26 & 27 Weeks

So I forgot to write an update at 26 weeks, ops sorry, so I'm combining the last two weeks into one post. I'm still feeling amazing, I literally can't stress enough how a positive outlook on pregnancy has helped me. Learning to love every stretch and pain and trusting that my body is doing exactly what it needs to be to grow this baby. My hormones have seemed to level out over the past two weeks as well, so thats a relief for me (and my husband lol).

Birth Without Fear & Anxiety

During pregnancy audio books have been my go to! I struggle to fully concentrate on reading a book, but with an audio book I can actually fully concentrate. Anyway, I've gone a bit off topic there, but basically one of the books I'm listening too at the moment is called Mindful Hypno Birthing by Sophie Fletcher. After writing a post on Hypno Birthing last month I decided to give it a go and before booking into any classes I thought I'd would listen to this book to see what I thought.

"Giving birth should be your greatest achievement in life, not your greatest fear"

What Breast Pump is Best?

If your breast feeding baby you want to make sure you have the best breast pump so you can express and share the responsibility or you need to get back to work & still want to breastfeed. Theres hundreds of styles on the market and it can be quite overwhelming when trying to decide.

Ive asked real new mums what breast pump they brought and their rating to help you make your mind up...

Bump Band

I remember my sister having a bump support band in her later stages of pregnancy and never really knew how I felt about them. I almost thought that it was squashing the baby and I couldn't really understand how it was providing her relief. However, after experiencing a painful lower back and round ligament pains while walking, I did my research into what could help, and taadaaa bump bands.

25 Weeks

One more week down, 15 more to go...crazy!! I'm writing this today on Mother's Day, thinking how insane it is that I myself will be a mother soon. I feel completely blessed :)

Preparing for baby update : Our beautiful Teddy One nursery gets delivered next month, I'm so excited!! Its the most beautiful handcrafted furniture, I'm kind of jealous they don't do adult sized beds!! I've also got an Ergobaby 360 Carrier, I've heard amazing things about these, so I will review it for sure !! Although I LOVE my pram, I think a practical carrier is a necessity in the city when popping to the food store or walking the dog.

Bump Update : Kicks are getting so much stronger now and it feels like bubba might be running out of space because every little movement I feel. I actually love it :) even at 1am in the morning when I'm trying to sleep!!

Momma Update : I've received my Gabriailla bump band, so I've started to wear it when I'm on my feet for a prolonged periods of time to help my back. I will post a blog once Ive used it enough to review. But on first thoughts, the pressure it takes of my lower back is amazing, so that is very exciting. I've also got to mention the Digestive Mama Body Tea, wow does this tea work!!! Since baby is getting bigger, food is taking longer to digest, so trapped wind and indigestion is becoming a slight pain. Every time I've had slight digestive discomfort I have drank one cup and I kid you not within 10-15 minutes the discomfort is gone! I swear by it now !!!

Prams & Travel Systems

When it comes to picking a pram / travel system for bubba theres a few things to take into consideration. Firstly, your lifestyle. A women living in the countryside is going to need an all together different style than someone that lives in the city. Make sure you don't buy one for looking pretty over its practicalities for your lifestyle, you don't want to be struggling up the stairs in the tube with a huge, heavy pram. Secondly, know the difference between a travel system and just a standard pram. A travel system is basically 3-in-1, a lay down (from newborn) carry cot, a 6 month + seat and a car seat (or at least as an optional extra) , this means babies car seat can be taken out of the car and clipped straight onto the wheels without having to disturb sleeping bubba, which is not recommended lol. They are generally slightly more expensive, however most include everything you will need to get your little one from A to B, including a car seat. Be sure to check reviews of the car seat prior to buying the system as safety is key. Some prams cam come with adaptors that can be purchased to be attached to certain car seats then to the pram, however some don't accommodate car seats at all. Also, if your buying a standard pram, check that it is suitable for newborns as some don't have a lie flat function. Thirdly, do you like the look of it? Although this isn't the most important thing it will matter to some parents :)

The Baby Show

I've always been dubious about whether any of these 'shows' are worth going to or not, so I thought I'd go along on Saturday with my mum, sister and niece to see what I thought of it. To be completely honest, it was pretty amazing.

Firstly everything was in the same place, I'm a fan of this because living in London without a car, if I want to see anything physically its means going to big a big busy department store and traipsing up and down floors and sections to find a small selection of what I'm looking for. At The Baby Show, its all under one roof which is perfect, especially for the men that don't really want to drag out the shopping experience, its an easy sell, everything can be ordered in one day. The selection was also huge, loads and loads of brands to choose from, so I found it worth checking everything out before making any decisions.

Hello 24 Weeks

Eeeeekkkk, I've reached my 24th week. This is crazy to me, because at the beginning of my pregnancy I remember looking on my pregnancy apps thinking it was SO far away, and it felt unreal that the baby would ever be the size of a melon. But here I am, and its actually flown by, I know I say that in every weekly update, but its just shocking to me!!

Preparing for baby update : So I've finally started clearing the house of junk, I swear the amount of paperwork and random shit we have in drawers and cupboards never fails to shock me lol. I literally have an entire black sack of hoarded letters and paperwork that we honestly don't need taking up our storage space. Iv also ordered a bunch of vacuum pack bags, I literally cannot wait for them to arrive today lol. Now thats a grown up statement lol. No, seriously, I have SO many clothes in my cupboard that don't fit me and I need space for my new bigger clothes, so I'm excited to clear out my cupboard and get all my space organised. I guess this isn't directly for baby, but it will definitely help to have the house organised upon bubbas arrival.

Bump Update : So I'm pretty sure my belly has almost doubled in size, but from the front you might not even know I was pregnant, its the weirdest thing. I've attached a before and after picture, because it shocks me how much I've grown!! Still no stretch marks, I know they are mostly hereditary but Im also oiling religiously morning and night with Loveboo miracle oil and it seems to really work!

Mumma Update : Those back pains are very much still there, so I researched the best bump band for back support and came across Gabriella Maternity, so I have a bump band on its way to me and I'm going to do a full review in the coming weeks on how I get along with it! I will also have a discount code, so if your thinking of buying it, hold tight and use that! Bodily changes are real guys, lol. There is so many things changing with my body, to the point where I feel like its actually temporarily not mine, its just being rented to baby for another 4 months. Other mums may know this feeling lol!