Things No-One Tells You About Pregnancy!!!

Hello Lovely’s

I thought I would do a fun post about the things no-one will tell you about pregnancy, I gave birth to my daughter Daphney on 11/11/16 via Csection – To read my story there is a post below!

So here goes…

1. Every pregnancy is different!! You will have a different experience to another pregnant mums
2. *TMI* Constipation!! This is THE most annoying thing ever!
3. Hip/Pelvic pain also know as SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) – towards the end of my pregnancy I struggled with this a lot and finally got signed off work at the end of 37 weeks, I ended up having physical therapy but in some cases woman end up with crutches or even wheelchairs!
4. Midwives don’t know everythinkg!!! I cant stress this enough, and yes most of the time they are right and you should listen to them but I used to hang on everything my midwife said. I was told Daphney would be small – She was 8lb 11oz, I was told she was engaging (late pregnancy) when Daphney was still breech and it was her bum engaged. I learnt to take everything she said with a pinch of salt! *AGAIN this is just my expericance*
5. Peeing, I normally sleep through the night but nope, not when I was pregnant, I would be up every couple of hours needing a wee
6. If your fuller figured like myself you might not show as quickly as other mums to be. I think I started showing about 24+ weeks
7. Hormones - I cried my eyes out over not having Thai curry for dinner...
8. Weird cravings – now this is something I was so excited by! I craved Limes, honesly I could eat a whole lime, but settled for REALLLLLY strong lime squash (I remember buying squash and having over a ¼ of the bottle per glass but I would add sliced limes to drinks and also I LOVED spicy foods, which is not me at all, I used to eat at Turtle Bay and order a curry packed with scotch bonnets! Needless to say I couldn’t eat it now
9. Teeth – where do I start on my teeth!!! My gums were constinatly bleeding, my teeth got so wobbly and just hurt. I had so many trips to the dreaded dentist and everthing was fine. I came to the conclution it was due to their being no Calcium in my pregnancy supplement and I don’t eat a lot of dairy so all the calcium I was taking in was going straight to Dapheny – easily solved by having a glass of milk a day!
10. Everyone will want to touch your growing tummy... this is something that really annoyed me... when I was fat you didn't want to touch my tummy, but when I was pregnant it was like I had a sign on my tummy which said "go on have a feel, don't ask me just do it!" URGH! And people would ask if Daphney was kicking, I would tell them the truth, if she was kicking if would be down near my vagina beause she was breech so you will have to feel very far down and that might make all parties uncomfortable!! 

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Csection update

Hello lovely people.

I thought I would quickly give you a update on how my Csection recovery is going.

I had my Csection nearly 7 weeks ago and I haven't had any problems so far, the cut is healing nicely and hasn't been a problem and the ends of the cut have started to turn into a scar. I have had a pain above where they made the cut started getting really sore and uncomfortable if I touched it or nocked kg but when Daphney had her 6 week check I spoke to the dr about it and they said it's fine!

I still have been wearing maternity leggings and nassive granny nickers to johns dismay but I'm finding wearing normal jeans really hard at the moment so I'm sticking with maternity for now! 

But all in all I'm doing great! I think the advice that the midwives say is true moving around early on helps so much! We had Daphney on Friday and by Tuesday we were walking around and doing everything we were doing before! Everyone is different though so listen to your body and don't over do it if you feel up to it! 

Thank you for reading 

Mummy Stephens 

35 week pregnancy update

Hello Lovely's 
Sorry for the lack of posts, its been crazy!
I'm not 35 weeks & 2 days, so we really are nearly there. The nursary is almost complete, all of her little baby bits are washed. Its all feeling real now.

We have had a visit to Cheltenham hospital where I could give birth which was really emotional for me, seeing it all, and where I might be giving birth was overwhelming, exciting but overwhelming all the same.

How pregnant are you? 35w + 2d – (3rd Trimester - Final stretch!!)

