to start with as assume you'll be so busy and perhaps a little stressed trying to see everyone, however in actual fact we rather enjoyed the constant company and introducing our new addition to everyone and we're lucky that we have big families and lots of friends so this stream of people remained constant for a good while, keeping us entertained and India regularly cuddled!

We were lucky in that before India was born James had been sub-contracting for the same building firm for a while but their work had dried up so he had no work to go back to - you're thinking 'lucky??!!!' and don't get me wrong usually this would have been a worry for us, however embracing our new arrival and the opportunity for James to spend time with us as a family for much longer than most fathers get the chance to (5 and a half weeks in total!) we got on with it and had lots of fun. Plus during this time James and my step-Dad decided to set up City Coast & Country and they've had heaps of work ever since so it's worked out much better for us and he has far more flexibility to be able to spend time with us. We're so lucky both being self-employed and the future for us is exciting, with building our businesses so in the future we can spend even more time together as a family - we're certainly one step closer to the dream so will just keep working hard to get there.

After ten weeks we are getting a decent amount of sleep each night now, as India has got herself into a rough routine and each night is sleeping slightly longer stints. At the moment she goes to bed after a feed at around 8ish and goes about 5-6 hours until she wants feeding again so wakes at around 1am-2am and then wakes again roughly 3-4 hours later. When she does wake, James gets up and changes her nappy whilst I usually nip downstairs to put some washing on and then I feed her and James goes back to sleep. She is only ever out of her moses basket for a maximum half an hour during the night now and goes straight back to sleep once I put her back. I don't think it will be long where we're just getting up once in the night, so that will be fab! I must tell you though it wasn't always this easy! To start with for the first couple of weeks at least she would not sleep in her moses basket, in fact the only place she would sleep was in our bed and quite often on my chest (I know! The midwife would have one mad but I'm a light sleeper and know my instincts would have made sure she was safe). This meant that James was on the floor for the first week as he moves about alot more in bed than me and also there just isn't room for the three of us. These in bed cuddles were lovely to start with but did start to take their toll and I didn't want James on the floor and he wouldn't sleep in any of the spare rooms as wanted to be near us, so we had to persevere with putting India in her moses basket and deal with the crying and her not settling. We didn't get much sleep at all for the first month to six weeks I guess, however for me this was probably more than I was getting before giving birth as at least my restless legs were not quite as bad. James however, was very tired and struggling. Now though things are great and we're used to getting up a couple of times each night so even if this carried on for months we'd probably be happy with it.

She has been a bit of a poorly little thing in her short life so far with two horrible colds and an upset tummy, she's been to the hospital once and doctors twice! We felt really bad as one thing we don't want to do is be fussy parents so when she was poorly we were probably a bit too relaxed about it, not realising how essential it is that any signs of illness with newborns must always be checked out by a doctor. We felt terrible at one point and I had a few days of feeling like a totally crap parent, which wasn't helped by continual advice about obvious things that of course we knew, but as I was feeling inadequate at the time made me feel all the more rubbish as a Mum. Touch wood now she's totally healthy and we're confident that we know what were doing, so no more feeling like a failing parent, it's all a learning process and everyone does things differently!

After our first family sponsored walk ;-)

In terms of a routine, we're not big fans of a strict routine as feel that she will fit in a lot better with the different and exciting things we do as a family if we do things a bit more ad-hoc. This may not work in the long run and we appreciate once school starts etc we will have to have a bit more of a routine, but for now she's just a baby and it's going well - we've been out to many restaurants and pubs for lunch and dinner, we've taken her on a sponsored walk, to a wedding, engagement party, BBQ in Herts, evening walks on the beach, late evenings at other peoples for dinner and at each she's slept in her car seat, bouncy chair or on sofa's or piles of cushions and she's happy as larry and very used to noise around her. There was no way we were going to tip-toe around her, making a rod for our own backs when she's sleeping at home, so we're so pleased how easy going she is in these situations.


I think my favourite day was about a month ago when India gave me her first proper smile, it was amazing and the best feeling to get something back as apart from snuggles, sleeping, crying, feeding and soiling nappies newborns don't do much, so by 5 or 6 weeks you are gagging for them to interact with you. Now you can't stop her smiling and quite often chattering away in her own little baby language and she looks all the more gorgeous!

In terms of her activity she is showing signs that she'll be an early crawler, as by about three weeks old was pushing her head up when laying on her front and is so strong that she also moved herself around 90 degrees and now she wriggles right across our bed when on her front - cushions around her and on the floor at all times now!

I had her weighed last week and she was 11.4lbs so she's piling on the weight well and hasn't lost those lovely chubby cheeks. Her hair is still lovely and dark, as is her skin tone and her eyes are really blue, although I've been told they can change colour up to 6 months old (it would be weird if she had blue eyes as I've got green and James hazel, blue is lovely though). It was obvious when she was first born that she was James' daughter but she's changing all the time and I'm pleased to say that she looks very like my sister Yaz and me when we were babies, so hopefully she'll be a good mix. I love nothing more than when someone says she looks like me in some way, so thank you especially to the lady at Titchwell Manor who was the first to say she looked just like me, you made my year! ;-)

Most recent photo from last week

The overall point I would like to stress is that if you are contemplating having a baby and are in a good relationship ready for a secure upbringing of a child then 'do it!' - from someone that didn't think I wanted children I can confidently say that this is the best thing I have ever done and as soppy as it sounds I feel as complete as I'd imagine I ever can, so thank you India (that's a song isn't it?!).

There is no doubt heaps more to say but I've been writing for almost two hours and she is starting to stir so I'll publish this now and write again soon when there will be even more to tell I'm sure...

P.S. Having spent a lot of time taking photos of India I have decided that I am also going to make the most of my photography A-level and my love of the hobby by turning it into a small business, taking portrait and action photos for families at cost effective prices so they can afford some decent photos, helping them avoid the rip-off companies charging thousands for prints in some cases. The ones in the blog are just using my iphone but below is one that I took of India and my nieces and nephews for my Mother-in-Laws 60th last week, which we had printed on a 12"x 48" canvas! If you're interested in having some photos taken then just email me on kaori@visionodyssey.com and we'll sort something out...

Life officially changed forever!! (not an advisable read if squeamish!)

So I've been off-line for a bit longer than usual and those of you that didn't know probably made an educated guess that I had perhaps gone into labour . . . and you'd be correct!

