What I miss about pregnancy

There seems to be such a baby boom at the minute, my social media time lines are filled daily with scan pictures and bump updates! It's making me reminisce about last year like a crazy woman and brings back floods of memories both good and bad!.

When the Mr asked what my latest blog post was on and I told him,he had a look of utter horror on his face. 

Do not fear, friend. After this particular bout of teething, all plans of a future pregnancy have been put on hold for now, until my sanity returns at least.

But below are just a few things I miss/love about the pregnancy process!

Those first few weeks: When only Stuart and I knew our little secret. It was too early to tell  anyone. In fact we were still trying to come to terms with it ourselves, and for several weeks we got to enjoy this special but absolutely terrifying time together. Stuart wrote on a Valentine's Card ' You and me, we'll soon be 3' I was an absolute emotional wreck reading it. 

The thick glossy hair and strong  white nails: I thought this was nothing but a pregnancy myth but wow, this pregnancy caper does wonders for your hair and nails. I didn't really take too much attention to it at the time but at a few months post partum I was mourning the loss of my shiny thick locks and unbreakable nails!
 Apparently this is all to do with the increased estrogen levels, blood circulation and sped up metabolism which carries more nutrients to your hair and nails. But I reckon Pregnacare supplements had a lot to do with this as well-My midwife told me to continue taking them even after giving birth to make sure my body was getting all the nutrients it needed while my body was recovering.

It's ok to put on weight!: For the first time in my life it was completely acceptable to put on weight, in fact it's natural and healthy. Although eating for two is unfortunately a myth, it's probably the one time in your life you can enjoy your food without feeling too guilty. (I didn't say no to seconds.. or thirds for that matter) Any time I was horrified at the number on the scales I reminded myself that it wasn't just the weight of the baby I was carrying, it was placenta, increased volume of blood/fluid  and amniotic fluid.
Pass the cupcakes, please!

Baby shopping: The other day we were in a baby section of a clothing shop and I spotted  a pregnant woman with her mum browsing the first size clothes. I could have cried reminiscing back to those days, browsing through shops with mum 'awwwwhing' and 'aaaahing' over all the teeny little doll-like clothes. 
 Of course we could never leave a shop without buying at least something, even if it was just a pack of muslin cloths or socks! Not to mention that a shopping trip could almost always guarantee a free lunch with a iced caramel latte. I was in my element.
The minute I got home I would go straight into Eva's room and get everything out and would constantly sift through all the clothes sorting them into sizes, several times a week. I was obsessive!

The naps: I'm talking the pre 20 week naps, before the aches, pains, heartburn, cramps and even lightning crotch(Is there a politer way to put it?) kicked in. The post work naps that stretched well into dinner time. I've never been a great sleeper so these naps were heavenly!

The cleavage: I've said it before but Mother Nature gives you an amazing, natural free boob job, and in a cruel twist of fate takes it away from you, despite all the hard graft you've put in over the last 40 weeks. Life, eh?

The pregnancy bubble: You spend the duration in your lovely little pregnancy bubble which i miss terribly! I start back to work in less than a month and my bubble is well and truly burst. My body is back to normal. I can lift heavy things, I don't need to use the lift as the stairs that once seemed kilimanjaro like
are now fine. I can eat all the soft cheese I want, a few glasses of Jack D here and there are perfectly fine. I miss my little bubble of safe!

People are nicer, strangers stop to talk: Everyone loves a pregnant woman!.. (except  for maybe all the men on my Facebook list who've had to endure my pregnancy updates.) Working in retail customers constantly stopped to chat to me, asking me how I was getting on and offering up pieces of advice (not all welcome advice!- I could have done without hearing about how your complicated your daughters/nieces/second cousin twice removed's neighbour's delivery was) 
People become a lot friendlier, doors are opened for you, seats are offered up.. People have never been so nice to me in all my life. Now i'm just one of those pests with a a pram. One that struggles to navigate it around narrow shop aisles and clips people's ankles in the process, the kind of person you hate to find yourself walking behind.