How many days until due date: 32 Days 

Weight: I get weighed at my 36 week midwife appointment which is on Tuesday

Pregnancy symptoms: I can't believe how much my bump is growing! I look pregnant now, not just a bit plump. I have been signed off work with SPD (symphysis pubis dysfunction) which is why my hips and pelvis were giving me such problems. I am also feeling super tired as I'm not sleeping at the moment and haven't really been for the last 2-3 weeks - BOO!!

Stretch Marks: more visible, and slightly darker

Cravings: iced drinks, mostly Costa mango & passion-fruit coolers

Movement: Little miss has been getting hick-ups loads which apparently means she's getting her lungs ready for the big wide world, and after speaking to the midwife I now know that her patten of movement which is in the early morning or late in the evening, she's quiet mostly in the afternoons

Gender: 🎉 ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Sleep: really badly! I have been getting period like pains, and back pain, so I have been going to bed with a hot water bottle which has been helping, but not sleeping well at all!

Worst moment this week: Lack of sleep, and night time pains

Best moment this week: on friday John got a new job - he is super excited so at the weekend we have been celebrating

Nesting: Her room is almost done now which is weird as it used to be a dumping ground and now its our little girl's bedroom.We have cleaned all the rooms and i've been keeping to a cleaning rota (very grown up)

Labour signs: Nope

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: Tired but excited

Looking forward to: Tuesday for my midwife appointment and I can hear baby girl's heartbeat

Bump Photo: 

How has your week been?

Happy Reading
Mummy Stephens

29 week pregnancy update

So I now have my official leaving date for work, which to me is crazy! These last couple of weeks have been a lot hardier for me. I have had massive pains in my hips and pelvis, the midwife told me that my baby is laying across my hips causing this pain *boo hoo* 
I have had my midwife appointments and the baby is measuring at the right length, I've had my GTT at Cheltenham hospital and haven't heard anything back yet which I am taking as a good sign! *Fingers crossed!*

How pregnant are you? 29 Weeks – (3rd Trimester - Final stretch!!)

How many days until due date: 80 Days 

Weight: nopeeee

Pregnancy symptoms: my bump is becoming bigger day by day! My hips and pelvis are hurting for the last couple of weeks.

Stretch Marks: no more

Cravings: none really - Boring

Movement: yeap I can still feel her moving and she moves loads recently! My mum also felt her move for the first time the other day!

Gender: 🎉 ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Sleep: same as before, not sleeping very well

Worst moment this week: still feeling so drained! I am shattered, I had a week off where I did nothing and i thought this might help but it didn't.

Best moment this week: ohhhh its only wednesday but last night me and John had the BEST cottage pie meal deal from Asda - LOL

Nesting: In my week off I started cleaning all the babies clothes, we also bought a breast pump, and got the mosses basket up and ready!

Labour signs: No

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: tired

Looking forward to: tonight we are going to my mum's boat for fish and chips which will be nice to see her

Bump Photo: arghh i will do one!

How has your week been?

Happy Reading
Mummy Stephens

25 Weeks Pregnant

I was counting the other day and I only have 14 more Friday's until I go onto my maternity leave!! <-- which I have told work I am planning on staying at work for as long as possible, My due date is Friday 18th November and I will leaving work on Friday 11th November!!!!! #scarystuff 

How pregnant are you? 25 Weeks (Tomorrow 26 weeks) – (2nd Trimester)

How many days until due date: 99 Days (we're in double figures now!

Weight: Still haven't weighed myself

Pregnancy symptoms: I haven't been sleeping for the last 2/3 weeks now, which is really starting to take it out of me. I fall asleep easily but I wake up and can't get comfy again. I bought a pregnancy pillow which helps but then John (my husband) uses it in the night so I have to yank it away from him....hopefully tonight will be better 

Stretch Marks: I haven't noticed any more since my 24 week update

Cravings: ice-cream 

Movement: I am still feeling her moving around which is amazing! I love feeling her move...sounds silly but it makes me feel like I'm not alone, and the other evening I think she had hick-ups for the first time!

Gender: 🎉 ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Sleep: ........ what sleep!?

