Bumpy-Blues

Today my shopping list read:

Toothpaste

Bread

Ham

Milk

Cereal

Fruit

Something to cheer you up

I never did decide what that something at the end was. I guessed at chocolate. And a lift-the-flap book for Tori because it made her giggle and that cheered me up.

Why do I need cheering up? Honestly? I really don’t know. Tomorrow is D-Day for BabyBump, I should be all excited and happy but I’m just not. Yesterday and today I have been a big fat lump of useless miserableness. The rest of the week I’ve been happily pottering round playing with the Tweenster and cleaning the house or baking and what-not. Yesterday I crashed, face-first. I wanted to do ‘stuff’ – tidy Tori’s room, hoover, watch TV, play with Tori, write a blog post, read a book. Anything. I just didn’t have the patience. I tried to do most of the above and just got annoyed with all of them and gave up.

Today has been similar.

I must say though that the sun coming out has helped a little. The weather is fighting my mood for me a bit and the walk to Co-op was nice even if it did leave me feeling utterly wiped out when I got back (which is pathetic, it’s a 4 minute walk…). Now my legs feel like jelly over an hour later – just another ache to add to the list.

I can’t sleep. I can’t concentrate on anything. I can’t finish anything.

I. Just. Can’t. Do. Anything. With. Myself.

I have the Bumpy-Blues and I’m fed up of them now. I want the old me back – the one that knows how to smile for longer than 30 seconds at a time and doesn’t cry all the time. Anyone seen her anywhere?

Please hurry up BabyBump – it’s nice out here and Mummy needs a cuddle really badly….

Spring coming?

I appear to be nesting.

This is odd, because I totally didn’t last time unless you count the urge to fold all the washing the night before Tori made her appearance. This time around, however, I keep baking, cooking, washing things and getting ‘stuff’ organised. This is great for everything except possibly my families waistlines (serious cake and biscuit intake increase).

Or is it just the whole Spring cleaning urge thing taking over as we slowly crawl our way towards the end of Winter? I don’t tend to get that either to be honest, I am a terrible housekeeper and a change in the weather doesn’t really do much to change that. Though I wish it did, imagine turning into a cleaning Goddess every time it rained or something – that would be great… *daydreams*

Either way, today I plan to put up BabyBump’s Treasure Cot and work out how to get the drapes on it and maybe do a bit more baking or cook up some soup…

Did you go through a ‘nesting’ stage? Mad cleaning? Decorating? I’m just nosey really and want to know all about it!

No-one's going to be nesting in this BirdBox this year. The Biodegradable label on this was clearly telling the truth!

January Challenge – Mission Complete!

You might remember back at the start of the month I took up Tiddlyompompom’s ‘January Challenge’ and set myself the task of packing my maternity bag for hospital by the 31st, ready for BabyBump’s arrival some time in February (due 27th).

Well I’ve done it! See:

Bag for BabyBump, Bag for me.

This time around I have packed towels, a toothbrush and a hairbrush and other little things (like slippers) that I neglected to include last time, when I seemed to forget that I would be there too and only really packed for Baby.

All that’s left to go in is my camera and camcorder and my dressing gown – but they are all still currently in use and will have to be remembered on the day and flung in at the end. I have charged up the spare batteries for the cameras though and packed them.

Now it’s just a waiting game to see when these adorably tiny clothes are going to be filled with a small person – and find out who said small person is – girl or boy and, you never know, we might even agree on a name some time too…

I completed my January Challenge – did you?? Hop on over to Tiddlyompompom’s blog to see how everyone else got on with their challenges!

Review: Sporty Bump Ltd ‘Robe-Around’ Towel for Mum-To-Bes

I was recently given the opportunity to test out and review Sporty Bump Ltds brilliant new product for Mum-To-Bes – the ‘Robe-Around‘ Towelling Robe.

A stylish looking towel-wrap with Velcro fastenings at the top, it’s a brilliant idea and an essential for any Mum-To-Bes who attend gym/exercise classes/go swimming or are hitting the beach during their pregnancy.

What’s so special about it? I hear you say. Well, let me enlighten you:

Firstly, I am now 8 months pregnant and BabyBump is, well, rather large. My normal bath towels are all very well but they no longer work like they used to when I try to wrap them around myself after a swim or a shower – there tends to be a gap somewhere around the place which isn’t so bad at home but is less great when you’re in a changing room full of strangers. The ‘Robe-Around‘ is brilliantly designed to combat this with a clever pleated design that expands with BabyBump as you go along. Therefore sparing you the little flashes of flesh as you dry your hair with your towel wrapped round you.

Clever expanding pleat design.

Which brings me on to the Velcro strip at the top of the towel. Now, I’ve had a wrap-around towel in the past where the Velcro, whilst a good idea in theory, just drove you mad. It stuck to everything, not just where it was meant to, and snagged at the towel making it look scruffy and tatty very quickly. And as for washing it. Well, if I pulled one sock off it, I pulled off a hundred, even when I had carefully stuck it to itself before I put it in the washer. Needless to say, it has now been relegated to the back of the cupboard.

