Our header is now expecting too

Things that annoy me when I’m pregnant

Ok so hormones go a little bit crazy during pregnancy, and most of this stuff is my responsibility, but that doesn’t stop me breathing fire once in a while.

1. When people do a pee in the toilet I just cleaned……

2. Cooking disasters

3. When my cup of tea goes cold

4.When people put anything other than books on the book shelf

5.When I get up for the 3rd time that night to pee

6.and the toilet roll hasn’t been replaced correctly

7. Having to adjust the seat in the car

8. When things are left on the stairs

9. Forgetting why I have walked into a room

10. When the stair rail is used instead of the coat hooks

11. Finding myself sobbing during the opening sequence to Fireman Sam

12. Tea bags left on the side

13. Toothpaste in the sink

14. When the table isn’t cleared from breakfast before creativities begin…. mmmm toast crumb cards

15. When my husband has hic-ups…. or sneezes, or snores, or burps…. or breaths too heavily

16. The vacuum cleaner lead….. enough said!!

17. Discovering there’s no milk….. after brewing my cupa

18. Forgetting to remove the veg crate before using the microwave and praying for thanks that the house didn’t go up in flames

 

Sucking on coins at week 14

That’s right, I’m 14 weeks preggers and I have no idea when that happened, I’m still not even sure I am pregnant (bar the scan pics but they could be faked right?)

…. I had visions of telling you all about the real side of pregnancy, the un-glossy version you don’t read about in parenting magazines, but this little bean is so different from my previous two ‘monster symptom’ pregnancies that I’d feel like a fraud if I told you I was puking every day. Oh yes I’ve been sick, but with both H and Roo I did the exorcist impression every day for pretty much my entire pregnancy (and into labour last time) this time around I’m doing so much better.

I do have that ghastly metallic taste thing for the first time though, It doesn’t matter how many times I clean my teeth you can pretty much guarantee everything tastes like copper, yuk! I’m drinking lemonade like nobody’s business to try and counteract this, but I’m pretty sure that rotting my insides with fizz is probably counterproductive, I don’t know what else I can do though, two weeks of sucking on a coin!! Given this, it’s surprising the sickness is kept at bay really…

Had a call from the midwife with my blood results and looks like they need to test again this week, I suspect anaemia because it doesn’t matter how much broccoli I munch on I always seem to suffer from this, It’s a little worrying because I’ve been taking iron supplements for months now, but I’m sure all will be well.

I’m determined not to pile on the pounds this time around and I’m very proud to say that, other than family outings, I’ve not driven the car for weeks; you know that your fitness is improving when you can hold convocation with other playground mums without having to wheeze a hello after walking up the hill to the school. Having said this I’m a little miffed to find my clothes getting tighter, not a problem if I wasn’t still in maternity wear from the previous pregnancy though! I’m loving that I don’t feel I need to hide my baby belly although given the looks I’ve had, I think some people suspect I’ve put on weight, or worse, when they look at Roo then my tummy, that I must have more chub left over from 2012 than I really do, All should become clear to them when it rounds out a bit more though… bring on the summer maxi dresses.

So apparently baby is the size of a lemon now and I’m starting to look ahead to our scan in 6 weeks, Hubby is refusing to play the name game as he says we settle on one, he gets used to it then I change my mind again… he has a point! Baby Roo was always Baby Roo but we went through a few girl name ideas settling on Viola in the end (I’m so relieved he was boy as I really don’t like that now) and I still find female names harder, H was Beth for quite a while and was going to be Samuel for boy but I do prefer more quirky names now…. Hubby is set on a particular boys name and I think he reckons he can convince me of it but I’m not sure….. Difficult! I guess it’s just ‘Macfly’ for a while longer

Safetots

With an inquisitive toddler beginning to run about and a new baby on the way I was delighted to hear about the following website a few weeks ago. Safetots uk not only stock a mahooosive amount of baby safety products it’s also one of those websites which you can get lost on for hours… You know the sort, you go on for a changing bag and suddenly your basket is filled with all manner of equipment.

(Talking of changing bags, there’s a fab range on the site just for dads…. no floral in sight = no excuse for not doing the nappy run when out and about)

We live in a town house, which although giving us plenty of bedroom space for our growing family does make stairway safety a big issue for us. So far we have managed to get by, by closing the door in whichever room we are in with Roo, or using the play pen or travel cot but alas, he can now reach the door handles and more than once has given a cheeky wave bye bye before slipping out towards the stairs.

With two flights to cover, we need 4 stair gates and guess what? Will any stair gate do? Oh no, the ones I lovingly saved (reluctantly shoved in shed) from when H was a toddler do not fit the required gaps, grrr! Still, safetots has a great filter on their range where you can type in the exact size of your gap, be it, for patio doors, a room divider or an open plan arch into the kitchen (yep, we have that one) and WAHLA…. The site shows you the options available, pretty cool eh? Well, if I could find the bloomin tape measure that is…. It went missing this weekend after a sofa bed stairway negotiation adventure… which ended in hoisting a large sofa frame over the first floor balcony, I kid you not!

It seems like every possible new baby/toddler dilemma which I’ve been concerned about can be solved on Safetots, from buggy boards, to pram seats, baby carriers and great car and pushchair organisers its worth taking a look. Here are some of my favourite products.

