And here we are at week 30, which means I’m really on the home stretch when it comes to this pregnancy. It’s now only a very few short weeks until my baby arrives and life will never be the same again!
I haven’t been doing a baby update every week because not an awful lot has changed on a weekly basis – and still no weird and wonderful cravings to report or anything like that. It still feels as if time is passing very quickly, and I’m still feeling lucky not to have suffered much ill health.
Definitely starting to get more excited now as it all becomes real. Of course I’m a little bit scared about the birth, but not nearly as much as I thought I would be – it mainly feels like, although its daunting, its unavoidable so there’s no point worrying too much about it.
Of all the birth stories I’ve heard, the experience is so different each time and there’s no way of knowing what it will be like, so I’m trying not to get too fixated on pain or thinking about things that ‘might’ happen. It feels like the little chap is all that matters now.
This month I have an extra special haul, packed full of really lovely items. There are a few things I’ve bought for myself, and then some items I received for my 30th birthday back at the beginning of the month, so it’s a bit of a bumper one. Think of it as a combined haul and what I got for my birthday post!
There's not an awful lot in the way of clothing - I still don't see the point in lots of maternity wear that won't get worn much, but I've probably been overcompensating on the make-up front!
One of my 'baby bucket list' things was to spoil myself a bit by treating myself to some nice make-up bits before my little son arrives and baby stuff takes over my life, so I've had a few nice items - plus a couple of eBay bargains!
Here's what I've been buying this month:
It's all been very cosy and domestic this month. I'm in full-on nesting mode and all I seem to want to do is take care of the house and make cookies - it's like I woke up and it was suddenly the 1950's!
With all the stress we had at the end of last year trying to make the house move happen, its been nice to just relax and enjoy it a bit. I'm actually looking forward to going on maternity leave at the moment, which is now only seven weeks away.
I mentioned a few posts back that I had a ‘Bump to Baby’ bucket list, or a selection of things I wanted to do before the baby came – well, I actually have two.
One is very practical and centred around the large household jobs that I want to complete before he’s born. The other is more fun, and a lot easier! It just involves ‘nice to do’ things I want to make time for pre-baby.
Its not that I think life stops when you give birth but it does change dramatically. You may still be able to do all of the things on my list, but I know they’ll be a damn sight harder or certainly take a lot more planning to achieve.
So this is all about just taking a moment to appreciate being alone, being spontaneous, and being able to make choices based only on my personal needs – something I’m about to wave goodbye to!
So here’s my before-birth, Bump to Baby Bucket List:
Never breaking a promise to yourself is something I feel strongly about, so when I said at the start of the year that I was going to get more Nars in my life, I meant it! I never joke when it comes to make-up…
The Dual Intensity palette is a flagship product of theirs and a great introduction to what Nars are all about as a brand. After falling in love with their lip crayons, I’m now being lured in by the eye shades. First of all there was the Narsissist Smoky Eye Kit (read my review of that here), and then this thing of beauty.
The Dual Intensity palette contains eight shades of out of this world colour, that can be used wet or dry (hence the ‘Dual’ in the title) to create an array of effects.
Back at the end of May, I went down to the smoke for my sister-in-law Ella's hen party and to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and took a bunch of beautiful bloom pictures which I've been meaning to share for anyone thinking of visiting next year, especially as I was a Flower Show first-timer and didn't know what to expect.
Here's what we got up to and what my impressions of the Chelsea Flower Show were...
You know what’s guaranteed to ruin my mood more than anything?
When I spend time getting a look totally on point, and then its melted off my face by the end of the day.
When I put my face on, I want it to stay put. So primer has gradually gone from being an occasional to a daily use product for me.I’ve sort of neglected to do a review of The Porefessional because it fell seamlessly into my daily use kit. I didn’t have to think. I didn’t have to debate. Its just something on the automatic ‘must repurchase’ list now.
Primer is now the number one selling cosmetic product in the UK (I know, weird right?), so it seems like a lot of us now deem it an essential. But there’s a type for almost every skin woe, and finding ‘the one’ can be costly and a bit frustrating.
So this is actually going to be my last Glossybox review for a while, as I've decided to cancel my subscription.
Lately, I've just been getting a little bored with the products on offer. There seem to be a few repeat offenders that crop up time and again, and I'm getting tired of the same old brands. There also hasn't been anything that's really wowed me, or made me want to buy it for a while.
The box has always been good value in terms of what comes in it, but still too much of the stuff is just ending up in a 'won't use' pile that I'm going to give away, so it just doesn't seem worth it. I'm no longer really excited about getting my box each month, which is the whole reason I switched from Birchbox to Glossybox about a year ago.
The excitement and fun just seems to have gone out of it a bit, so I've cancelled my sub for the time being, although I may re-instate it if I see some brilliant boxes coming out.
I was undecided when this month's box came, but here's what was inside that made me decide:
As a mummy-to-be, nights out are quite rare at the moment (especially on a school night!), so I really made the most of it last week when I went along to the launch of Pentahotel Derby.
