Hi All

I’m back with my little week 13 pregnancy update!

Mostly I’ve still been very lucky that its been plain sailing so far, I haven’t had any morning sickness, illness or anything much other than feeling more tired than usual. Even that is only really in the evenings, so I’ve had quite a few early nights, but have been okay during the day.

Seb has been amazing. He’s always been a great husband, but he’s magic at the moment, really patient, fetching me hot water bottles and drinks and doing lots of cooking and cleaning when I’m too tired after work to do much.

This Sunday he made lovely homemade pizzas and a big chicken casserole to keep us fed during the week, bless him. He’s also been cracking on with the decorating, stripping all the woodchip out of the guest room to get it ready for redecorating.

Normally, I’m quite independent but at the moment I’m feeling like I want to spend as much time as possible with him and don’t like being apart – I’ve never been so clingy! Usually its me that wants time on my own.

I’m still not really showing (depending on the outfit) and haven’t had to adapt any of my clothes just yet – trying to make this phase last as long as possible as I’m not keen on the idea of buying loads of stuff that will only fit for a few months. I am looking forward to the bump though, because it feels a bit weird that its not obvious.


Its such a relief that my family know now and that I can ask my mum and my older sister in law all the questions I’ve been dying to know.

Talking to my mum about when she had me was informative. She didn’t have any sickness during pregnancy either, but she did have a bad birth with pre-eclampsia and me being breech, and there were a lot of complications and blood loss. I’m hoping I won’t have as bad an ordeal.

My little heartburn incident thankfully subsided and I haven’t had anything since then, although I have noticed I’ve become a bit funny towards food that’s too full of flavours or heavily spiced.

It’s not that it makes me feel sick, its more of a general aversion. Its not strong enough to call it a craving, but I feel like I want to eat plain, fresh stuff all the time – lots of unseasoned vegetables and fruit, plain cheddar and toast -  really uncomplicated things.

I’ve been feeling a bit averse to food and have had to remind myself not to skip any meals when I don’t feel like eating. This is my typical favourite meal at the moment – cherry tomatoes, a bit of cheddar and some strawberries.


The other thought that’s preoccupying me at the moment is that there’s so much stuff to buy.

I’ve begun to make lists of things that I will need for the nursery and for the baby itself. I know that parents tend to convince themselves they need more gadgets etc than they really do, but even just the very basics are so expensive.

With all the stuff we need to do to the house and saving up to balance out maternity pay later in the year, I’m beginning to panic about it a little.

I’ve found the guide on Mummy Pixie really useful and no-nonsense. I’m sure we’ll manage, but it’s a bit daunting.

I literally never realised how expensive prams are either. I don’t know what I’m looking for there so we’re going to pop to Mothercare at the weekend and just have a first look at some options to try and think about what we need.

So far we haven’t bought a single thing for the baby!

Someone whose been killing it lately since her re-emergence onto the scene is actress and ‘it girl’ Sienna Miller.

Although I coveted her shaggy fringed hair in Layer Cake and have always thought she was absolutely stunning, in the past I haven’t rated her style, despite it pretty much defining the mid 2000s. 

Gypsy skirts and pirate boots were never my thing at all, the opposite of the sleek, stark style I usually favour.

Everyone knew her for Jude Law, her ubiquitousness on the party scene and at Glastonbury, and her famed modern hippy luxe look.

Then she pretty much went down in a flame of scandal after being accused of consorting with a married man and making absolute turkeys like GI Joe.

Lately, newly enshrined in motherhood (is a baby the ultimate image rehab or what?), she has re-emerged with better films, and a much better wardrobe.

She looks incredible at the moment. Glowing skin, flawless style and one of the best haircuts around.

Here’s a little run down of her best moments lately:

Makeup Revolution are just winning the game at the moment. In terms of nicely presented, great value, high performance products, they seem to be firing on all cylinders. They’d be my main recommendation to anyone looking to experiment with their look or build up their collection.