Now, I've spent a while thinking about how much information to include in this blog as don't want to make any of my readers feel queasy. However, I figured that those of you that have been loyally following my journey deserve a full account of what I've been leading up to and I also suspect that a majority of you reading this blog will be women and let's face it we're tougher than most men, so I don't imagine any of you will be passing out or puking about what I tell you and for you men reading the least you can do is read about what happens in labour, because let's face it you're never going to have to go through it yourselves! It's not that going to be disgusting, I just want to portray a truthful account and know that some of my choice of phrase will be a little out of sorts compared with my everyday blogs. Anyway, enough justifying - let's cut to the chase!

It was last Tuesday evening (23rd August) one week before my due date and I went to bed, on my own (as James and I had been doing for the past few weeks in an attempt to both get a little more sleep). It was about 11pm and I put my hypno-birthing affirmations on the ipod to relax into a deep sleep and further drum into my brain how everything about my birth would be perfect and easy etc etc. It was probably about 15 minutes into it when my mind wondered off track and I found myself thinking about how both of my sister-in-laws had given birth early to both of their first children (who both happened to be girls) and questioned whether I would be the same. This was despite the fact that at this point in my pregnancy I was getting sick of wondering 'is today the day?' and was really trying to just think about the fact that she would definitely be with us in three weeks time - a task that is easier said than done when you are heavily pregnant and pretty flippin' uncomfortable! Anyway, it turns out I wouldn't have to go through this thought process again, as whilst I was thinking about my nieces being early I felt a trickle down below which quickly turned into what felt like a flood (I did warn you squeamish people!) - yep you guessed it, my waters had broken! (thank god for the plastic sheet we'd put on the bed a few weeks prior, in anticipation for this very moment). At this point I didn't know whether to stay on the bed or get up - so after about 3 seconds deliberating I leapt up, waters still spilling all over the floor, pulled open the bedroom door and shouted along the corridor to James (who by the way didn't hear me!) then went and sat on the en-suite toilet whilst my waters continued to break. After a few minutes this flood ceased so James (still at this time blissfully asleep) was in for a rude awakening! I went along to the spare room he was sleeping in, pushed open the door and let him know that 'it' was happening! I've never seen him move so quick! He leapt up and followed me back to our room, picking up the pregnancy notes on the way so he could call the hospital to let them know. We were lucky in that everything was looking ok for me to be admitted to the midwifery unit at the hospital rather than the delivery suite. This is basically a home-from-home experience run by midwifes only and no doctors anywhere (well technically they were across the corridor, but they just don't get involved unless they have to).

James called them and spoke to a midwife called Laura, who asked some questions like 'what colour is the water?' and 'have the contractions started?' etc etc. This resulted in her telling us to go back to bed, get some sleep (yeah right!) and call back in the morning if my contractions hadn't started and I'd have to go in for a check over. Anyway, I got as far as sitting on the bed and knew I was never going to be going back to sleep. In fact, at this point I couldn't have been further away from the relaxed state I'd been practicing to get into when I went into labour - my teeth were chattering and I was shaking - this was probably adrenalin and panic rather than being cold and was not how I expected to feel. Something had to change! I needed to relax but at this precise moment couldn't remember any of the techniques I'd learned, as I was apprehensive about what was to come next . . . within about ten minutes of James speaking to Laura I started getting cramps but didn't think they were contractions and was so concerned about making a fuss, or appearing to be a wimp if they weren't that I didn't let James call the hospital back, despite the fact that there was really not much time between these weird pains. I was thinking that perhaps I was constipated rather than in the midst of contractions, despite the fact that I'd already been to the toilet twice since my waters had broken. This continued for a while and it reached the point where I called my Mum to see if someone with labour experience could shed some light for me . . . she ended up coming over (the beauty of her living just three miles away) and she had been at ours for no longer that a couple of minutes before confirming that I was definitely experiencing contractions. Having transferred in this time to the other bathroom, following another breaking of my waters, I sat firmly on the toilet (which seemed like the safest, although not the most comfortable, place to be) whilst James called the birthing unit again. Once again he spoke to Laura and suggested my contractions were possibly about three minutes apart (I didn't correct him at the time but knew they were closer than this). I spoke to Laura and she said to time the contractions and call back in about half an hour to an hour to let her know what was happening . . . James started timing contractions and I headed downstairs, aided by Mum. It was by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs and had experienced another two contractions that we realised they were in fact only ONE minute apart and continued at that rate! So with it all happening so quickly we ended up calling Laura back within 15 minutes and she wasn't surprised to hear from us, after speaking to me before. This was the last phone call we made as we were sent straight up to the unit at this point . . . James ran about getting the hospital bag and other bits and pieces together, whilst Mum tried to help me get ready. I was stressing at this point and couldn't even decide what to wear - not really the time to be fashion conscious I know, but for some reason I was struggling (possibly due to not much fitting me and what did was soaked through from the multiple water breakages I'd had in the previous hour!). Anyway, eventually we were ready and on leaving I apologised in advance to Mum (who we'd decided should come with us at this point, just in case we didn't make it to the hospital!) and James about being horrible to them, as felt I wouldn't be a very chilled patient and didn't want them to take my shortness with them personally.

The car journey seemed to go quicker than I'd imagined and I was particularly thankful that James was putting his foot down more than normal, as just wanted to get there. I didn't really speak much during the journey, which took about 25 minutes, just tried my hardest to concentrate on my breathing and getting into a relaxed state by the time we reached the hospital. We got there at about 1.30am and with a few contractions and cross words to Mum (who was only trying to help - sorry Ma!) between the car and the birthing unit we eventually got into our room, the safe haven! It was a lovely private room with a water birthing pool, plenty of space and an en-suite. After getting past the miserable matron-like receptionist I think we were all very relieved to be greeted by the lovely Laura, who was to be our midwife throughout the birth. She went through the standard admission procedure by filling in forms and weighing me etc - all this seemed quite a faff when I was still contracting every minute and all I wanted to do was get into the pool (which at this point wasn't even filled). Laura was lovely though and was with us every step of the way, standing back most of the time and stepping in when some extra support was needed. When I eventually got into the pool it was pretty soothing - I won't lull any Mums to be into a false sense of security though as it doesn't actually stop the pain of the contractions but it does make you feel a bit more comfortable and I found it far more relaxing than being on dry land (so to speak). The next 5 hours are a bit of a blur really, I continued contracting at a rate of one minute apart for a while and Mum and James did their best to help me through each one (which was probably just as exhausting for them). The best thing for me was the flannel we'd brought with us which James covered with icy water between each contraction and held to my head through the pain. Each time the heat of my body almost dried the flannel out, boy I was warm! It got to the point where James and I had this kind of intuitive bond going on, as when I was starting a contraction all I had to do was nod very slightly at him and he knew so squeezed my hand and mopped by head with the cold compact. I didn't really speak through the whole labour, just got in the zone and did my best to breathe deeply through each contraction. It sounds stupid but one thing that was also helpful was for Mum and James to remind me to breathe deeply, as otherwise it would have been easy to speed my breathing up with the pain, resulting in me being more stressed. This is exactly what happened when I had a couple of puffs on the gas and air, as automatically you breathe it in quickly and this took me out of my more relaxed state, so I ditched this as an option within minutes deciding to go it alone and pain relief free! It wasn't until right near the end when I felt I needed help and couldn't do it, a normal reaction for women in labour apparently? In my head I was wanting an epidural, caesarian or anything that would take the pain and work away from me - I was so exhausted and didn't feel like I was getting anywhere . . . in actual fact I was and before long Laura was telling us she could see the head which was covered in dark hair (relief for me as I was bald until I was about a year old!) and then, after some serious pushing for the last tough half an hour or so, our little girl was born at 6.21am.