The midwife appointments: Talking to midwives, getting baby's measurements, hearing the heartbeat, seeing the growth chart progress.. I really enjoyed it. Just me?

The bump: I was constantly being told how much i'd miss my bump, and after 41 weeks I honestly couldn't remember what life was like pre-bump. By the end it made everything awkward, I underestimated how much room I had between myself and cupboards, doors, shelves- everything!. Trying to get into a comfortable position in bed was almost impossible, even talking left me gasping for air and shaving my legs left me as out of breath as doing a marathon. 
Nearly seven months on I admit I really do miss my bump, my little built in resting shelf. 
I used to sit for hours watching my bump rise and see a foot or a leg here and there, watching it grow by the week, and  the hiccups.. ahhh the hiccups.

The pampering: I was gifted lots of mum and me products for my birthday and towards the end of my pregnancy. Sleep mist, bump lotion,shampoo and bath oils. There are so many products on the market aimed at mums to be! (Mum and Me were my favourite but Asda do a great range, as does Sanctuary available in Boots!) I'd usually think products like this a little gimmicky and any excuse to get mums to be to part with their pennies but I really enjoyed them! The products are loaded with ingredients such as camomile and lavender to help relax and soothe those aches and pains as well as containing ingredients to hydrate your skin which can become stretched, itchy and tight in the later stages. It's a lovely time to really focus on your body and health and really take time to pamper yourself. Lets face it, once baby arrives this goes out the window!. 
I practically lived in the bath, did weekly hair and face masks, made smoothies with fresh fruit and treated my bump to a massage with bump butters morning and night!.

Lazy days: Days spent in the comfort of my bed. I'd make breakfast and would go crawling back into bed- which contained a massive stash of books, magazines, snacks!. At the time I felt ridiculously guilty.. Stuart used to joke that I spent all day in bed and get dressed just minutes before he walked through the door from home (...and there may be a little a bit of truth in this..) but on reflection, I had nothing to feel guilty about, had I known how little time I would spend in my bed when baby arrived i'd have spent the last two months in bed! instead we were smack bang in the middle of a house move, but nevertheless, I had some amazing pajama days, I think every mama to be should make the very most of these days!

Being a psycho and getting away with it: All hell broke loose the day Stuart returned from Boots with the wrong flavour of Gaviscon. Aniseed? ANISEED? what must he have been smoking to pick me up aniseed flavour? The poor man just took it on the chin, apologising profusely.
Any time we had as much as a disagreement, even just a minor difference of opinion such as what to have for dinner, my eyes would well up and everything seemed earth shattering. It's comical (and embarrassing) looking back. 
Stuart told me in the weeks after that it was getting increasingly hard to bite his tongue, but he knew it was the hormones.  
The man did good.

You're never alone: You've yet to meet your little one, yet there is an unbreakable bond. When I was having a tough time in work feeling my little one kick away really kept me going, it was such a comforting feeling, I was never alone. From the minute I found out I was pregnant I became so protective over this little person I had yet to meet. Remember that scene in Friends when Rachel has her baby?.
Upon giving birth she looks down at baby Emma in her arms and says "I know you" 
It is so spot on and gets me every.Single.Time.

(Obligatory labour selfie...)

The labour/delivery experience: Every time we drive past the hospital my hearts a little! Stuart laughs and I have to defend myself by explaining that the maternity ward holds so many memories for me as it was the first place we met our daughter! It was the same hospital I sat in crying my eyes out when I'd fallen down the stairs before 20 weeks and we had feared the worst. The one I'd spent a night in at 37 weeks for an infection that wouldn't shift. I'd sat in the day unit with a trace machine attached when I couldn't feel any movements, laboured and gave birth in the home from home unit and carried my little girl through the corridors to the car on her first day home. So many memories!

Is there anything you miss about pregnancy?!

