To put you in the picture of my situation as I write this weeks blog . . . I'm currently sitting back in one of our oversized comfy brown leather sofas in the lounge with my Macbook on my lap and a hot cup of tea and pregnant ladies portion of homemade victoria sponge (well my take on a victoria sponge anyway - jam substituted for thick vanilla buttercream!) on the coffee table in front of me - hello Saturday!! I've been to Tesco this morning, marinated some meat, sliced a heap of onions to fry, prepared some pasta, made a homemade potato salad and a fresh salad all ready for 12 of James' family to join us for a BBQ this afternoon. So with a couple of hours to chill before they all arrived I thought I'd grab this opportunity to write my blog . . .
Last weekend we had a fantastic time at our friends wedding, it was a stunning ceremony and lovely reception and was great catching up with our friends from Australia and comparing bump sizes with my friend Kelly, who is due two days after me! 12 hours in heels began to take it's toll as the disco was drawing to an end at midnight though so we said our goodbyes and headed off to our room, where I ran a cold water bath to soothe my aching feet before bed. It's a lot harder carrying the two of us around in high heels than it was just me 7 months ago!
Pregnancy wise this week hasn't been all that fun. I hate saying that, as I feel so lucky to be pregnant but at the same time I do want to be honest and explain how I've been feeling each week rather than making out it's always a bed of roses. I promise I'm not whinging though as wouldn't wish any of it away if it meant not being fortunate enough to be expecting a child, so please bare with me for the next few minutes as I'm just going to tell it how it is . . . The restless legs is still a pain and has been causing more and more sleep loss, some nights not sleeping at all. Not so good when I've got an early shift for the council as I have to get up at 5.30! I'll be finished there at the end of this month though, so I won't have full days of no sleep to try and deal with for hopefully a full two months before the little one arrives. The other thing that has been pretty horrible this last week is cramp in my legs and feet. I'd never had cramp before I was pregnant and in my head I thought it was just like pins and needles, how wrong could I be?! It usually happens when I'm in bed and has lasted over five minutes a couple of times in the last few days, which is not nice and there seems to be nothing I can do to get rid of it any quicker. Let's hope this is another thing that will simply become a distant memory after the little one is born! I also had a bit of a scare last weekend as went from feeling her moving pretty regularly everyday to absolutely nothing after Friday night to Sunday afternoon, at which point I borrowed my cousins baby heartbeat monitor and as soon as I strapped it on she gave one hell of a kick, perhaps to show us she was ok! Since then she hasn't stopped moving and kicking and appears to have moved into a different position as I'm feeling her in different places to where I was a week ago, I can even see what is probably her head and bottom sticking prominently out of my bump - cute in some ways but if I'm honest at times still all a but alien to me! My back has started to ache again lately too, similar to how it was in the first trimester, which I guess this time around is due to the extra weight and strain it's dealing with as well as the fairly rapid growth that's happening.
Talking of rapid growth, apparently it's not as rapid as it seems as according to the midwife I'm a little smaller than I should be at this stage - still plenty of time for growth though and I feel like a whale so as long as she's ok I'm happy with 'a little smaller' ;-) My midwife appointment was pretty much a waste of time this week as I was meant to have an Anti-D injection, due to my rare blood group, but despite ordering it weeks ago they didn't have any in stock so I've got to back Monday for this, another measure up and some more blood tests - joy!
Something happened when I was in the waiting room for this midwife appointment that I guarantee will make you all smile (something to lighten the tone after my whinging in that last paragraph!) . . . I was sitting quietly, head in a magazine when another pregnant lady and little boy in his push-chair joined me in the waiting room. Despite feeling like a complete zombie, after yet another sleepless night, I turned and smiled at the lady and boy (probably about 18 months to a year old at a guess) and then went back to my magazine (miserable as that seems now, I just wasn't in the mood for small talk). At this point I heard the little boy say 'scary', followed by his mum asking 'what's scary?' at which point of course I looked up and as he said it again he was pointing (you guessed it!) right at ME!! If I hadn't been in such a state of exhaustion I probably would have been more embarrassed but as it was I felt more for his Mum, who was clearly mortified by what he'd just said. I laughed to make her feel at ease and then made a conscious effort to try and not look so frightening to this child - what on earth is lack of sleep making me look like?!!