As she finally entered the world under water in the pool, I was very privileged to be able to lift her up and out of the water myself. I laid her on my chest where she latched on for a feed immediately, a truly amazing moment and apparently one that is pretty rare according to the midwives present. She continued to feed for twenty minutes and despite wanting to hold her until the placenta was delivered I felt suddenly exhausted, so James cut the cord (something I was very proud of him doing) and took her for a cuddle whilst I stood up out of the water to deliver the massive placenta! If you've never seen one of these you will be shocked to know that they are about as big as the baby and weigh around a third. If you imagine a school dinner tray, this was about the size of the tray it landed on and filled - amazing!! Mum, went out of the room as she was born to give James and I time together which was nice, although I was kind of in a World of my own.

India Macy King with tired Daddy in the background

I was left in the pool for a while after this as was loosing quite a bit of blood - so now I was sitting in a not so clear pool surrounded by my own blood and my new babies poo (thanks darling!). When I eventually got out of the water I laid down on a mattress on the floor and fed my little girl for about another hour. By this time Bryan had arrived to pick Mum up so we invited them in and Bryan was particularly choked and overwhelmed, which was when I got a lump in my throat and shed my first tear as a new Mum (one of many to come over the coming years no doubt). Once they left I was examined and told I had torn quite severely, internally and externally, so would need stitches. They just needed a Doctor to examine me too to decide whether I needed to go into surgery for this or not . . . this is where I will stop with the detail as it could get really crude and quite frankly I'm not sure I want to relive the pain of these multiple examinations and then the stitches. All I will say is that I had the stitches under a local anaesthetic (which in itself was more needles than I'd ever want to be near again!) and that along with the examinations was horrific! Far worse than labour and something I hope I don't have to go through again. This is when I did make the most of the gas and air and tried my best to get as high as a kite!

We ended up staying at the hospital until about 5pm by the time they got round to doing my stitches and checking the little one over (who by the way was all fine and weighed 7lb 8oz), by which time we were more than ready to head home! That evening James' parents, Mum, Bryan, my sister Yaz, brother Karl and partner James all came over to see us and meet the new addition to the family. It's safe to say lots of hearts were melting that night and she'll never be lacking in attention and cuddles!

Now, for life ahead as parents! Here goes . . .

Two weeks rolled into one . . .

Firstly, I have to apologise for being slack and not writing a blog for last week. I have found myself much more mentally and physically tired over the past few weeks and unfortunately, as much as it pained me to not do the blog, something had to give. All in all there wasn't that much to write about last week anyway, the highlights were . . . having my cousins son for the day and friends over with some of their kids. Although tiring keeping a two and half year old with a very active brain occupied it was lovely to look after him and have some human company during the day, as there's only so much dog talk I can manage! ;-) I also had a bright idea to have about 30 friends over for a BBQ on Sunday so spent a bit of time preparing for that, including last minute supermarket sweep Sunday morning before they all arrived. The first friends turned up at about 2:15 with the last leaving at about 22:30 - it was lovely having everyone over but as usual when you're hosting these things you don't find enough time to actually catch up with everyone properly, so that was a shame. Caterers and cleaning staff next time is the way forward I think!

So onto this week . . . Monday I was exhausted not having slept much the night before and getting up for the toilet at least every hour. I'd also felt a bit sick and generally un-well (similar to one night last week) so Monday morning I did the things I had to get done and then went back to bed for a few hours early afternoon before my midwife appointment. This is when I found out that my blood pressure (of which has been spot on perfect through my whole pregnancy) had gone through the roof, doh! Just when things were so close to my due date and I was keen as mustard to be able to test out this new midwife-only unit they've opened at the hospital! High BP was certainly going to put a stop to that and possibly even the water birth I've been dreaming about all along . . . the good thing though was that the baby is still engaged, moving around and her heartbeat is still fine. The consensus was to pop to the hospital in the morning to check my BP again and go from there, so in preparation I woke early Tuesday morning to listen to my hypnosis CD in an attempt to get super relaxed for my appointment. Whether it was this or yesterday was just a blip after doing too much Sunday I don't know, but thankfully all was back to normal and I'm all set for a water birth in the new unit all being well between now and D-Day! I've taken the high BP as a bit of a warning to me to slow down so begrudgingly I've had much more of a relaxed week, with longer lay-ins and a few extra soaks in the bath during the day. I have had one more night with regular bowel movements (like Sunday and last week) and feeling sick but feel fine during the day and the other nights in between so it can't be a bug. I have heard that your body can have a good clear out (sorry folks!) just prior to the babies arrival so I suppose this could be it and she'll be with us very soon . . . let's hope so!

Two friends had their babies this week, so I am even more excited about the prospect of us being next. I can't imagine actually having the baby in my arms and not having this bump, along with all the aches and strains that come with being heavily pregnant. I really feel like my body will never feel like it used to again, although I'm sure it will after a while and with a bit of exercise etc. I'm planning on joining the cult that is Zumba once the baby has settled in, so that should be a good test!!