30 Things I want my Daughter to know

1 Wash your face morning and night. Foundation is a real bitch to get off pillows.
2 Read, I don't care if you've got your head stuck in Jane Eyre or Cosmopolitan, just read!
3 The grass isn't always greener on the other side, even if it looks that way on instagram. People choose what they want others to see.
4 Tattoos are permanent-  just look at your dads.
5 Get your Maths. Please, please, please.You probably won't ever have to know how many angles a rhombus has or how many fractions of pizza Jimmy ate, but employers want you to have it.
6 Guys have meaningless fun with easy girls, they don't marry these kinds.
7 If you are going through tough times in your life, chances are I have been there too, talk to me.
8 You will kiss a good few frogs before you meet your prince.
9 And when you think you've met him,let me suss him out before your dad does. I'll help prepare him, mentally and physically.
10 Visit your grandparents, not just at Christmas. (although I don't think they'll give you much choice in the matter.)
11 Phone me up to collect you no matter how drunk you are, no matter what time it is, as long as you're home safe. (That doesn't mean I won't kick your ass 'round the living room in the morning though.)
12. Double denim is a no go. Ever, Even if Vogue is all over it, Steer clear.
13 Most bad days can be turned around with a long bath, candles and chocolate.
14 What you think of yourself is far more important than what people think of you.
15 Stay away from cheap wine, for £3.99 you may think you're getting a good deal, but you will have the mother of all hangovers the next day, not even Lucozade will be able to help you.
16 Enjoy every minute of your youth, don't be in a rush to grow up. One day you'll wake up with two kids, a mortgage and bills to pay. Enjoy every second of having no real responsibilities.
17 There are much worse things in life than carbs, stop pushing salad around your plate and eat the pizza.
18.An ugly truth is always better than a pretty lie.
19. Take an interest in whats happening in the world, not only will it widen your knowledge, but it helps if you're ever stuck for conversation.
20. Invest in good pair of tweezers.
21. If you ever feel you've hit rock bottom, think of it this way, you can only go up from here.
22. But know that you will have bad days and they will always pass, having a few bad days here and there doesn't mean you have a bad life.
23. Keep smiling. You have the most beautiful of smiles (..not that i'm ridiculously biased or anything..)
24. Material goods do not equal happiness but if you're having a bad day, treat yourself to something nice, it doesn't have to break the bank, even a slice of red velvet cake can do the trick.
25.If you help it, try not to buy now, pay later on anything.
26. Quality is better than quantity. Three close friends are far better than fifteen fake ones, christmas will be cheaper too.
27. Travel. And I mean further than Magaluf.
28. And if you do choose to go to Magaluf, know that the only person you'll be sharing an apartment with is your father.
29. Never let people make you feel inferior. We all wake up with morning breath and bedhead hair.
30. When you think i'm the worst/annoying/frustrating/unfair person to ever grace the planet, remember that I love you more than you'll ever know.

Things I didn't know about pregnancy

In all honesty, before I was pregnant I didn't believe in cravings. I thought them as an excuse for women to over indulge, what would a baby in utero need Flamin' Hot Monster Munch for?
I worked in a shop and witnessed first hand a man rushing in before the shutters went down.  "She's having an ice cream craving!" he uttered, rolling his eyes.
 Fool! I thought, that woman of yours has you completely under the thumb!, picturing some barely pregnant woman sat at home, filing her nails with her feet up.

A year down the line and i'm eating my words, It's a Friday night and we're driving around town with one sole purpose. To track down a slush puppy. A red one. (keeping in mind the last time I drank a slush puppy I was wearing dungarees and had a bucket and spade in hand.) I did a Google search and we drove around until we finally found a petrol station selling them. In that moment of sheer desperation, I felt nothing but empathy for that poor soul I had previously criticized, patiently waiting at home for her ice cream fix.
Who was I to judge?

At the beginning I couldn't get enough of mashed potato/carrot and parsnip. "Oh my cravings have all been quite healthy" I smugly told people.
Well that sure as hell didn't last too long.
 Over the next eight months I couldn't pass a Costa without ordering an iced caramel latte, and a fifteen. And if i'm being completely honest- a sandwich too.
I became quite the connoisseur of cupcakes, pickled onion crisps, anything covered in coconut and, McChicken sandwich meals. 'Make mine a large, and shall we get chicken nuggets to share?'