I’ve found that several of their palettes have become firm favourites of mine, displacing pricier offerings with ease. And this little beauty has joined them!

It’s the Ultra 32 Shade Eyeshadow Palette in ‘Flawless’ and it really lives up to the name. Just £8 pounds will buy you these beautiful, highly pigmented shadows in a range of gorgeous colours, which is a brilliant deal by anyone’s standards.

Are you a high end queen or do you love getting a bargain?

I’m fairly evenly split down the middle. There are some thrills in life, like a Chanel perfume or swatching a new Charlotte Tilbury lipstick, that just can’t be beaten.

But I also dearly love finding those little gems that cost pennies and really deliver.

Drugstore offerings have really upped their game over the past few years, and often the formulations are such close rivals for high-end products now that you’d be hard pushed to tell the difference in a blind test.

It’s a different kind of thrill, but I definitely feel more smug when I find a winner.

One thing I’ve always thought you have to invest in though, is skincare. I’ve always assumed that you get what you pay for in terms of active ingredients, and although I still think there’s some truth in that, I have also read an interview with a leading dermatologist who said that often the ‘mass market’ brands can achieve better innovations as they have big budgets and economies of scale. 

Despite that, I wouldn’t have thought (and I bet neither would you) that you could get a brilliant little skin serum, packed full of great ingredients, for the princely sum of £1?

1. Evissa dress

www.wantherwardrobe.com

2. Real Techniques Rose Gold Contour Brush

www.boots.com

 

3. Richard Ward Keratin Rehab Ultra-Moisturising Treatment

www.waitrose.com

4. Nip+ Fab Dragon’s Blood Fix Plumping Serum

www.nipandfab.com

5. Loco Dark Gold Pointed Flats

www.office.com

6. White oversized shirt dress

Acne

 

7. Gold ampersand sign

Near And Dear via Etsy

My little bit of a bump I thought I could start to see emerge seems to disappear sometimes and I even find myself thinking ‘Am I really pregnant?’, which is daft. I guess it just seems so abstract still, I haven’t got my head around the fact its happening because of not having been trying for any length of time.

I’m still working on trying to be less focused on what I ‘should’ be feeling like.

My scan has become a big mental obstacle where I keep torturing myself that I won’t feel the right way when I see my baby for the first time, won’t feel a rush of love or an instant connection or any of the things I believe I’m supposed to.

When big things happen in my life, I have a tendency to feel detached, like they’re too unreal to be happening, and I don’t connect with them immediately. I felt that way all the way through my wedding day, so what if this is the same?

Sometimes, a product comes along that almost sets itself up for failure with me.

That’s so hyped, so lauded as this miracle wonder product, that it can’t help but fail.

I’m a complete sucker for advertising B.S (despite the fact I work in marketing and PR and should definitely know better). Ever since Tony the Tiger told me Frosties were grrrrreat I’ve had a compulsion to believe the claims made up by people trying to shift product.

Somehow being an avid reader of blogs doesn’t help, because if everyone is raving about something and I just don’t get it, I try to convince myself I must be wrong.

Love is in the air this week, as Glossybox unleash their February offering.

If Cupid hasn’t been good to you, or you have a husband like mine who believes (and I quote ) “Relationships should be about a foundation of continual mutual respect and kindness rather than empty gestures on one day of the year greetings card manufacturers choose”, this is definitely a treat that will make you feel very loved.

Hello dolls

Guess who’s been haulin’?

Wasn't January such a long, horrid month? It’s so long since payday and so long since all the fun of Christmas, so as soon as payday rolled around I decided to treat myself to some beauty bits I’d had my eye on for a while.

There were a couple of premium items from NARS and then I placed some orders with my favourite bargain beauty sites as well.

I’m planning to review most of these items in more detail, so I’ll keep it brief here. But I had to show you for our mutual beauty satisfaction...