So as I type this blog I am 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant, with just over a week and a half until my due date. I'm trying my hardest to prepare myself for the latest possible arrival date but it's hard when I feel like I'm getting symptoms, twinges, a dropping bump etc etc etc. She really could come any day now and with our 6th wedding anniversary tomorrow and my Mum, Sister and Step-Dad all away in York for the weekend I do have a feeling that it could be more than imminent. Mum has promised that she won't be drinking alcohol so that she can drive them all back if it comes to it as is determined to be here should I need her, which is very sweet but it's only a three hour drive back and it's not like they'll be able to come to the hospital with me so I'll probably hold-off on letting them know if it does start tonight or tomorrow until I know how quickly things are moving as it could take until their back to come to anything anyway. If she did arrive tomorrow though, what a fab anniversary present that would be!!

My bump is forever growing so here's some photos of it at 38 weeks . . . (who knows they may be the last bump photos I publish!)

3/5 engaged and there was me thinking I was married ;-)

With the due date of our baby getting closer and closer I had my 36 week midwife check on Monday, which was all sound and it turns out that rather than her being in the breach position, which I was pretty sure she was, actually she's head down and 3/5 engaged! This is just about spot on for how far into my pregnancy I am so I was really pleased. The strange thing when the midwife was feeling the bump though was that apparently I had a Braxton Hicks contraction. The reason I say apparently is because the midwife had to point it out to me . . . well if you've never been pregnant before, how are you supposed to know this stuff?? It wasn't painful, just a tightening of my whole bump and it going completely rock hard. This has been happening all the time over the last month or so, I just didn't realise it was Braxton Hicks! Being 3/5 engaged is good but unfortunately doesn't give any hints as to when the baby might arrive, shame! I'll be 37 weeks next Tuesday so am thinking once it hits the end of next week or start of the following one we might get to meet our little one (albeit a few weeks early) Will I be right though? I've had bets placed by family members on when she'll be born from next Tuesday up until the 12th September (let's hope neither of those will be right!!). If anyone else fancies a friendly bet / guess then just add a comment to the blog and we'll see who's right as the date reaches us . . .

All in all it's been a pretty good week, a bit on the warm side some nights but with the help of a lovely big fan and James and I sleeping in separate beds it's all helped in allowing me to get some sleep. The restless legs are still happening but not as much as before, so overall I am definitely getting more shut eye than I was a few weeks ago. I've actually felt more tired a couple of days but that tends to happen when you get more sleep than you've had for a while doesn't it? Why is that?

I feel like the bump has grown a little again and perhaps even dropped a bit. It is far harder to get comfortable, particularly when sitting and laying down and it would be fair to say that I am waddling more than walking - it's a good look, seriously you should try it! ;-)

36th week

36th week

I've had my last two hypnosis sessions this week, which were both really interesting. I've learned some simple but effective techniques that should most definitely help during labour, so I'm looking forward to testing them out - yep, that's right I'm actually looking forward to it! Don't get me wrong I know there's going to be an element of pain to come but I'm looking forward to doing what I can to stay relaxed and keep this at bay with the help of the hypnosis I've been taught. The key now is to continue practicing and keep everything fresh in my mind between now and when labour occurs, any reminders appreciated please folks!

We also went to our final ante-natal class, which was actually the first in the order that you're meant to go to them, but you may remember that we missed this one as it was when we were on our hols. It was useful and probably much better to learn the stuff we did at this late stage in pregnancy as it covered all of the things that we feel like we need to know right now. The weird thing at this class was that I was the only one due this month, there was nobody due in September which left the rest all due from October onwards, yet I was no bigger than any of them! So strange how people differ in size so much during pregnancy and I doubt it has any bearing on how big the baby will end up being, a good reason not to get cocky yet! Happy about having absolutely zero stretch marks though! ;-)

First sticker just about puzzled together!

James' Blue Peter moment!

We've got the nursery pretty much finished now, with some fabulous wall stickers and other bits and pieces up. Also, had some help with our pram and car seat as were struggling on our own to work out exactly how to make sure both were fitted correctly (it's a whole new world to us!) - thanks Andy, that hug is on its way! The only thing we need now is a part for the moses basket, as we can't get the hood to stay up! Plus a baby monitor and bedding for the cot, then we're finished and ready to rock and roll!


Aside from all this baby fun and games my week has been as busy as usual - lots of new ideas and projects being worked on, probably not enough time kicking back but I get so bored if my mind is not active so I'm happy this way and if I really felt like I needed to rest I'm sure I'd try . . . I am listening to my body, which is the advice everyone is so frequently offering, therefore all must be ok.

So until next time my internet friends, take care and I hope you're all having a great August so far . . .

Things are on the up!!

I am pleased to start on a positive note (goodness knows it's been a while!) as I have seen definite improvement in the amount of sleep that I have had. I'm not naive enough to think I'll be having 8 hours again for a long time (if ever) and to be honest if I don't feel like I need it then I certainly don't want it. One thing sleepless nights has taught me is that actually I can function on a very little amount of kip and being as I like to cram in as much exciting stuff into my life as humanly possible I'd rather save sleeping for when I'm ALOT older or less able!! Bring on 19 hours a day awake time and who know's what I'll be fitting in once the baby is with us! We'll be having heaps of fun I know that much! ;-)

35th week

35th week

All in all it's been a pretty good week, what with more sleep than I've had for ages and really getting on top of a load of last minute work things that I've been meaning to do for a while. Also, I've had two more hypno sessions which have gone well and who knows, perhaps that's why I've been getting more sleep than usual?? Another thing I'm really pleased about is my successful batch cooking this week so I'm super organised when it comes to us eating after the baby arrives! I've always wanted to do this as really don't want to end up living on take-aways, ready meals or toast if we're stupidly tired, this way at least I know that I've made all the meals from scratch. So far I've got four double servings of chicken and white wine stew, sixty meatballs, two chicken tikka masalas, three chicken jalfrezis, three lasagnes and two chicken, bacon and mushroom lasagnes - so enough for three weeks already! Next weeks food projects are chilli-con-carne, spinach and chick-pea curry, shepherds pie and perhaps some home made pies / pasties if we can be bothered! This way all we need to do is buy fresh fruit and veg, bread, milk etc each week and then get a meal out of the freezer each morning for that evening - minimal hassle! Now, I just need to finish packing my hospital bag and get the last minute bits and pieces for the baby! Whoops, my priorities are a little backwards when it comes to the importance of food! Anyone who knows me will not be surprised by this! ;-)

Also, something super exciting happened this week that was very unexpected!! My cousin, who wasn't due until five days before me, gave birth to her perfectly gorgeous daughter on Thursday morning!! It all happened very quick and she was born by C-Section, just two and a half hours after her waters had broken. Plus despite being early she weighed 6.1lbs so a healthy size, Mum and baby are all fine and hopefully coming out of hospital this weekend! I have to admit this sudden arrival did make me panic a little bit and I have rapidly put a plastic sheet on our mattress just in case . . . it has definitely dawned on me that the arrival of our little one could be imminent! (gulp)

Also had lots of catching up with friends time this week, including my friend Emma from Nottingham coming to stay at the weekend, which was lovely - weird to see people for the last time as a pregnant person, knowing next time I'll have a baby in my arms rather than my tummy!!