The ‘Robe-Around’ is different – the Velcro strip at the top is softer than normal Velcro and doesn’t stick or catch in the towel at all yet sticks very firmly to the strip it is meant to. Excellent! It also didn’t stick to a single other garment in the washing machine when I washed it.

Also, the strip is designed to be long enough to accommodate ALL Mum’s-To-Be, whether you are a size 8 or 20 it will be plenty big enough and fasten securely round you AND Bump.

This velcro fastening was a total saving grace when I took my toddler swimming. Anyone who has done this will understand the trial that is getting both yourself and a toddler dry and dressed after a swim.

Toddlers have a way of wandering at high speed in directions they shouldn’t, which makes getting yourself dry and dressed without ending up running nakedly round the changing room after them a bit of a challenge. Which is a source of horror if you are as self-conscious as me, especially when I have added Bump. Being able to fasten the ‘Robe-Around’ and have my hands free was brilliant – I could retrieve Tori from the entrance to the shower without dropping my towel in a puddle and leaving my dignity in the nearest locker. I managed to get changed without showing off any more flesh than I wanted to regardless of Tori’s utter refusal to stay put once I’d got her changed.

As well as being practical and invaluable when you need your hands free, the ‘Robe-Around’ looks really good, making it an ideal accessory for if you are going on a holiday somewhere with a beach. You’d look great after a swim in the sea with this on

When I first pulled it from it’s packaging the thought ‘it’s not very soft and snuggly’ did spring to mind, however, after washing the ‘Robe-Around’ before I used it the first time, as advised on the packaging, it lost almost all of the rough new-ness that I had felt and I almost forgot that I was worried about it being scratchy. That first wash also got rid of any lose fluffy bits that inevitably come on new towels.

So there you have it. The ‘Robe-Around’ from Sporty Bump Ltd. I absolutely love it and highly recommend it to any Mum-To-Be out there.

It costs just £20 plus p&p, is 100% cotton and is fully machine washable.

Go buy yours now at www.sportybump.co.uk and don’t forget to check out all their other great products, perfect for active Mum-To-Bes who want a bit of style and comfort through their pregnancy.

~

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Sporty Bump and Lesley at LSMedia for allowing me to review this brilliant product. I received one ‘Robe Around’ Towel for the purpose of the review, no other payment was offered or received.

Diets always start on Monday…

In response to QWERTY Mum‘s post I finally decided to share something that has been niggling at me for the last couple of months. And before you start, yes I am aware of the fact that I am pregnant and that getting a little tubby is part of the deal but there is no denying that, this time around, I’ve got distinctly more tubby than last time.

Last night I was looking for a particular photo to check the date of something (my photographs are like my diary, I rely on them somewhat) and I found myself looking at pictures of me not long after Tori had made her appearance. They showed me pretty much how I always picture myself, which is not who I tend to spot in the mirror most mornings these days.

Me, two weeks after Tori was born

Now I can’t exactly start a full on diet just yet, what with being almost 8 months pregnant, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start thinking about what (and how much) I eat. Noticably this pregnancy I have snacked. I may have been sick a lot but I have also eaten an awful lot of not so healthy stuff too. This has inevitably resulted in chubbier cheeks and wobbly bits where there didn’t used to be any, even when I was pregnant last time.

 

Just 3 days before Tori arrived. With beautiful, deaf Smithy at BCDH, RIP little man xx

Now, Sy bought me a beautiful dress for Christmas for me to wear to my cousin’s forthcoming wedding in May. This means I need to get myself down to a size twelve by then.

Right now, size twelve feels like a very long way away and I suspect I am going to need a lot of encouragement and help to get there once BabyBump has arrived. But that’s what QWERTY Mum is looking for – a bit of support and reassurance. Maybe if we all struggle together we can get to where-ever we want to be waist-line wise.

My diet might not be starting on Monday – but my healthy thinking is. And on that note, I’m off for a walk with Tori once I’ve linked up this post. Are you starting a diet for the New Year? Or got stuck in your healthy living plans? Blog and share and maybe we can help each other along the way

The Name Game 2

Well, it took me two days but I’ve done it. Before me is a list of 156 names. Varying from utterly bizarre/desperate to quite sensible, possible suggestions.

It took me so long because it was surprisingly hard. Though my brain did come up with some amusing entries to fill in blanks, which in hindsight, I could have filled with much more sensible ideas. But where would the fun be in that?!