The lovely Charlie from The Dainty Bride very kindly invited me as her plus one, so on a sunny afternoon we found ourselves setting off down the A52 on a little roadtrip adventure.
What to wear is always a dilemma for me at the moment - not much fits over my bump anymore - so it ended up being my failsafe black Peaches and Cream midi dress, chucking on several necklaces to give it some glam, whacking on the eyeliner and pouffing up my hair as high as it would go.
I took my new Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac and actually wore some cobalt blue lace-up heels from Missguided - the first time I've worn heels in quite a while....
If there’s one thing pregnancy is full of, its choices.
Suddenly you are overwhelmed with things that need to be decided – important, life changing things.
And if the only choices you were used to making before happened to be things like ‘One more gin and tonic?’ or which restaurant to go to on a Friday night, that can be daunting.
One thing you will definitely not be is an expert. Everyone around you will suddenly seem to think they are, which can make life stressful. So what you need is an impartial source of information. And this information can be found with Which? Birth Choices.
Yep, the institution that’s been advising us on washing machines, cars and laptops since before I can remember has been working on a special project to help out expectant parents.
Just 11 weeks to go until the little man makes an appearance(hopefully…), and you know a certain stage has been reached when you start counting down rather than up.
The baby is now the size of a coconut, which word has now taken the place of ‘Olive’ as his official nickname, since we’re not making a final decision on the name until he’s born.
I’m still feeling good, although I can’t deny that the simple daily grind is getting steadily more challenging each week, and I’m becoming highly aware of my own growing physical limitations.
Walking anywhere is a much slower process (I’ve gone from being a fast-paced overtaker to one of the dreaded dawdlers…), sleeping comfortably is a challenge, and as for getting up from the sofa without a helping hand or a dramatic, multi-stage tai-chi performance….forget it!
Another strange pregnancy side effect over the last few weeks has been that I seem to have turned into Mr Bean.
The baby is now the size of a coconut, which word has now taken the place of ‘Olive’ as his official nickname, since we’re not making a final decision on the name until he’s born.
I’m still feeling good, although I can’t deny that the simple daily grind is getting steadily more challenging each week, and I’m becoming highly aware of my own growing physical limitations.
Walking anywhere is a much slower process (I’ve gone from being a fast-paced overtaker to one of the dreaded dawdlers…), sleeping comfortably is a challenge, and as for getting up from the sofa without a helping hand or a dramatic, multi-stage tai-chi performance….forget it!
Another strange pregnancy side effect over the last few weeks has been that I seem to have turned into Mr Bean.
It’s obvious by now that I’m really obsessed with travel solutions, from mini toiletries to innovative storage solutions to help you look good on the go.
I love to find great products that help streamline packing, and I’m going to be sharing a few gems.
Today I’ll be looking at the Travalo perfume atomiser.
Transporting scent on the go used to be a really hazardous business.
Transporting scent on the go used to be a really hazardous business.
You either took the risk that your £70 glass bottle from Chanel would shatter in transit, you wrapped it in a plastic bag and layers of socks and prayed for the best, or you forked out for a travel version of your favourite- if it was available.
A Travalo is the answer to all of these worries, made super easy.
The firsts continue with this pregnancy!
Last time I was at the midwife’s office, I got to hear my little son’s heartbeat for the first time. That was truly an amazing moment – almost as good as seeing him on screen during my scan.
Perhaps even more so, because as my fears have slowly dropped away, and my love for this little creature has steadily increased, so the sense of wonder and joy that each of these little interactions brings has gotten greater.
The machine shifted and I could hear both of our heartbeats in tandem – mine slow and deep, his swift like the beat of a hummingbird’s wing.
And perhaps I understood a little better that day what unconditional love is.
This week was another first for me and the boy as we rocked up to our antenatal class.
We all have our particular beauty challenges, and one of mine is definitely dark circles.
Although there are factors that make them better, such as getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water and trying not to eat as much salt, things like that are largely hereditary – so what I’m always on the lookout for is a damn good concealer.
The under-eye area is always a challenge because you need something pigmented enough to cover up bluish tones, but lightweight enough that it doesn’t give you that ‘reverse panda eyes’ situation.
I also face the challenge that a lot of concealers tend to settle into the fine lines around my eyes, even when I use a primer.
All in all, it’s a complete nightmare, so when I find a good concealer I get quite excited.
And Bourjois Happy Light concealer is definitely worth shouting about in my book.
I tried the Happy Light primer a while back and was not too impressed with it, so the concealer had completely passed me by.
But when this came to my attention and I tried it out, it didn’t disappoint.
This is a post I’ve been dreading writing for….oooh…almost a year!
I knew 30 was coming up in the rear view mirror but my goodness, where on earth has the last DECADE gone, down the back of the sofa!?
There is no way I relate to being as old as I am, especially as a blogger where most are in their teens or twenties, but here we are – there’s no denying the date on my passport!
I spent my twenties (shiver of pure fear at the past tense there!) partying hard and building my career in marketing and PR, so I don’t have many regrets – they’re just a waste of time, anyway.
Now I find myself at 30 and although I know realistically that I probably won’t feel any different, I wasn’t looking forward to it!
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