That's it from me this week folks, short and sweet (for a change!)

p.s. Please, please, please let me know if you're still reading as I haven't had any comments for over a month and want to make sure you peeps are still looking forward to the next instalments . . . they definitely won't be weekly once the baby arrives, although I will try and post weekly pictures for you ;-)

Positivity over no-sleep-stress, now for hypnotherapy all the way!

After a particularly stressful time with my restless legs last week my Mum practically dragged me to the Doctors on Monday. It's been years since I've had my Mum come to the Docs with me, so that was weird but useful as I know I would have been heaps more rosy about the situation had she not been there to probe the Doctor a bit more. As it turns out there is really nothing that can be done about Restless Legs Syndrome and at the point that the Dr confirmed this to me I actually broke down in tears as it felt like my last bit of hope had been snatched from me! How embarrassing! It's frustrating that there's nothing that can be done but at least I know for definite now and can just get on with the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy in a different frame of mind. Rather than stressing about finding a solution, I'm just going to have to deal with it and not let it totally wind me up, after all there really isn't long left now . . . I did go and see a hypnotherapist the day after about my legs and also to discuss hypno-birthing and I have agreed to work with her for the next few weeks to see what we can do about both. If anything the whole thing should relax me and a relaxed state of mind must be a positive way forward for the RLS and definitely the upcoming labour experience, which I have to say I am really not all that phased about. Believe me I've heard all of the horror stories under the sun from friends and about friends of friends etc but at this point the way I look at it is that labour is a short process at the end of a long pregnancy to finally allow us to be with our baby and whether it's painful or not it will be over before we know it. What is the point in stressing when I don't know how long, painful or stressful it may or may not be, after all there are people out there that have virtually pain free and good labours. I'm focusing on it being a natural part of life with an amazing end product (actually two if the RLS stops immediately afterwards!) and in a weird way I'm actually really looking forward to the experience. Laugh if you must folks, but I'm at the very least going to go into this as relaxed as I possibly can and let's see what happens . . . if it totally sucks and all I do is complain about the horrific pain and terrible experience afterwards, then you can laugh out loud and tell me 'I told you so', until then just humour me - oh go on! ;-)

Bump at 34 & a half weeks

Bump side on at 34 and a half weeks

I don't know whether it's the hypnotherapy or my change in attitude but I have to admit that I've had a bit more sleep over the past three nights, probably between 3-5 hours a night! I've tried to go to bed not thinking that it's time to try and sleep and have put films on, sometimes three films until I start drifting off and yes my legs have been going, but rather than kick about, stress or get up I've just shuffled around (not the easiest task when you're 34 weeks pregnant with a rock hard, bowling ball like bump attached to your front but never mind), taken a few deep breaths and continued to try and watch the films. Granted I haven't been able to concentrate on the plots all that much, but actually watching them isn't really my intention, it's just to calm my mind down and take the emphasis off of my legs. In the end it works and without having to work or bath at 3am I've been drifting off and sleeping for an hour here and there between about 2am and 8am, lots of toilet stops and wriggling in between but it's a start and if it means storing a little more energy before the little one arrives then it is very much welcomed.

Work wise it's been a pretty good week too, lots going on and lots of positive feedback from existing clients. Plus I'm feeling confident about bringing in some more new clients over the coming month due to the enthusiasm of our new Business Development Manager, so all looking good! I don't think I'll have quite enough clients for James to be able to become a house husband as soon as the babies born, which is a shame as the people he works for (although self-employed) have said they're likely to be really busy soon and he won't be able to have that much time off when she arrives, which is a bit of a pain. If any of you know anyone that has a company that you think would benefit from Social Media then any referrals you can pass my way would be really appreciated, particularly by James! ;-) Any queries can be emailed to us at info@visionodyssey.com and if they want to have a peek at our website it's http://visionodyssey.com  - thanks in advance folks ;-)

Socially I have had a really great week too . . . we had a family get together at Mums for my Grandpa and Uncles birthday, I caught up with a friend who I haven't seen for months which was lovely, James and I had another interesting Ante-Natal class and then went to his cousins house Saturday for a big family garden party to celebrate his Auntie and Uncles Ruby wedding anniversary and then today I went to a friends to discover they had very kindly arranged a surprise baby shower for me!! Very spoiled, as not only did I get to spend time with the girls themselves but also I was plied with a lovely spread of savoury food and cakes (plus a special plate of celery and radishes!!) but they also had treated James and I to some Mothercare vouchers, which will come in handy for the last minute bits we need to get - what a fabulous week and what wonderful friends and family I have! Many reasons to feel positive!!

One last minute thing before I sign off for the week . . . the midwife confirmed that the baby is finally head down and heading in the right direction and I've definitely felt feet sticking out of my bump this week, which is really amazing!

Desperate times!

So after a bit more sleep last week on our hols it seems I was lured into a false sense of hope as since I've been home the restless legs and no sleeping has reared it's ugly head again with a vengeance! I also have it in my arms and hands and it's not just at night anymore so I haven't even been able to snatch a snooze during the day. I find it so hard to believe that there is nothing the midwife / doctor can do about this and if I'm honest the thought of going another 8 weeks with little more than an hour or two sleep every 24 hours makes me feel sick. Even as I am writing this blog (at 5am Sunday morning) my legs, arms and hands are fidgeting like crazy and yesterday all I wanted to do was watch a film in the afternoon and relax whilst it was chucking it down with rain but no sooner had I got comfortable (which is a challenge in itself at the moment) the urge to move and thrash my legs about began, so I saw no more than five minutes of the film before I was pacing the house in tears at this hopeless situation. Wow, it all sounds quite dramatic doesn't it and believe me when I tell you I hate moaning more than anyone, especially when despite this I still consider myself exceptionally lucky to be having a baby. However, what is the point in me writing a blog about my journey through pregnancy if I'm not honest . . . hopefully my whinging will not put you off reading! ;-)

