10 weeks until delivery date

Eeeek!!!

I really cannot believe that soon I will be into single digit weeks, this pregnancy is really flying by.

Last week saw me finding things a little bit tougher.

Having developed a healthier lifestyle and really enjoying my fitness I have always tried to keep active during the pregnancy and well it just hasn't happened in the past week.

I still wear my fitbit and am still doing really well in challenges

 (when I say that I normally rank midway)

Here is this weeks bumpy pic at 29 weeks I seem to have rapidly grown!

 As I get bigger, so does baby and she seems to have less room now as the movements have definitely become more violent! 

Heartburn has returned mainly in the evenings and it's getting much more difficult to get comfortable despite having two additional pillows.

This weekend my 4 year old has suffered with a bad cough and cold so there has been a lot of bed hopping going on to try and prevent me from getting ill, unfortunately there isn't much that can be done to flush out the virus but we found that the calpol vapour plugs helped our son get to sleep and offer relief from the troublesome cough.

Changes have now been made in work as I struggle being on my feet all day as the baby seems to be putting pressure when I walk and I feel I need the toilet all of the time so I am looking forward to finishing work in 5 weeks time...........

It's the Final Countdown!

Here we are 28 weeks....

The third and final trimester.

I have to say I feel really good at the moment. I am suffering with heartburn so am having to be really careful to not eat anything to trigger it. It tends to hit me in the afternoon and at bedtime so after enjoying chocolate the past few weeks I have had to curb that as it does bring on the heartburn!

Many people are still asking me if I am pregnant? I never had this in my first pregnancy however I was 54lbs heavier!! This is my bump bang on 28 weeks, so neat!

Although I haven't felt much like exercising I still make use of my fitbit and track my activity levels daily and participate in the challenges with friends to try and always hit 10,000 steps. 

I am still quite proud of myself for being active in work and managing 19hrs a week on my feet, my previous job was office based so my movement was limited and I had a lot more water retention, this pregnancy has so far been amazing, I have had hardly any complaints apart from walking now is a lot harder as I feel as if I constantly need the toilet!

The nursery is still work in progress but this weekend saw the carpet being ordered along with the furniture so by the end of the month it should all be done!

Dunelm Winnie the Pooh Nursery Range

When we found out that we were to have a girl, I was so excited, it finally meant I could have a pink room in the house.....then hormones got in the way and the pink paint samples on the world just didn't look right and well I couldn't find any bedding that was 'just right'.

I had in my head Disney bedding in a soft pink, reality was I couldn't find any that met my needs and everything I liked, hubby didn't.

So what to do?

Hand it over to the big brother of course. We set about compiling a list of bedding that we liked and was available and let him choose. Maybe in hindsight this was a bad idea as if Winnie the Pooh was in the mix, that would be the 1st choice for him and well it was!

Just as we were looking for bedding I received an email from Dunelm advertising their new range of Disney Bedding. 

Personally I adored the Dumbo range but with it being grey and white it didn't appeal to our son who opted for the Winnie The Pooh range which was actually the best decision!

The next day I set out and bought the range ready for the new baby, the next decision was planning what colour to paint the walls. Unfortunately the nursery is rather small as we plan on keeping our 3rd largest bedroom as the spare room so baby ended up with what used to be the office.

After trying pinks, greys and whites we settled on Jurassic Stone by Dulux it may look a little dark but the room is very light and bright and the colour looked great on the walls so I cannot wait for the room to get painted.

Carpet and furniture still needs to be ordered so it will be work in progress but at least we have a theme.

Options Clinic

The next appointment for me and the final at my hospital until I return to have the baby was to attend an options clinic to discuss my previous delivery.

Having briefly discussed my son's birth at my 20 weeks appointment with the Doctor this was for us to go into more detail about how my delivery went last time. I was trying not to be emotional and start blubbering as listening to what happened was quite hard to take in as there were many things that I had forgotten. 

Seeing my old file made it feel so much more real again that this baby was going to have to come out!

I had been in two minds and ever since I had got pregnant I had spent every night thinking about what option I wanted to take, did I want to try for a VBAC and have a natural delivery? Well yes actually, I wanted to plan to have that lovely, idyllic birth that I planned first time around, less intervention, labouring in a water pool and ideally birth in a pool and get into hypnobirthing to help me handle the pain, I suppose I was a bit disillusioned that I was going to have the exact same options that were available to me first time around.