Just for an insight, here’s a selection from my list – I’ll pick one name for each sex for each letter. I will do a mix of silly and sensible but I’ll let you decide which are which…

A: Anja    Arthur

B: Breanna   Bobby

C: Constance   Casper

D: Delta   Drystan

E: Elissa   Eric

F: Faith   Fergus

G: Georgia   Gaius

H: Harriet    Harvey

I: Ivy    Isaac

J: Jasmyn    James

K: Kyra    Kaleb

L: Libby    Lyall

M: Marie   Matty

N: Nikki   Norbert

O: Odelia   Oscar

P: Pippa   Percy

Q: Queenie    Quinn

R: Rae    Reubhen

S: Sally    Spencer

T: Teazel    Theo

U: Ulrika    Upton

V: Verity    Victor

W: Wilma    Winston

X: Xanthe    Xavier

Y: Yasmyn    Yoda

Z: Zelda    Zeus

All I need now is for Sy to write his list and then we can decide if, between us, we’ve managed to come up with any suggestions we might want to stick with!!

The Name Game

Baby is on the way. Big question – what are you going to call it when he or she arrives?

Well, we were a bit rubbish at this last time, only coming up with one girl’s name and no boy’s names at all. Luckily, we had a girl. Trouble is…we’ve now used up our only name…

So, today I decided to play a game. I got out my trusty notebook, full of scribblings from various uni seminars and lectures, shopping lists and notes passed between me and Liberty during aforementioned lectures when we should probably have been listening, and drew myself a grid.

For each letter of the alphabet I assigned 3 lines and split these in two columns – one for girls and one for boys. Then I made myself sit down and come up with three names for each sex starting with each letter. It was against the rules to leave any blank spaces so some names were hunted down on websites in desperation (have you ever tried coming up with 6 names starting with X on your own? Give it a go…). The idea is that I make Sy sit down and do the same without letting him see my list first. Then we can cross-reference, see what we both put down and see if any names leap out at us.

I hope they do. I don’t want a baby called ‘Um’…

I just want something *nice* to wear!

I am pregnant. I generally enjoy this experience despite its downsides such as instantaeneously throwing up when your other half brings fish and chips home as a special treat (That upset me, I love fish and chips). I do however have one major bugbear – the clothes.

I don’t know why, but through both of my pregnancies I have had the same issue: Designers seem to think that pregnant women lose all sense of both colour and fashion as soon as they start getting fat.

I appreciate that baby curves resrict the styles that can be worn flatteringly and no matter what you try, yes, your bump looks big in that, but this doesn’t explain why everything seems to be in shades of black, grey, mushroom and other similarly depressing colours. And it’s frumpy. So much stuff is frumpy.

I’m in a happy place in my life and I would quite like to be in clothes that reflect this. I’m not overly fussy, I have never been one to follow every trend and fashion. I was quite happy all the way through college and university in my non-skinny jeans, a nice bright t-shirt and a hoody of some variety. So I don’t think I’m asking for much, just some pink or a pretty pattern or something. I’m sick of things that look like they’ve been fashioned out of my Gran’s bedroom curtains, or, alternatively, just borrowed from her wardrobe…

There are patterned things around, I’m not denying it, and some of them are nice enough. But they all seem to be grey. I’m fed up of grey. It might be Winter but in my eyes that’s even more reason to wear something bright – battle the storm clouds instead of join them! Anyway, it was exactly the same when I was pregnant with Tori and she was a Summer baby. That season’s colour was apparently brown with more brown on it, which is about as depressing as grey with different shades of grey on it.

This sounds like I don’t want to wear black or brown or grey ever, which isn’t true, I like all of these colours in moderation. I just dont want to wear them every day.

I’m not saying there aren’t some nice clothes out there either, there are. I have a lovely pink Tinkerbelle maternity T-shirt with sparkly bits that I found in Peacocks and I have a couple of pretty ‘going out’ tops, one blue and one black, both satin effect and very flattering considering the shape you are when wearing them. But it’s taken two pregnancies and a lot of hunting to buy three tops I really like which is hardly a great record.

I think the worst thing, though, is that almost all of these not-particularly-nice clothes that you’re not going to be wearing for more than a few months cost you a small fortune to buy. And it’s not just the tops and dresses that cost you a fortune to buy the second you become pregnant either, I almost had a heart-attack the other night when hunting online for a new coat that will do up round Bump in this hideous weather. Not over the price of the coat (which I actually really like and was, rather happily, on sale) but over the price of a single pair of ‘jeggings’ from Mothercare.

Now, I don’t know about you but I generally think jeggings look pretty rubbish on anyone older than about nine years old anyway, so the prospect of paying £32 for a pair, extra ‘bump’ section or not, actually made me squeak out loud. And not with glee.

So, what am I doing about this lack of colour through my pregnancy? Wearing several T-shirts which are just a few sizes too big for me but are nice and colourful is one tactic, but I can’t say as they make me feel overly great about my shape as they tend to just make you look fat rather than pregnant. I’m endlessly hunting for those elusive coloured and pretty maternity clothes which I just *know* exist somewhere and you never know, by the time I get round to having a third baby, maybe someone will have pointed out to the World’s fashion designers that, actually, Mum’s-to-be like wearing pretty colours. Fingers crossed, eh?