Worst moment this week: feeling so drained! I am shattered and so is John

Best moment this week: Hearing Her heart beat at my midwife appointment and thinking of names with John 

Nesting: Our garden looks like new! We ripped up all of the shrubs and old plants, painted fences, did the front garden and got the house looking nice

Labour signs: No

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: Excited

Looking forward to: Sunday, as its my next day off and it's also my best friends birthday so I'm excited to celebrate with her!

Bump Photo: awaiting photo i promise this time!

How has your week been?

Happy Reading
Mummy Stephens

24 Week Pregnancy Update

I still can't believe I am now 6 months pregnant!!! 
I'm going to see my little girl in 12 Saturday's! As I am writing this I can feel her wiggling around which I am still loving, its so magical and now I can feel her more often it's amazing! 

This has been a busy few weeks for us, getting ready for my Mum's wedding which was on 25th July (I have written a post about it as well as a photo post). so I havent really noticed how fast the weeks have been going.

I have my 25 week midwife appointment this coming Tuesday which is always nice to hear her heart beat again .

How pregnant are you? 24 Weeks – (2nd Trimester)

How many days until due date: 111 Days

Weight: I am not weighing myself... 

Pregnancy symptoms: hormonal! I found myself crying on the way to work today, which never happens

Stretch Marks: around my boobs, I've noticed more..

Cravings: nop

Movement: Even more than last time and I'm so in love with every movement, John felt her moving for the first time on 26th July. I'm not sure what he made of it as it's a weird feeling for me let alone him! 

Gender: 🎉 ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Sleep: I think she's on my bladder so I've been getting up around 4am every morning for a pee

Worst moment this week: hormonal outbursts

Best moment this week: Mum's Wedding and seeing family I haven't seen in years 

Nesting: Washing galour at our house at the moment!, John has been in the garden this weekend and he has also painted the wood on the outside of our house

Labour signs: No

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: Seeing the midwife on Tuesday 2nd, and hopefully hearing my babies heart beat again

Bump Photo: awaiting photo!

Pregnancy update 18 weeks

Hello Lovely's

18 week pregnancy update, I quite enjoy making these. This week from the last time I spoke to you has been a weird one, as I've been feeling a little down but hopefully will snap out of it soon! I've also added a clothed bump photo as well so I can see for myself how much I am growing!

How pregnant are you? 18 Weeks – (2nd Trimester)

How many days until due date: 151 Days

Weight: Still not too sure! 

Pregnancy symptoms: Tired still but haven’t been as tired as I was in week 17, TMI constipation realllly badly, light headed and a little crampy!  

Stretch Marks: still no new ones

Cravings: nothing this time….so far!

Movement: I have no idea now! I think I feel a “popping” at night but I’m really not too sure as I’m so desperate to feel something I think I’m just feeling things that aren’t there!

Gender: 2 weeks until we find out and counting!!

Sleep: Myself and John haven’t been sleeping very well the last couple of days! I don’t think I can drink anything after about 7pm without me needing the toilet every 30 mins during the night – Which I never used to do before I was pregnant!

Worst moment this week: Just getting down and a bit frustrated that I can’t be sure that I’m feeling my little button move.

Best moment this week: Celebrating our friends 30^th birthday and getting together with friends for a lovely cooked meal

Nesting: Not really, we in talks about what we are going to do with the house before the baby comes 

Labour signs: No

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: A little down the last few days

Looking forward to: I’m really looking forward to the weekend as I have it off with John and we are planning on going clay shooting at my favourite shooting ground!

3D baby scan at Hello Baby - Cheltenham

We booked the scan for 4th July, The clinic in Cheltenham squeezed us in for a Gender scan which consisted of a 10 minute 2D appointment to check the baby's gender, 2D image to take home and also a 3D viewing of our baby, we paid £40 for this, I think it was well worth the money!

We entered the clean building where we were greeted by the friendly receptionist who offered us a beverage of our choice (I had already drank a liter of water and felt like I was going to pop so I didn't have one but John got a freshly made coffee)

We were called though where the ultra-sound technician was so kind and friendly, we went into our own room which was like a spa! It was beautiful with mood lighting, a big screen which you would soon see baby on, with a big sofa for John to watch on.