I have got an appointment with the midwife tomorrow so am going to have to stress a little more about needing help. I have suggested a few times that perhaps low iron levels may be causing this but each time she has said it has nothing to do with it. I have got to have some more blood tests after seeing the Doctor before we went on holiday but stupidly put this off this week as knew I had this appointment tomorrow and don't like making too much of a fuss so every day this week kept thinking 'it can wait' - looking back that was probably stupid. I'm just hoping they put me on iron supplements and agree to me trying magnesium (suggested by a herbalist I spoke to) in an attempt to make the next few weeks a little easier. I can't see that taking these supplements will do the baby or me anymore harm than me simply not sleeping, plus at this rate I'll be a zombie before she is even born - which I thought was supposed to come afterwards! The thought of sleepless nights with her once she is here doesn't phase me at all, which some of you are probably sniggering about to yourselves, but the likelihood is that she will sleep at some point during 24 hour periods and without RLS I'll actually be able to lay down and do the same - that thought alone is one of the things keeping me going at the moment as being able to do that will be like the best gift I could ever have (aside form the baby herself of course). I told my midwife this last time I saw her and her response was 'well the thing is you'll be so tired then that you won't know what you're doing and you won't be thinking that then!' - just the positive attitude I need! She clearly isn't listening when I tell her I've been sleep and rest deprived for the last two months . . . if someone hasn't suffered personally with RLS I don't think they'll ever understand the extent of it and she is obviously one them - lucky thing!

So, let's put a positive swing on this blog so I don't put a cloud over your head today . . . erm, well, erm, oh crikey something good must have happened this week! Oh yes on Monday! I had a lovely lunch out with my Mum, Sister and our lovely friend Sarah - I went for a ploughman's (in the hope that I'd get some celery) followed by a chocolate cupcake with pistachio and amaretto ice cream, which was lovely but not quite as enjoyed as the celery and radishes I bought afterwards. My craving has continued for these and I've gone through nearly four bags of radishes since Monday so far this week! Now whilst I type I want them again and it was only about 3 hours ago that I was downstairs munching on some and probably 3 hours before that too! I didn't really believe in cravings before I was pregnant but it really does take a hold of you and once you've thought of the thing you want, that's it, there's no going back - you just have to have it! To give you an example of how much I love these things at the moment, on Friday night we were at my Mums to watch the first part of the last Harry Potter film (which, you guessed it, with my annoying restless legs I didn't end up being able to watch it, neither did poor Mum who gave me some treatments in an attempt to help) and James and Yaz had come back from the shop armed with a bag full of popcorn, chocolate, biscuits etc etc but I just wasn't interested - all I wanted was a crunchy juicy radish! ;-)

Socially, I haven't seen anyone else this week unfortunately, apart from the people at our first ante-natal class that we went to yesterday. There was one girl I knew from school, so it was nice to catch up with her and the class itself was quite interesting actually. It was all about pain relief and we got to try gas and air, which was worth going for alone! The midwife holding the class also took a tens machine around for everyone to try and after about 2 seconds each person was wriggling and saying how much they could feel it, me however . . . nothing! She had to turn it right up before I felt anything and it wasn't until I noticed my wrist and hand twisting up towards me that I realised it was in fact doing something, I just couldn't feel the tingling sensation everyone else was talking about. I'm not sure what that says about me? Perhaps it's due to my whole body being numb through lack of sleep ;-) One thing I took away from the session was an overwhelming feeling of relaxation when thinking about the birth - something I definitely didn't think I'd feel like! I definitely want to have a water birth if I can and if possible to go without too much pain relief - I feel like relaxation is the key and will be pursuing my research on hypno-birthing and other similar relaxation techniques so that I can try and remain as calm as I can throughout - perhaps easier said than done but that's my intention. I'm sure many of you experienced mothers out there are once again laughing to yourselves and imagining me begging for an epidural at the earliest opportunity, which perhaps I will and I'm certainly not writing it off but I will be trying to do it without if I can use other methods of relaxation that I know have worked for others. Watch this space to see how I get on!

 Growth wise, I'm not sure whether I've grown much since last week really. The bump is rock hard still and plenty of regular moving from the little one to show me she's doing ok in there. Last night James and I were playing her our favourite music with my big headphone cans on my tummy and we're going to make a playlist to play to her between now and the birth that will hopefully be something she'll relate to once she's with us so we can play it to her to get her off to sleep (worth a shot!). Talking of playlists I'm also going to create a playlist for me during labour and would love some input from you, my lovely friends and readers. I want a playlist of songs that are both relaxing and positive, something that is harder to find that you think as it turns out most of the chilled music I listen to has really depressing lyrics! Therefore, your mission, should you choose to accept, is to recommend a track to me to add to my playlist - this way I can think of you during labour when your song choice is making me smile instead of wince with pain! I know a lot of you are into music as much as me so I'm expecting heaps of great suggestions from you - now is not a time to be shy, comment  on this blog with songs to your hearts content please - the more tracks the better, labour can go on for a while you know!! ;-)

A UK holiday - first for me in a while!

Firstly, apologies for the delay with this blog - technically it should have been with you last week but I thought I'd use our holiday as an excuse to put it on hold for a few extra days . . . the cheek of it!! ;-)

We had a lovely weekend leading up to our Suffolk holiday, kicking it all off with Melissa and Kev's wedding in Reading which was fabulous and in the most idilic setting you could imagine. 

'Melissa & Kevin Board on their big day!'

It was lovely to catch up with lots of friends I hadn't seen for a while and weirdly three of us girls out of one very close group are all pregnant and due within a few months of each other, there has to be something in the air!! I don't live close to any of these girls unfortunately, with one in Nottingham, one Australia and the rest in Kent (outskirts of London) but we do make an effort to see as much of each other as possible so it will be lovely to have babies of similar ages. These ladies are the ones I met when Debbie and I first went travelling to Australia, almost 12 years ago now, so we've remained very close and I'm sure will be friends for the rest of our days. The Saturday morning after the wedding we met up at a pub in Reading, where a lot of people were nursing hangovers. We stuck around for one drink and then had to head off to Hertfordshire to my Dads, where he was having a BBQ for his birthday. I'd given him a list of food to buy so that I could make a variety of side salads and dishes (not a man's forte!) so as soon as we arrived I got stuck in with the help of my lovely cousin Leah. It was a family get together, so great to see some of my Auntie and Uncles and another cousin (Faye), as well as my Dads Uncle and Cousin too, who I hadn't seen for years. We didn't stay very late as had to get back for our dog (have I mentioned our dog before?? If not he's a soppy chocolate Labrador who unfortunately has pretty much every ailment going poor thing!) but it was lovely all the same. Sunday morning we packed our stuff for the holiday, filled the car up and then headed off to Suffolk to our holiday cottage (http://www.wenhaston.net/lemancottage) . . .

