PREGNANCY TALK: 32 WEEKS UPDATE

Unfortunately this is yet another post without any pretty blog worth images. For once not due to my laziness but due to the fact this post comes to you at 5am from a hospital bed...WOOPS!

At the end of week 31 I was admitted back onto the antenatal ward for further monitoring of my blood pressure and confirmed preeclampsia. OH FUN! This time I was thankfully more prepared with a lovely little MiFi router so I can spend my days watching Greys Anatomy with copious amounts of snacky food because, well, pregnancy. I also had a set of steroid injections this week to mature our little man's lungs just in case he decides to make an early appearance - FYI, most painful injection I've ever had. I am not ashamed to say I shed a slight tear!

PREGNANCY TALK: 30 WEEKS UPDATE

Last week was my final week in double figures - HOLY CRAP! - and what a week it's was. After a precautionary visit to the triage ward over a bit of abdominal pain we uncovered that my blood pressure was sky high. I've then been monitored over a 3 day period in and out of hospital. As it turns out, I am currently on the cusp of Pre Eclampsia with protein in my pee and my lowest blood pressure being borderline. This all came on rather suddenly as only 3 days before I had my usual midwife visit which was perfectly normal. I was then admitted onto the labour ward for constant monitoring for 4 days and put on blood pressure medication to try and bring my BP down. I finally escaped on Friday. We also had our first antenatal class the weekend previous which was actually a lot more fun than I thought. Unfortunately I had to miss the second session due to being so poorly!

PREGNANCY TALK: MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST

As I mentioned in my latest update post - you can catch up here - last month I had my Glucose Tolerance Test - also referred to as GTT. As I've not had the greatest of pregnancy's and as my BMI is a bit on the chunky side I was referred for this by a consultant after my 20 week scan. I'd heard no end of stories and hardly slept the night before preparing myself for the horrific event, frantically Googling for all the information I could find. In reality though it wasn't that bad at all. Afterwards I thought I would share my experience in hopes it might chill a few first timers out - or at least give them something very honest to read 3am before their test! I apologise in advance as I do have a bit of a moan about my hospital, but it should mostly be informative. It is also terribly long - sorry about that!

PREGNANCY TALK: SECOND TRIMESTER ESSENTIALS

As my second trimester comes to a close, I thought it's time to reflect a little on the last 3 months and impart my wisdom on those currently entering what some will call "the best part" of pregnancy. Just so you know, that is completely tongue in cheek and in no way am I an expert - LOL! - I just wanted to share with you what my go-to things have been and how much of a godsend they were! If you missed my post for the First Trimester you can read it here :)

PREGNANCY TALK: 20 WEEKS...GOING ON 28!

Ok, so this post is a little behind schedule! Our little munchkin was a tad awkward at our 20 week scan so I had to hold off with this post until 23 weeks! Then obviously I had a few technical issues so we are currently pushing 28 weeks! But still...better late than never!

A QUICK LITTLE UPDATE: ACCIDENTAL DISCONNECTION

HELLOOO WORLD! My god I have missed the outside world...well, through a screen anyway! For those that don't know, I was unceremoniously disconnect from the world for over a month. Partially due to my own clumsiness as I dropped my precious Macbook in the bath! Then after a swift repair, I found myself slightly in the dark without any internet for another 2 weeks! So here we are a month later and I finally have internet so I've got a lot of posts to catch up on! - and I've also got a lot of catching up to do with Empire and The Big Bang Theory!

#FRIENDSFEST AT HAREWOOD HOUSE

OH.MY.GOD! Yes, you read right! Last week I attended FRIENDSFEST with my ultimate bestie Donna! For those of you unaware - or that don't watch Friends repeats on Comedy Central - this is a festival style event dedicated to all things F.R.I.E.N.D.S. If you have no idea what Friends is...get out, now, I'm being serious. What have you done with your life! So I present to you a quick run through of our time last week - please excuse the chunkiness! My bump hasn't appeared yet so I still look like I've eaten a few too many pizzas! I promise, there is a baby in there!

QUICK LITTLE LUSH HAUL

Oh Lush! Its been so long and I've bloody missed you! I haven't had a nice soak full of bubbles since July and my skin is feeling unloved. It's been well overdue so Kieran and I took a quick trip to the Lush store in Sheffield to stock up. And even better, I get a little blog post out of it too! So sit back, relax and have a cheeky mooch through what we bought - I say we as Kieran loves Lush just as much as I do!

THE FURRY FRIEND TAG

Morning campers! For those of you that don't know me - I love dogs! Big, small, fluffy, hairless, any pooch that crossed my path gets inundated with snuggles and fuss. Kieran actually bows his head in embarrassment when I walk past a dog saying hello in a baby voice and completely ignore the owners. However I've never really introduced Archie formally. I found this little tag a while back on Amber Louise's blog and thought it was a little bit of fun...and an excuse to shower love on my little pudding - especially as his days as our only baby are slowly coming to the end.