As we attended the appointment we briefly discussed my son's previous birth and how I had got into labour but then it just stopped despite being induced. I went in with an open mind that if I could have the above then a natural delivery would be my choice.

Since having my son I had worked really hard to get a healthy bmi and wanted to be in the best physical condition that I could to have our second child and hopefully have a better delivery.

It soon became clear that although I could have a natural delivery, due to the previous section I would have to be monitored, this meant that my dream of a water birth was not to be. 

Now I faced a real dilemma as although having another section didn't bother me at all, I was concerned that it would be more difficult 2nd time around with a 5 year old to get to and from school.

I know that we cannot predict what can happen and there would be no way of ever knowing if I would have the same issues with this pregnancy but with having a child at home to think of I made the decision to book in and have an elective section.

The relief of coming to the decision was immense and as the date was confirmed for the delivery I just burst into tears, both my husband and the midwife were suprised and asked why I was upset, I know things can still change and if I was to go into labour naturally before the date of the section I could very well have a natural delivery but for me it was much more than this, this is my last baby and with that the last chance of me choosing a natural delivery and I have declined it.

Please don't get me wrong I made the decision based on my own circumstances and wishes I was not influenced but it just felt so final. 

So with the date in the diary, our baby girl has her birthdate - very exciting!!

The 20 Week Scan

So the date finally arrived and it was time to see our baby again. 

This time around both of my scans have been first thing in the morning so I have not had a long wait throughout the day to get to see little one.

As we had the private scan a few weeks ago, we wanted it to be confirmed, have a 2nd opinion so to speak! 

Our appointment was 9am so we were there bright and early and I had desperately tried to drink as much water as I could for the scan. We were fortunate to have the same person as last time who took a great deal of time checking over our baby and showing us the detail of the heart which was absolutely amazing, considering how small the baby still is!

After what felt like a lifetime, a trip to the toilet thanks to the baby being tucked neatly by my bladder, all was confirmed as ok and that we were having a girl.

We of course took the opportunity to have some more images to take away and then it was back to the waiting room to wait for the notes to be updated and for a visit to see the Doctor to determine my level of care for the remainder of the pregnancy.

The appointment consisted of the usual, blood pressure check, mrsa swaps taken where I was required to use a rather large cotton bud to swab my knicker line and inside my nose as well as providing a urine sample - pretty standard.

The Doctor then came to see me and was happy I was having a low risk pregnancy despite my previous section and that she was happy for me to be under midwife led care.

Good news all around, now it's time to go shopping!

Approaching halfway.....

So here we are at almost 19 weeks... the last few weeks seem to be ticking by and the next scan is approaching. I always get nervous when it comes to scans. I always expect that I have been imagining it all in a dream.

For the past fortnight I have been feeling small kicks but this week they have been a lot more regular and having a lot more impact!

Working is getting a lot harder and I struggle with bending and reaching, actually being on my feet for a long period of time is still fine for me so I am hoping that they don't offer for me to be sat down for most of my shifts as I am already struggling with being less active!!
Thankfully I have a group of friends with Fitbits and we all have the workweek hustle as well as the weekend challenges and I never want to come bottom so it does encourage me to get up and go for walks and to keep myself active!

I am feeling pretty good this trimester, the nausea has virtually gone and food aversions also I just find I tire a lot more but am getting a good amount of sleep at night so I am hitting my target.

After finding out last week that we were having a girl, me holding off buying things until the 20 week scan confirmed it hasn't lasted long and I fully took advantage of the further reductions on the gorgeous clothes by Mini Mode at Boots

Baby Bond - Ultra Sound Direct

So as this is my 2nd pregnancy I am fortunate to be in a bit of a better position than last time which meant my husband and I decided to have a private gender scan to find out whether we would be

If I am completely honest it was all me, my husband has a bit more patience than me but I was so desperate to start buying little bits especially now I was feeling little kicks.

We had a recommendation for Baby Bond and several other friends who were expecting had used them for various other scans, so once we had the 12 week scan I booked an appointment for when I was just 17 weeks. I also hoped it would break up that long wait for the 20 week scan.