James & Woody at Walberswick

We were lucky for the first two days with sunshine and warmth-a-plenty so made the most of that, although I did have some work commitments to tend to on the Tuesday which took up most of my afternoon. Working for yourself has it's downfalls sometimes I suppose, but it's early days for the building of the business and the aim is to have managers employed one day to deal with the day to day queries and stuff - continually working towards the dream! The great thing is that with my business I could potentially work anywhere, so me, James and the baby could be in a luxury villa in Asia somewhere and so long as I've got wifi, a phone and laptop we can make it work from anywhere. James is particularly keen for things to take off more and more so that he can be a full-time house husband! In my mind I think it would great to run the business together in the future and share the responsibilities of that and the bringing up of our child - he can continue with the housework though . . . well he's so good at it! ;-)

The Tuesday of our week we jumped on a train in Ipswich to London and spent the afternoon wandering around Camden, until the rain started anyway and then we hit one of the pubs at the Lock for a cheeky beer and half a Guinness for me! 

After this we headed to the Roundhouse where we watched Beady Eye and got upgraded to the balcony seated area due to my convenient pregnancy! I never would have even considered playing the 'pregnancy card' but a guy that worked there suggested I ask about an upgrade at the help desk, as I think he was concerned about me being amongst the rowdy Liam Gallagher fans! I would never have asked off of my own back as am a stubborn so-and-so at times and don't like to be thought of being any less able than anyone else, however by the time we reached the Roundhouse I'd realised that perhaps at 32 weeks pregnant I'm not as agile and capable as I was 7 and a half months ago! I seriously thought I'd be able to continue as normal until I gave birth but my bump appears to have dropped and when walking I feel like I need to hold it up and have my legs a lot further apart than normal - believe me this is not a good look and I am trying my best to fight it, but it seems like I'm getting nearer and nearer to the point of having to give in a little!

Walberswick

Walberswick

James at Thorpeness

The rest of our week was filled with sightseeing (Walberswick, Southwold, Aldeburgh, Thorpeness, Snape Maltings, Halesworth and lots of walking locally in and around Wenhaston itself), seeing my brother and his partner James quite regularly as they live ten minutes down the road, plus we also had a BBQ on the final Saturday as my Mum, step-dad and Sister had stayed the Friday night on their way back from Gatwick, plus Karl and James and James' Mum, Sister and Niece all came over. We also went to watch an open-air cinema screening of Dirty Dancing in Ipswich, which was something we've only ever done in Australia before. It was a good atmosphere but a tad cold and uncomfortable for me sitting on the ground - what an old woman I am!

Southwold Harbour

Snape Maltings

Southwold

Snape Maltings

Southwold

That just about sums up our week really . . . baby / bump wise I feel like I've grown massively! I slept heaps better in Suffolk even though it's tough to get comfortable and I do wake every couple of hours but it's better than the last few weeks, although the restless legs seemed to happen during the day more to make up for it! I've also developed a craving for celery, radishes and if they're not available crunching on ice!! Strange but true and I'm quite happy with such a healthy craving! I only weigh 9 and a quarter stone still so have put on a stone and a quarter since being pregnant, which means I must have at least another three-quarters of a stone to gain by D-Day - better get some more chocolate and cakes down my neck and fatten this baby up! I'm going to wish I hadn't said that next month aren't I?!! ;-)

Bump at 32 weeks

Bump much bigger at 32 weeks!

 I hope you've all had a good week or so since I last wrote - anything to report?? Please feel free to comment to keep me inspired to continue writing . . . ;-)

Life without dreams = dull!

Hi folks, another short-ish blog this week as not much to report.

Still lacking in the sleep department, although did have about 5 hours on Tuesday night and my legs weren't too bad last night after a bit of dancing around the house, leg stretches as instructed by the hubby and a soak in the bath before bed. I didn't sleep much for a different reason last night though and that's this rash that I have had the past few days - it seems to come and go but last night was rife, which led to crazy scratching for a majority of the night! I thought it may have been some kind of heat rash, although despite this fab humid weather I haven't felt too hot so not really sure. I've seen the doctor about it to be on the safe side and it's pregnancy related apparently so I've got some cream and antihistamine to take and also have got to go back for further blood tests for my liver etc as my haemoglobin levels are a bit low, although I'm sure nothing to worry about. I think I've passed the stage where I notice much bump growth now, so am replying on other peoples comments (yes even after last weeks rant!) and looking back at the weekly photos to check on the progress. She is certainly super active as usual, which always makes me smile. It just brings it home that there's a little person in there and all this suffering is microscopic in terms of how amazing it will be once she's here with us. As every Mum always says, it will be worth it and I'm totally with them on that. Can't wait!

Work has been pretty fun this week, getting to grips with working for our new creative client who is already super impressed with what we've achieved for him. Plus the work phone has been ringing off the hook over the last few days with enquiries for social media campaign management, proof reading and copywriting work as well as other businesses wanting to link up in some way. There has been a massive boost of followers on my business Twitter account @visionodyssey and lots of contact from people and companies on LinkedIn and Facebook too, so it's all certainly heading in the right direction. I believe that keeping positive and confident about what we're doing will bring us success and it's certainly not failing me yet! Who ever is listening to my wishes and dreams please keep it coming, as I'm ever so grateful! ;-)

Do you have dreams / goals / wishes?? I really hope so and if you do, do you write them down? For almost the last ten years I've been writing down my goals and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that every single one of them so far has been achieved, not always by the target dates but not usually far off. So, it's fair to say that I'm someone who gets what I want! I don't mean to sound arrogant by that, I just know what I want out of life and that only I am the one responsible to get it, whether it be material things or happiness it's all down to me. I also want you to know that YOU can have whatever you want too if you put your mind to it. If you haven't written goals down before, give it a go . . . just grab a bit of paper and a pen and list 10 things that you want (this can be absolutely anything, however big or small for example a new TV, a qualification of some kind or something as simple as to make someone smile everyday) and then beside each goal write down a date that you want to achieve this thing by or how often you want to achieve it. If you don't make goals measurable in some way like this then you will probably find that it's something you'll always aim for 'tomorrow' and we all know that 'tomorrow never comes' in this scenario, don't we! If any of you want help with your goals just let me know and I'll be happy to be a sounding ear for you. Equally if any of you want to share some of your goals with me and my readers then please do, as you'll be even more likely to achieve them if you tell people what it is you're aiming to do!

