So we are back from Suffolk and have been back to work today. The week was full of cups of tea and catch ups, although we struggled like usual to fit everyone in so we are already planning the next trip up after Christmas. Polly in particular had a blast and was a little monkey who loved getting lots of extra attention. We mixed the week up a bit and ended up staying at 3 different places which was a nice way to spend more time with those we did get a chance to catch up with. Of course all 3 of us ate way to much naughty food, I jokingly said to Henry that Polly is now banned from having chips until at least Christmas!

We finished our time in Suffolk with Henry making a phone call that is a huge milestone in our journey (I hate using that word as it triggers major eye roll reactions in me but I suppose it’s the easiest way to explain what we are doing) to a better life. Sat in the front of the car on my Grandparents drive way with Polly and I exchanging cuddles with my Grandad, Henry enrolled on his personal training course. It might have looked like an insignificant moment to anyone walking past but we both realised on the 6 hour car journey home (plenty of time to chat!) that this was a huge milestone as it’s really happening. He’s taken the next step to changing careers. I will add that it didn’t actually take us the whole 6 hours to realise this, we realised it before we’d sat down to a cheeky Burger King 10 miles up the road. I know-more unhealthy food but I pulled the pregnant card on him as I was so hungry I was contemplating raiding the advent calendars in the boot.

We then took advantage of our last day before going back to reality by going to 2 Christmas markets in Exeter yesterday. This meant lots of trying gingerbread, gin (Henry only) and cake while also sneaking in a naughty hog roast at the end of the day. We officially finished Christmas shopping (except the cat who I hope won’t get forgotten as the poor sod has been so far. Thank God Lidl is just up the road) and also bought a Polly sized reindeer in the sale who we’ve christened Morris. The perfect end to a big landmark week. I mean technically I finished it finally by ironing our work shirts in my PJs last night before Henry was a terrible influence and made me binge watch the 2 episodes of Peaky Blinders we’d missed, so after an 11:30 crawl up the stairs to bed I did come close to throwing my phone out the window when it woke me up at 6:20AM this morning 😦 It did also give us a giggle as to how much our free Saturday nights have changed over the years. I really wouldn’t change it for the world as watching Polly dancing and cheering round the living room to Strictly Come Dancing is a lot more entertaining and satisfying than watching everyone in the club getting mid numbingly drunk before stumbling round the corner for a subway.

Can’t complain about the early starts too much though as things really are coming together and now I’m about to hit week 18 in the pregnancy I shouldn’t moan too much about dragging myself to work as the uniform free/PJ wearing/baby group attending/different alarm call/tiring yet fulfilling bliss of maternity leave is waving at me on the horizon! Plus it’s nearly Christmas!!

Well I’ve been a bit crap with keeping the blog posts coming over the last week or so, sorry about that. In my defence Polly was sick so I was a bit distracted with things. Basically I think she actually read my last post about accidents and hospital visits and thought she’d try and out do herself. I honestly think she was the sickest she’s ever been, although no hospital trip this time. Instead just a bit of reassurance from the doctor that it really was just a viral infection and a little ear infection too, that the rash that was covering half her body was perfectly harmless, that her breathing would go back to normal once her temperature went back to normal and that she would perk up out of the near coma like state she was in once she’d had a couple of doses of antibiotics. Thankfully all these things did turn out to be true, however it did take a full week for her to be 100% better. So we had a fairly stressful week with Mummy spending 2 nights sleeping on the nursery floor holding her hand through the cot bars and Daddy proving himself to be much better at administering the medicine- years of giving medicines to cows proving to be very useful here.

So, as I say she was all back to normal cheeky Polly mood by Friday which was perfect timing as after my evening shift we loaded up the car, said goodbye to the kitty and hit the road heading for Suffolk. The idea of travelling at night means that at least Polly will sleep which she did. Sadly it’s obviously when we usually sleep too. Henry did amazing and drove the whole way although he did need an hours sleep to recharge at about 1ish. It was an uneventful journey which is always a good thing, I managed to finish my Chinese in the car while he napped and we also used a 4AM toilet stop as a cheeky reason to sneak a McDondalds in, it just meant we had to avoid eye contact with the random drunks in there.

It’s now day 3 in Suffolk and we can currently be found still in PJ’s after just finishing breakfast, Daddy and Polly are watching some cartoons and we are soon heading off to see some friends. Suffolk is where I’m originally from and we both have lots of family and friends here so it’s always a nice trip up where we pack in lots of coffee catch ups and also get a chance to re charge our batteries. We’ve had a busy weekend involving a hilarious meal out with friends who tried to recreate Henry’s stag do by supplying him with various shots at the table, yes this was in Frankie & Benny’s at 6PM, Polly especially thought it was funny and tried to copy Daddy with her milk. How we weren’t actually kicked out I’ve got no idea. Yesterday we had a perfect day at a Christening where I became Godmother to a gorgeous little man called Niall, his mum is Polly’s Godmother and a very dear friend. Polly behaved so well in the church and had a blast running around the village hall afterwards. We then headed to see some family where we pigged out on pizza and chips and Polly was a little flirt with her Auntie Carla’s new boyfriend providing a lot of laughs.

Best head off now as we do need to be dressed to go out, I’ll try not to leave it so long before my next post and I’m sure we’ll have a few more amusing stories to share from our trip up here.