Scans and Belly Jiggles

We had our third scan today, the first being for some reassurance and the second to tell us we were only ten weeks (that was a bit disappointing). Today we were set back once again, but only by a day. We now have a EDD (finally)! little bean is due 21st of September, looks like I’ll be doing the school run in my final weeks then…

It was an emotional but rather interesting morning… Having woken up from a slightly odd dream to the sounds of baby Roo cooing away at 6:30, we managed to convince him that 20 mins of Peppa Pig (which is permanently in our bedroom dvd player), while having mummy and daddy cuddles, was a far better option than a crack of dawn breakfast…

Pregnancy dreams are the best! Mine seemed to involve underground greenhouses(?!), a flight round New York city, and plastic dolls… I also recall getting angry will fellow contestants in a cooking competition during the night… the husband says I snored! Grrr this is possibly because I seem to have picked up a nasty little cold from some snotty child at a toddler group last week, I knew there was a reason why I don’t attend such events often aside from the competitive parenting, (my Chelsea tractor is bigger than yours, little jimmy was potty trained at 5 weeks etc) dam this constant coughing and sneezing, we know I have pelvic floor issues!

Baby Roo, hubby and I throw breakfast down ourselves and bundle out of the door leaving the eldest with our wonderful Mother’s Help, who is both more efficient and more organised than myself. H is in capable hands and would no doubt arrive at school with all equipment necessary, no toothpaste down her top, well fed, refreshed from a lovely walk and without the sound of ‘we’re running late again’ echoing in her ears. Its a shame she can’t join us but hopefully next time!

We stop at a garage on the way and grab a bottle of water before heading into the city, Roo seems excited by the change of routine and even more excited when he realises he can see the fish tank in the hospital again… there’s something about taking a toddler into a room full of broody mother-to-be, I only wish he would return their smiles, just once… but no, he’s so serious, just gets on playing peek-a-boo with the fish (until the power cuts out and he looks more confused than normal). ‘He actually has a dimple’, I tell people when they attempt to coax a smile from him. I don’t think anyone believes me… I wonder if this little bundle will be just as serious around strangers? or if they’ll be like their confident and bubbly big sister?

We make it into the scan room and I’m mortified to find that I’m required to hold my existing ‘baby apron’ up so she can scan… dam big babies!! But, apparently, muffin top aside, my bottle of water was not enough, I’m asked to drink more fluid and wait another half an hour….

By the time I re-enter the room, 7 polystyrene cups of water later, I’m bursting for the loo and praying I won’t sneeze. There were a few intense moments of belly jiggling to get little one to turn around and a more than one close call where I thought I might lose all dignity, but here he/she is… dated 12+2 weeks, with two arms and two legs and a strong heart beat….. Yes it’s starting to sink in… baby number three… a beautiful little blob…

A Helpful Snack

The Thin Red line

So, we’re pregnant! I hope this goes a little way to explain my absence of late, I’ve either been with the kiddies, working, or sleeping. Bfeeding a toddler during the early stages of pregnancy is exhausting not to mention slightly painful but, we’re still pushing forward in an earth-mother-with-kids-hanging-of-her-boobs kinda way….

The day the red line appeared I had stocked up on the following at Tesco…. A bottle of Malibu, 3 ovulation kits, a pregnancy test and a big box of tampons…… I secretly snuck away to the loo when we returned home (thanks to ‘In The Night Garden’) and obviously was delighted when the line appeared! But my second thought, was ‘dam it!….. What a waste of a shopping trip’

I hadn’t really expected to be pregnant that month, I mean, my cycle had been all out and all attempts had failed for 3 months previously. Plus, with the pressures of Christmas and various house guests, hubby and I are certain we didn’t actually do the deed….we still don’t remember when said event took place….. gosh is that marriage for you? I mean I often forget when he asks to me wash certain jumpers… and in turn he has forgotten to sort the tv wires for 6 months now, but sex… erm that’s never happened before…

Yes Aunt Flow was late, but it wasn’t the first time since she reappeared following Baby Roo’s birth, I took the test out of habit really… and low and behold, there it was, the thin red line!

Our dates have been very hard to decipher as this line appeared a week after conception (even odder now that I don’t remember). Those hormones must have been strong… I spent the first 8 weeks thinking I was two weeks ahead of myself and couldn’t understand why I didn’t feel particularly sick…. An early scan revealed our ‘Macfly’ (After the BTTF character, not the band) was strong and healthy but wouldn’t be sharing my Virgo birth sign as suspected (no I don’t believe in that, but sounds cool right?….. ok, I couldn’t think of another way to wrap up that sentence).

Surprisingly the sickness is so much easier to manage than both my previous pregnancies, maybe its because there’s little time to dwell and wallow but I feel so much better than before. The problem with third time around is the good old pelvic floors are less forgiving…. I’m not trying to gross you out but, ever puked and peed?…. its humiliating!! I’ve taken to attempting to reinstate them every time I boil the kettle…. This is fairly often, as, when you have a toddler the kettle is re-boiled at least four times before you actually get round to making a brew!

As you can see I’m not going to be sharing the glamorous side of pregnancy (does it really exist). I’d love to do a bump update every week for you but erm at the moment I look about 6 months gone, the joys of close pregnancies! Ill simply relate as I always do, the reality of being a slummy mummy of two three!!

A little announcement