The rest of the week has been about work really, lots achieved and ready to rock and roll with getting more new clients for Vision Odyssey - the new team members all really enthusiastic about what they're working on and what lies ahead for us all, so lots to be excited about. Now I just need the website to be finished, as having passed many planned launch dates my patience is starting to wear thin, although being a perfectionist doesn't help as I will probably continually see things that I want to change, however am definitely going to be biting the bullet sooner rather than later so we can get this show fully on the road! Once again I tell you all, please watch this space . . .
Now onto my challenge for this week and it's going to be one that everyone of you can get involved in so I'm expecting more comments than I've ever had before because it's easy folks!!
'A week of music therapy'
Inspired by the lovely James Muir's Blog this week I want you all to grab your iPods (or any other MP3 or CD players will do) and listen to your favourite music every day this week. Scientists have found that music encourages the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine, which may help us feel more positive and motivated. Sing along too and you will definitely get an even bigger happiness hit! Studies have also shown that singing reduces stress and lowers blood pressure so even more reason to give it a go! Now I want to know what song makes you want to jump up and dance or grab the nearest hairbrush for a good old sing-a-long session . . .
Here's one of my favourites:
Last weekend we had a fantastic time at our friends wedding, it was a stunning ceremony and lovely reception and was great catching up with our friends from Australia and comparing bump sizes with my friend Kelly, who is due two days after me! 12 hours in heels began to take it's toll as the disco was drawing to an end at midnight though so we said our goodbyes and headed off to our room, where I ran a cold water bath to soothe my aching feet before bed. It's a lot harder carrying the two of us around in high heels than it was just me 7 months ago!
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| 28 weeks |
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| 28 weeks |
Something happened when I was in the waiting room for this midwife appointment that I guarantee will make you all smile (something to lighten the tone after my whinging in that last paragraph!) . . . I was sitting quietly, head in a magazine when another pregnant lady and little boy in his push-chair joined me in the waiting room. Despite feeling like a complete zombie, after yet another sleepless night, I turned and smiled at the lady and boy (probably about 18 months to a year old at a guess) and then went back to my magazine (miserable as that seems now, I just wasn't in the mood for small talk). At this point I heard the little boy say 'scary', followed by his mum asking 'what's scary?' at which point of course I looked up and as he said it again he was pointing (you guessed it!) right at ME!! If I hadn't been in such a state of exhaustion I probably would have been more embarrassed but as it was I felt more for his Mum, who was clearly mortified by what he'd just said. I laughed to make her feel at ease and then made a conscious effort to try and not look so frightening to this child - what on earth is lack of sleep making me look like?!!
The rest of the week has been about work really, lots achieved and ready to rock and roll with getting more new clients for Vision Odyssey - the new team members all really enthusiastic about what they're working on and what lies ahead for us all, so lots to be excited about. Now I just need the website to be finished, as having passed many planned launch dates my patience is starting to wear thin, although being a perfectionist doesn't help as I will probably continually see things that I want to change, however am definitely going to be biting the bullet sooner rather than later so we can get this show fully on the road! Once again I tell you all, please watch this space . . .
Now onto my challenge for this week and it's going to be one that everyone of you can get involved in so I'm expecting more comments than I've ever had before because it's easy folks!!
'A week of music therapy'
Inspired by the lovely James Muir's Blog this week I want you all to grab your iPods (or any other MP3 or CD players will do) and listen to your favourite music every day this week. Scientists have found that music encourages the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine, which may help us feel more positive and motivated. Sing along too and you will definitely get an even bigger happiness hit! Studies have also shown that singing reduces stress and lowers blood pressure so even more reason to give it a go! Now I want to know what song makes you want to jump up and dance or grab the nearest hairbrush for a good old sing-a-long session . . .
Here's one of my favourites:
Doesn't sound like you are having a great deal of fun at the moment however it is also good to see you putting a positive slant on things...
ReplyDeleteI am of course going to take you up on your challenge and play my happiest tracks... I will also be dancing around with happy chemicals flowing through my body.
Take care and I look forward to your next update xx