That's it for this week folks, as I've got a busy weekend planned (which starts today - Friday) with our friends Melissa and Kevs wedding in Reading, my Dad's birthday BBQ on Saturday in Herts and then after heading home that evening the next day we're off to Suffolk on our holiday for a week, which we're really looking forward to! I'll be doing a bit of work whilst I'm there but am going to try and force myself to chill a bit too, after all it might be a while until we get to do that again soon!! ;-)

Have a lovely weekend and look forward to hearing from you about your goals . . .

30 weeks down, 10 to go!

I can't believe I'm into my 31st week of pregnancy already! Time has really flown - it doesn't seem like yesterday when we first found out in December and here we are thinking about things like packing a hospital bag!! I've been told by a few people that we should be doing this now but as much as I think about it I can't seem to get my head around this just yet, let alone consider actually doing it. I suppose I can see the sense in it, as it's one less thing to worry about when the time does come and I guess it could be quite stressful if I suddenly had to go to hospital and hadn't sorted it, plus being out in the sticks it's not a two minute drive to the hospital so if James had to come back and do it, who knows what he might miss?! Maybe we'll think about it more next week then . . . by the looks of the lists I've been given and emailed it'll take a month to get all the stuff together! For some reason getting things like breast pads, nappies and sanitary pads is just not as a exciting as all the clothes and nursery things.

I don't feel like I've grown much more since I last blogged, but the comments I've had from people this week has been a different reaction. Some people going as far as saying I'm 'huge' and even 'fat' - thanks guys! In actual fact according to the experts I'm quite small and luckily those that have had children themselves appear to notice that and kindly describe me as 'compact' and say that I have a 'lovely, perfect bump' - that's better! ;-) For the record I do only weigh just a fraction over 9 stone and am three-quarters of the way through my pregnancy (*smug grin on my face*). I never thought I'd be bothered but for some reason I do feel a little sensitive about the whole size thing (can you tell?), stupid I know as after all it would be virtually impossible to not grow when pregnant and it's not like it's a long term arrangement - perhaps I do actually have some sensitive pregnancy hormones kicking around . . . 

There has been lots of movement from the little one this week and I've grown to enjoy this action, where I wasn't so keen initially when it became this obvious. It's quite enjoyable watching my stomach contort into all kinds of weird shapes as she rolls around and kicks inside - she definitely seems to be awake heaps more nowadays making it all seem so much more real and exciting. Talking of exciting, this week the nursery furniture arrived so her room is coming together now - I keep peeping in there, still finding it hard to imagine an actual baby being in there too though, the furniture is one thing but our baby . . . SURREAL!!

 I've had a lovely social week seeing so many people, it's really taken my mind off of the whole restless legs and sleeping issues, which are still going on but I'm residing to the fact that I'm just going to have to get used to it so am not stressing about it anymore. I will probably have a chat to the doctors this week to see if they can suggest anything (they're not as cautious as the midwives) just in case though so fingers crossed. 

Monday, my friend Jody (who lives in Australia), her Mum and our other friend Jodie and her lovely daughter all came to visit on Monday, staying Monday night and spending half the day Tuesday here too. It was great to see them all and as they were here another good friend of mine, Sally and two of her children, popped over for a drink on the Tuesday to see us all, which was lovely too as I haven't seen her for ages.

Thursday morning my friend Kerry and her son popped over and later that afternoon me and my Sister went on a road trip to Suffolk to visit our Brother until Friday. We had a lovely relaxing time there and I checked out the holiday cottage that James and I have booked starting next Sunday, which looks lovely so I'm really excited for that break now. Plus I spied countless places offering cream teas, so I'll be in heaven!

Saturday, was pretty action packed as I met my friends Hanna, Frances, Lisa, Clair and Kerry for a few drinks in Norwich early afternoon and then headed straight from there to the supermarket to pick up a big birthday cake for my friend Anna and then went to get changed at Morris' house before 10 of us headed for a night out at Jongleurs comedy club for Anna's 30th birthday. There were four comedians and it was good fun, despite no air-conditioning and my legs going crazy with the heat. I made the mistake of taking my shoes off for a bit and then struggled to get them back on again, school girl error!!

Today (Sunday) James and I are chilling out, I've been doing a bit of studying in the garden but came into the cool to write this blog as it's boiling out there today. Then we've got a roast dinner at my Mums this evening so no cooking to worry about, plus I think I'm in for a reflexology treatment and hair cut - what a great Mum I've got!! How I'm going to live up to that as a Mum myself I really don't know!!

In addition to all of this fabulous socialising I managed to get heaps of work done too and am getting more and more excited about how my business is progressing. With a new client under my belt and quite a few businesses requesting more info and quotes it looks like I'll be able to meet my aim of the amount of clients that I wanted before the baby arrives. James is particularly excited about this as he's pretty keen on being a house husband - believe me, he'd make an awesome one too and it would be lovely for him to be more involved in the business so that we can continue to grow it together. Sharing this and lots of time with the baby everything would be just perfect - you know more forever working for the dream and I won't stop trying until we've succeeded. The dream, to remind you, by the way is having plenty of quality time as a family, to be able to travel the world together and have a steady business bringing in enough income for us to do all this, nothing extravagant required just enough to mean we don't have to be dictated to by the rat race and if we can help family out where needed to that would top it off nicely. The thing to remember though, is to make sure I spend as much time with James and our new addition whilst working towards this as I plan to after, as otherwise what's the point - I know people who have been working so hard for something for most of their lives but make the mistake of missing out in the meantime - fatal mistake, as life is for living and without being negative you never know how much time you've got so keep working towards your goals but live for the moment in the meantime too as otherwise it might be too late by the time you look back. I think if you master this you've got it sorted!

That's all from me folks, apart from to say that I'm not going to publish the challenges anymore as didn't really get as much support for it as I'd hoped but if enough of you request me to start it up again of course I'll spend time on putting some more together . . . after all it's for you guys, so if you want it I'll do it! ;-)

Until next time . . . keep smiling lovely people x