Cravings are very real, and despite your best intentions in the first trimester, you'll most likely cave  by month 5, justifying all those late night takeaways by promising yourself you'll be out every day for lengthy strolls with your little lovely in their pram. 'Awk the weight will just fall off you' people will tell you. I'm four months post partum and have finally accepted the fact I need to exercise, this tummy isn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

By week 35 I was well over two stone heavier and  I was still convincing myself that I fitted into my River Island skinny jeans. I stopped craving food (thank God for that) and moved on to stranger things. After polishing off a 72 pack of Rennies in three days, my other half told me enough was enough and I was placed on heartburn- relief surveillance. 'Ok' said I, shamefully hiding packets in my handbag like relapsing drug addict.
To compromise he went on the hunt for a mint, the chalky texture of a Rennies. I loved the smell of bleach, wasn't satisfied until our bathroom smelt like a swimming pool and I could have quite happily worn our fabric softener as perfume, it smelt that good.

It is said that only 5% of babies are born on their due date, and even though we'll tell everyone 'I'll probably go over' we secretly all like to think our little bundles of joy will arrive bang on time.
I personally blame everyone else. Towards the end you're being asked by everyone from strangers in the street, to the lady in Boots scanning your maternity pads
"When is the baby due?"
You say the date so often it becomes so embedded in your head that when that (what is supposed to be the momentous day) arrives, and then...... passes, you're absolutely gutted. And if you hear
"Baby will come when it's ready" one more time you'll be ready for swinging at the person, whether it be your granny or not.
 The night comes and you're propped up in bed, with a face like thunder as you scroll through countless "well?!" texts.
At this stage, log out of facebook, turn off your phone, do it for your own sanity.

And so begins the ridiculous pursuit of trying to get baby to move. Your backside won't see a seat for days you'll be too busy on your birthing ball, resenting your poor partner for looking so ridiculously comfortable on your cushion laden sofa.
Curries will be ordered, walks will be had and you'll be absolutely livid if there's no immediate change. We become desperate, uncomfortable and lets not beat around the bush, we become bitches. Hard to be around, bitches.

And rightly so. In the short space of nine months your whole life has changed.
Your body has become unrecognizable, your income has taken a knock, You become somewhat of an invalid needing help getting out of bed, and putting your shoes on can break you out in a mild case of the sweats. Your priorities have had to change, and you can no longer justify paying £90 for a pair of Topshop boots when there's a cot needing paid off.

You'll pee multiple times an an hour and will quickly become an expert on local public toilets, which are the cleanest (M&S) and which to avoid (Lisburn Square..) Anyone who comments on the size your bump becomes the enemy and God help any poor acquaintance from school who bumps into you in town. "Awk I didn't even know you were  pregnant!"
I haven't seen you in six years, I wouldn't expect you to....idiot

Exactly a week after my due date, I went for a midwife appointment to discuss an induction date. Whilst getting examined I was told I was 4cms dilated. Our baby was en route.
I had spent the last nine months worrying about this day,  would I be able to handle the pain? where would I be when the labour  kicked off?  what if something was to go wrong?  Now it was here- I had never felt so ready for anything in my life.
My mum who was with me, cried. (Then panicked incase my waters broke in her car), the other half got the text and came rushing down the motorway from work, and I limped out of the health center, mid contraction holding on to my mum's arm for dear life.

 I was told by a friend that by the end  'Nature makes you so sick and tired of being pregnant that you just want to crack on' and it's so true. When the time comes you do what you're meant to do. You find the energy from somewhere (God knows where, but you do), the thought of getting to meet your baby outweighs any amount of pain you feel. Your body was made for this.

And when that little bundle of pure love is placed upon your chest, everything just falls into place, and it all makes sense.
Every pound you've gained, every sleepless night, every stretch mark and every little discomfort.. it was all worth it, you'd do it again a hundred times over if you had to.
And just like that, those nine months which  felt like years, are over in a matter of minutes, and this little human who you've only just met, but know so well, becomes your all, your everything..