PREGNANCY TALK: MY BATTLE WITH HYPEREMESIS

Morning campers! Everyone always uses the word "journey" for these types of posts. A journey to me is a path you take to get to somewhere better and as much as my little baby boy to be is the best thing since sliced bread in my eyes this issue isn't making me more grateful or more appreciative...it's just making me ill. So I decided to use the word battle...because that's what hyperemesis is to me, a long, bloody, up hill battle. You know in Game of Thrones where Jon Snow is stuck in a pile of people...yeah, that kind of battle.

AUTUMN READY: MATERNITY BASICS ADDITION

Morning campers! Is anyone else ridiculously excited for cosy weather! As I'm a resident of the UK,  Summer is a bit of a novelty - or the week of the year we like to call Summer - but this year I'm kind of over it! I'm not sure whether it's because I'm overheating and nauseas all the time or because none of last years holiday clothes fit but I'm just not feeling it. So I've decide to jump straight into Autumn because we all know, after Christmas, it's the best time of the year! So this weekend I went shopping for some fabulous Autumnal - yup, that right, I dropped the 'A' bomb - bits to get me through the next few months while my belly grows bigger than Santa's. Now, I'm no fashion blogger - really, I spend my life in tracksuit bottoms and a vest from Next! - but I got so excited about what I bought I've got to share! Most of the items here are part of a pregnancy range (aside from the bag, scarf, boots and grey cardigan) and were also available in store which I thought was fab!

REASONS I FAIL AS A BEAUTY BLOGGER

Morning campers! Don't you just love beauty bloggers! They are so glamorous! Their Instagram's are perfectly themed, their make up is enviable and I bet they even have a hoard of birds that come in every morning to dress them whilst they chirp a catchy theme tune. Just kidding! But still there is a stereotypical template for beauty bloggers, one of which I definitely do not fit into! So here is - a slightly tongue in cheek! - list of why I completely fail as a beauty blogger!

PREGNANCY TALK: BABY BOND SCAN & GENDER REVEAL

Morning campers! This last month has come round far too quickly although this post is coming 2 weeks earlier than I planned. We had our 20 week scan all booked in but I was far too excited so we went ahead and booked a slightly early private scan so we could make the most of it! I booked a JustGender scan through BabyBond which only cost £39. This scan provides a 10 minutes session of just you and your baby with plenty of prints to show off afterwards. What better excuse for a blog post and also to announce our little Shrimpy's gender!

PREGNANCY TALK: 15 WEEKS UPDATE

Morning campers! I've seen a few other bloggers doing these weekly updates on how their pregnancy is going and you know what, they seem kind of fun! So I'm jumping on the bangwagon and joining in. Plus, it's kind of a sweet thing to look back on when shrimpy arrives - or god forbid, if I have another one after! I hope to push one out - wow, bad choice of words! - at least once a month so keep your eyes peeled!

JULY BEAUTY FAVOURITES

Morning campers! Oh I've missed beauty posts! I've missed a lot of things that aren't to do with the growing a little human inside me and this is my first ever "favourites" post too! Although I'm only just getting back into the swing of blogging after a hefty amount of time off here our my favourites from this month.

PREGNANCY TALK: FIRST TRIMESTER ESSENTIALS

Morning campers! HAPPY SECOND TRIMESTER TO ME! I am 1/3 of the way through the joyful ordeal which is creating life. Unfortunately I haven't had the greatest of times with my first few months but silver lining, I get to create a blog post out of it. For any of you lovely ladies who have just found out your pregnant or are having a rough time I have put together my essential list to get you through your first 3 months of pregnancy.

MONTHLY CATCH UP: JULY

Morning campers! After months of being stuck in my little blog rut I have finally got out of my funk! Mainly due to the fact that I've finally gone out and bought myself a massive sheet of card to use for flat lays - AHH! My mind is at ease! So I thought we should really have a little bit of a catch up. July has been a crazy ass month!

DEALING WITH THE MUM POLICE: MY FIRST ENCOUNTER

Morning campers! It's been a while - lets try about a month and a bit! Oops!
This is mostly down to my horrendous morning sickness and also because I haven't actually got an efficient white background for photo's and I'm just not happy with any photo's for posts! #BLOGGERPROBS

Today unfortunately my post isn't about exciting new baby stuff or my new favourite nail colour. Today's post is a little bit of a rant after my first encounter with the judgemental Mum police. You know the one's, the one's that enforce their views and look down on you like you are a terrible mother. The one's that judge you when you chose to not breast feed or don't bring your child up in a certain way. Now, I know every Mum runs into these trolls at some point...but I wasn't expecting this before our little shrimp was even born!

AIN'T NOTHING BUT A SUGAR SCRUB: SOAP & GLORY SCRUBS & BUTTERS

AHHH it's good to be back! Now I thought I would start off with a little beauty post as its been SOO long! Back in April I went on a bit of a beauty spree in Boots and spent a horrendous amount of money! Among my MANY purchases were these little goodies from Soap & Glory! 

BEAUTY, BAKING AND...BABY!?

My god its been a while! *dusts off cobwebs from keyboard!* It's been a fair few months since I've blogged about anything at all - what with being a little bit crazy and everything - but things have started to get better. I've got a lovely new job, a lovely clean house and also....A BLOODY BABY ON THE WAY!