The technician explained what would happen throughout the scan, she squirted the warm gel on my tummy and within 10 seconds had already found the sex, which I was dying to find out, She told us and pointed out 3 lines and I automatically thought BOY! where I was corrected, we were expecting a little girl! For the rest of the scan I was so overwhelmed at this news! 

She switched the machine to 3D where we got to see baby's features like eyes, nose, mouth. It was so special to see her in another way. The Lady said as baby was still "young" the features will get stronger with age and to come back if we wanted to in 7 weeks, so 27 weeks and we would be able to see more of our princess.

They had things you could buy such as photo frames, magnets ect. I will leave the link below for the website we booked though.

https://www.earlylife.co.uk/collections

This is how we told our family about the new member of our family, before we bought out the cake we asked everyone what they thought it was, the majority of both families said a Boy! Little did they know!


Would you have a 3D scan?

Happy Reading, 
Mummy Stephens 

22 week pregnancy update

Where is the time going? Can we just stop and take a second to realize i have 3 & 1/2 months left to go?!

We have had our 20 week scan, which didn't quite go to plan, I got the times muddled up! So we arrived 20 minutes late, which needless to say John was not happy about as he had taken the day off.

Lucky we still got to see our baby, but the Scan lady at the hospital was very rude to us and didn't explain anything regarding the health of our baby until I asked at the end, where she replied everything is normal. I left so upset, I know we were late to the appointment but I would have rather her say she didn't have time to scan me than be that rude!

We ended up going for a private scan... Ill do another post about that!
Here is my 22 week pregnancy update 

How pregnant are you? 22 Weeks – (2nd Trimester)

How many days until due date: 121 Days

Weight: I was reading the pregnancy app I've downloaded and it says our baby is over a pound! (A bag of sugar!)

Pregnancy symptoms: This week it has been BOILING! the temperature got to 40 degrees and now is 32 degrees! So hot, but apart from that nothing 

Stretch Marks: no new ones

Cravings: None this week.

Movement: Yes, still feeling movements and I love it! its so cute! I started feeling them around 20/21 weeks, she doesn't like the cold water or the hairdryer as she moves loads!

Gender: 🎉 ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Sleep: As i said above its been so hot! we have 2 fans in our room but still getting broken sleep!

Worst moment this week: The heat!

Best moment this week: Feeling our little girl move and being able to see her again 

Nesting: We have started organizing her room and the cot is up and the wardrobe is filling up! 

Labour signs: No

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: My mums wedding which is on Monday 25th, where I am a bridesmaid!

Bump Photo: OK so its not a bump photo, but thats a photo of our little girl with weirdly her eye open?!

Wiley's Finest Prenatal DHA

Prenatal DHA Wild Alaskan Fish Oil - £22.49 60 capsules (From Wholefoods Market)

I have been using this prenatal oil pretty much since I found out I am pregnant, and I LOVE IT! It has amazing levels of DHA which is so important for your little ones heart, eye and brain function, it doesn’t leave me with fishy burps like other oils I have tried and the company has great ethics behind them! So let me tell you a bit about it.

Wiley’s is manufactured in the USA (eastern united states – to be more pacific!) and is a family run business which started over 20 years ago and It is tested for Mercury and is mercury free.

Wiley’s is sustainably soured and meets the MSC’s Global standards.

The MSC is the Marine Stewardship Council which helps to regulate to number of fish being caught. (Ill link their website below if you want to check out MSC)

So now for the supplement itself. This is a 2 capsule’s a day supplement which contains 1200mg concentration fish oil (Alaska Pollock) which provides the following.

780mg Omega-3 Fatty Acids

120mg EPA (cognitive function and a anti-inflammatory)

600mg DHA (Which is an amazing level of DHA, which helps babies brain, eye and heart function! Pretty cool hey!)

Pregnant woman and lactating woman should aim for a daily intake of 200mg of DHA in addition to the remaindered daily intake for omega-3 fatty acid in adults.

Wiley’s also do lots more great fish oils in their range so go check them out!

(This is not sponsored I just love the product)

Happy Ready

Much love

Mummy Stephens

https://www.msc.org/about-us/what-is-the-msc

http://wileysfinest.com/