I booked the appointment online which was straightforward enough, selecting the scan I wanted to have and then selected a suitable date and time to have the scan and paid a deposit using my debit card.
Email confirmation arrived and that was it....done. I just had to wait for the date to come around.

The day before the scan I received a telephone call to confirm our appointment and to advise us that we were to have a drink before the scan and to arrive at least 10 minutes before our scheduled appointment time.

The next morning I was anxious as I had expected, I STILL feel nervous that it is all one big dream even though I am now getting bigger and feeling kicks.

As we arrived we were quickly seen to and I paid the balance owed for the scan. I was then led to the scanning room which was rather large and a lot brighter than the one I had experienced in the hospital.

The lady scanning us was very good, she made the whole experience that bit more personal to us, asking us questions and taking her time to get some good images of the baby and to most importantly confirm what she believed we were expecting.

Our appointment was 20 minutes and we were able to view the baby on a large screen facing the bed, we saw the heart and stomach and she was able to confirm that she could see all was fine. Of course she was also able to tell us the gender can you guess what we are having??

Overall I suppose this was to satisfy my curiosity and was a nice to have, I would like to have another scan closer to the end of my term but I doubt that I could persuade hubby to let me have another especially as the next few months will involve redecorating the nursery and bedding etc.

16 week appointment

As this is my 2nd baby, I seem to have less visits at the hospital/midwife so today was the 2nd appointment with my community midwife.

As it's the school holidays, my 4 year old accompanied me to the visit and he was very well behaved having requested to bring some books along for the visit.

As is normal for pregnant women I had to provide a urine sample which was fine, I haven't had any complaints or problems that needed raising with the midwife so it was overall a positive visit, then something magical happened.......

When you hit your 2nd trimester, sometimes you do forget you are pregnant, apart from when you look down and see a rather large bloated tummy! So when we were offered the opportunity to listen to baby's heartbeat my son was in awe. He described the noise as a windy, snow storm but the baby's heartbeat was clear to listen  to at 120-148bpm....

As impatient as I am I went on google to see if I could hazard a guess as to the babies gender, but it seems this method is not fool proof so we will just have to wait until Sunday when we have the gender scan.

Next appointment with the community midwife for me will be at 28 weeks which seems forever away but I am back at the hospital for a few appointments next month.

Apart from some toothache all seems to be fine and apart from me falling asleep mid afternoon I feel pretty good!

The beginning of Tri 2

So here we are in the next trimester, a third of the way there.

Since my last post my son's behaviour is back to normal so the 3 week blip has passed. 

Me on the other hand I have returned to my Zumba classes, although I now do the low impact version its good to still have a bit of time to myself one night a week and to keep a bit of exercise going.

I do have a fitbit do am aware of how active I am each day of the week and find that I do push myself to do a bit of walking to keep myself active.

Week 14 saw me get more energy, the headaches and nausea seemed to have eased off and I was only really tired when I had been on my feet all day.

I have moved myself into the spare room so that I can have a bit more room as I seem to be really restless at night at the moment and having strange dreams that seem a little bit to real so I don't want to keep hubby awake.

We invested in a new pushchair system as well as  my previous system we used for my son a SilverCross Linear Freeway was just too bulky for the back of my car and I wanted something that was quick and easy to put up and push as I plan on doing a lot of walking once Baby No.2 arrives.

I will go into a bit more detail a bit closer to the time and share some piccies as well but so far the new pushchair has arrived and we are suprised at how compact and robust it appears and am certainly looking forward to putting it to the test.

This month seems to be pretty quiet in terms of hopsital visits and appointments compared to July which saw me have my Booking In Appointment, Blood Tests and 12 week scan.

I have an appointment with my local midwife in a few weeks and the private scan towards the end of the month other than that it's all quiet on the bump front.

I've got the school uniform sorted for my son so just need to add his name into everything and he is ready for the new term in September. We have a few days out planned once hubby takes some time off work and maybe a few days away if we can find somewhere to go.

The end of Tri 1......

So here we go a bit late in the day as I am now in Tri 2 but that allows me to get you up to speed with how things have been in Tri 1.

Ok so we returned from a family holiday in Florida and on the last May bank holiday we found out that baby no.2 was on the way. 

 

With having a 4 year old we wanted to try and keep it quiet until we had done the necessary tests and scans to find out everything was ok....it didn't quite go to plan.

I had mixed emotions as to whether I was ready for another, after all since having my son I had dropped 51 lbs and had a whole new lifestyle which included healthy eating and exercising, you could say I found a new me which had fit around my work and looking after my son, being pregnant meant I had to tone a lot of this down and my body was going to change again. I spend the first few weeks tearful, unsure and nervous.

Deep down I think that my son knew something was going on as his behaviour changed to something we had never noticed before, he had mood swings and became aggressive, cue a call to my mum, the only one that truly knows how to deal with bad behaviour - I did say she was my mum didn't I!

 For 2 weeks we dealt with tantrums at bedtime, screaming and aggressive behaviour, I tried to distance myself to avoid getting hurt, which I think seemed to anger my son more as he was used to having me to soothe him and calm him down. On the plus side however, dear hubby had to step up and deal with the mood swings and learn how to manage them and by the end of the 3rd week after a  few visits from my mum, a reduction in toys, no days out and basic communication, he finally turned around and returned to himself. 

We were nearing the 12 week scan at this point and so far everything had seemed to be going as per my first pregnancy so we decided to tell him the reason why he couldn't hit or kick mummy and why mummy had needed more rest and looking after. He took the news well and has been interested and we try to involve him in any ideas we have and so far there have been no negative responses to the impending arrival. 

12 week scan arrived and thankfully all was well

 So we made the decision to book a private scan with Babybond in August to find out the gender and so that our son can come along with us. We didn't have a private scan before so we are all a little excited about this new experience this time around.

As I entered Tri 2 my nausea appeared to be passing and I seemed to have more energy  but found the more I did in a day then the lack of energy I had in the evening and found myself dozing at around 8pm!

Anyway plenty to talk about in the next trimester..........

 

The Ice Cream Farm Cheshire - Review

As we are in the Summer Break, I find myself trying to plan days out to keep my 4 year old occupied and recently I discovered that the Ice Cream Farm in Tattenhall has had a revamp so it was time to visit.

We have always enjoyed visiting the Ice Cream Farm in Cheshire, it has animals, a firm favourite with my son as well as a play area, shop and of course delicious flavours of Ice Cream!

Where is it?

The Ice Cream Farm is located on the A41 Chester / Whitchurch Road, look out for the Brown tourist signs for ‘THE ICE CREAM FARM’

Or tap in CH3 9NE into your sat nav for directions.

There is plenty of space to park, the original car park opposite the farm exists and a new car park has been built on the original land of the site.

How much does it cost?

Ok so entry into the Ice Cream Farm is Free, however there is a charge for some of the activities. So you can really plan your day on how much you want to spend.

You can take your own food and eat in the designated picnic area or back at your car, or you can grab something to eat in the fairly reasonably priced 'The Pantry'

I will go into prices for each activity but they range from £1 upwards to around £3.50 but again these can be made cheaper by purchasing a ticket which will bring the price down slightly.

Things to do

HoneyComb Canyon  

0-1 year – Free of charge
1-3 years – £2.50
3+ years – £3.50

I had heard from other parents that you need to take a change of clothes for this activity and after experiencing it I would say that is a definite! An indoor sand and water play that is great for all ages, and I would recommend taking some swim wear to change into that way they really can enjoy the fun.

Lots of ways to experiment with water and sand as they can move the water lifting levers and turning pipes to get the water to run through the system.

Sand on the floor allows them to recreate a muddy play area which all of the children enjoyed running through.

There is also some wooden climbing equipment for children to use within this as well and you are assigned a 3 hour slot to play. We didn't take full advantage of this as we arrived quite late for the day but the children would easily occupy themselves for hours here!

Strawberry Falls

£3.50 per player

All ages are allowed to play on the miniature golf course however at a price per player it can be quite costly if a family of 4 wished to play.

Fudge Farm

Free to access and allows you to see all different kinds of farm animals including

• Rabbits and Guinea Pigs
• Goats
• Donkeys
• Pigs
• Llamas/Alpacas 
• Miniature Ponies

 This in itself is lovely to do with young children as you can often get up close with the animals and stroke them. Something our son loved to do.

Scoop

Is where you will find JCB's for you to dig up the Ice Cream Coloured Sand. Suitable from 4 years and again the cost is £3.50 per play.

 

Daisy's Garden

Probably the busiest and most exciting part for our son. This is also free and contains a magical tree that sprays foam every 30 minutes. Great for the children as they count down and await the white foam to spray over them.

There are lots of activities to keep them all occupied with spinning seats, trampolines and a giant toadstool to explore. A great fun play area that is central to the attractions in the Ice Cream Farm.

Silvercone

The familiar quad bikes that we remember from the original Ice Cream Farm which are £1 per play. The age advice is 4 years upwards.

 

Fun Factory Soft Play

0-1 year – Free of charge
1-3 years – £2.50
3+ years – £3.50

A great Ice Cream Inspired soft play area with a 'melting ice cream slide' and my son's favourite the firing ball pit. Great for keeping them entertained and for the parents to grab a drink and relax.

The Loft

This area we didn't get to see as the minimum age is 7 years. 

Overall there are plenty of things to do and more that I haven't gone into as I have covered it from the eyes of my 4 year old and what he was keen to do.

Eating

We chose to eat at The Pantry and found it reasonably priced purchasing Spaghetti Hoops with toasted triangles for just £1.95. Baguettes were the most expensive item on the menu at £4.50 but were filled generously. I opted for a Cheese and Tomato Toastie which was £2.50 and filling, my only disappointment was the dry salad on the side, just needed a little dressing or coleslaw to help it go down.

The Pantry was busy and a bit chaotic towards the back as this was where people gained entry into the soft play area and at busy times people tended to queue around your table whilst you were eating, so I do think they could do with a designated path for queuing that avoids people hovering over your table.

Overall the changes that have been made make it an even more desirable place to visit with children and an ideal place to go midweek out of term.

Of course I cannot finish the review without mentioning the delicious Ice Cream that they create. 

I opted for a triple scoop this time around at £4.00. Very generous scoops mind!

I had Banoffi, White Choc Chunk and Turkish Delight. Each flavour was spot on but be prepared as there is almost always a queue whenever you go but the ice cream is worth the queue each and every time.

If you are in the area this is certainly a place that you should plan into your visit, great for those days when you are unsure if the weather is going to change as there is something to do both indoors and outdoors.

 

 

 

Introduction

Hi, I am Kelly. 

Currently wife and  mum to a 4.5year old with Baby No.2 on the way expected in January.

I love writing and I love sharing my experiences with others. As a first time parent I often wondered if I was doing things right, if I was a good mum  and was often consumed by 'Parent Guilt'.

I have been toying with the idea of writing a blog on my journey from going from 1 child to 2 and today decided to make the decision to give it a go.

So here it goes......

My honest opinions on products, life and everything that goes with it, I hope you find it an interesting read.

Time to invest in maternity wear

In the first trimester I went out hunting for maternity clothes, I didn't want to spend too much but having lost weight I had no idea whether I could expect a huge gain and to expand rapidly or whether I would remain my normal clothes size. Although I did not have a huge baby bump I felt constantly bloated and uncomfortable so made the move into maternity clothes around 11 weeks.

I invested in some leggings from M&S in the maternity range and they have never been off me since, they are so unbelievably comfortable and I would recommend them to anyone! They just fit perfectly.

I tend to live in leggings as I am at home most days so I rarely need to dress up as I am in the house so I wanted to have some long t-shirts that I could grow into. 

Many of the maternity outlets now are online so the likes of New Look, Dorothy Perkins, Next I was having to order to try on, not ideal for me so I found myself venturing into new shops that I had never previously thought of.

M&S had a limited range of maternity wear and well I was not all that impressed, nothing stood out to me as something I would want to buy and wear. 

H&M however I found fantastic, investing in an oversized loose sweater that was not too thin and could be layered up and a bargain in the sale at just £5. I also found a grey and black striped t-shirt which had 3/4 sleeves and was so very flattering again a snip at
£7. 

Next door was a small collection in Debenhams but a little but more expensive, I found a lovely maroon dress with butterflies on that I could layer up in the winter and wear with leggings, this was
£28.50 but thankfully I went at the right time as there was a 20% discount.

This was my maternity wardrobe, minimal but functional. 

I also managed to grab a great deal a 2 pack of long sleeve maternity tops from Mothercare for just
£7.50 so that should see me through the next few months......