We’ve had a fairly quiet few days, just working, chasing a toddler and a few cups of tea with family. Polly decided at the end of last week to try and liven things up though with not one, not even two but three bangs to the front of the head between Wednesday and Saturday- the last one of course being the most dramatic. She does seem to do this, she’ll go a few months without any major incidents then do three in a week! The first involved head-butting a coffee table and was fixed with a cuddle. The second involved, ok I’m not going to lie, I’m not actually sure what it involved. We were at one of the toddler groups and there was the usual craized frenzied rush from the little people when the box of musical instruments comes out at the end, Polly was of course in the thick of it even though she’s one of the smallest and then when she sat down two minutes later proudly holding a tambourine she had a cut on her forehead. No tears this time, just a very confused mother. The third, well like I say this was the biggest, this one involved a train set table. We’d popped into the town’s toy shop with Auntie Georgia and Polly was having a field day in the ball pit there (yes for those of you who haven’t frequented the toy shop in Sidmouth it does genuinely have a full sized ball pit at the back of the shop for the kids to play in!). She then started running around and ran in the direction of said train set table but unfortunately she totally misjudged it and face-planted the side of it. Cue screaming toddler. Cue nose bleed. Cue very panicked mother and a very upset Auntie (who in no way could have prevented this!!). So we said goodbye to the plans of an early lunch, a walk along the river and the birthday party we were heading to and instead took a trip to the local minor injury unit. After a near two hour wait, two poos in the waiting room (both from Polly I should add), a picnic involving wotsits and mango chunks on the magazine table and enough presses of the musical Disney book she found that the noises are now ingrained in my head forever, she was given the all clear. So instead of running around eating jelly and jumping on a bouncy castle we headed home for duvet cuddles and a bit of Strictly Come Dancing.

This wasn’t the first time she’s given us a scare, at 12 weeks old we had a frantic dash to hospital with the murmur of meningitis from our local doctor ringing in our ears. After a three day hospital stay, four attempts at a catheter, a lumbar puncture and many tears from Polly and Mummy she was finally diagnosed with a viral infection. This was still a terrifying experience that I hope never to repeat.  And a few months ago at a toddler group she fell while playing on the soft blocks (the irony of that!) and split the skin between her top lip and gum. This luckily happened two minutes from the main doctors surgery so there was no two hour wait etc etc, instead a quick check by the nurse who said ‘don’t panic accidents happen, she’ll be fine’.

So basically the conclusion is that accidents sadly do happen as little people are learning everything from how to walk to how to come out from the musical instrument mosh pit with the loudest instrument. As long as we aren’t being negligent a lot of the time we do need to take a step back and let them learn these things for themselves as most of their life will be spent with us not there to hold their hand up the slide or pick a book off the shelf for them. At the same time writing this I do find myself thinking about one of the bigger news stories from the last couple of days involving a terrible case of a parent actually inflicting these kinds of injuries on their child. I honestly don’t understand how people can do this, I mean when Polly did each of these bumps I myself actually felt physically sick and know like most parents that if there was a magic button that transferred the pain to us the grown ups then I’d press it in a heartbeat. I’m sorry to finish the post on a negative but sadly this is a very real problem that doesn’t seem to ever go away. I’m going to sign off now as it’s just made me a bit emotional thinking about this, I’m going to say goodbye and go and give my like pumpkin a cuddle and hope she never encounters anything like that at all and that one day I do get proved wrong when these cases just don’t happen.

So, as I’m getting into the swing of this latest pregnancy I thought I’d do a little feature on the delightful added bonuses that come with growing a tiny person in your belly. This is not me moaning about pregnancy (don’t want to offend all the #blessed preachers out there) but more of a way to get across what really happens in the nine months between peeing on that stick and clutching onto a gas and air stick for dear life.
These are just a round-up of some of the extras I’ve been able to enjoy:
1. Morning sickness. This is by far top of my list. Anyone who spent any time at all with me during the first half of my pregnancy with Polly will know I encountered this delight. I’m not talking about like in the films where they wake up, puke once then get on with their day. No. I’m talking up to 20 times a day, any time of day, before food, after food, just as you lay down to go to sleep at night, when you’re trying to serve customers at work and the escape route to the toilet is through 4 doors, when you’re having a sneezing fit thanks to the cold you’ve picked up and my all time favourite that still makes me squirm- after eating a bowl of coco pops (still can’t eat them thanks to that incident).
2. Nausea. I know it’s fairly similar to number 1 but it in my opinion it’s such a bitch to deal with it deserves its own spot on my list. It’s awful. It’s draining. It seems never ending. It wakes you up at 3AM and won’t let you go back to sleep. It steals your appetite. It leaves you lying on the floor of the living room ‘playing’ sleeping lions with a hyperactive toddler who doesn’t understand why you keep pulling strange faces and clapping your hand to your mouth.
3. Exhaustion. Doesn’t really need much explaining this one, but it hits you like a freight train so all you want to do is curl up on the sofa and watch re-runs of friends while feeling sorry for yourself. Cue strange looks from the toddler again.
4. Food aversions. This is just plain annoying as the food that you would usually love to devour to make you feel better (not physically better but emotionally better) actually just makes you want to puke a little bit. For me it’s chocolate and tea. Anyone who knows me will know straight away that something is up when I start declining tea as I normally have an IV attached to me with the stuff.
5. Bloating. The fact that I looked 6 months pregnant by the time the evening rolled in before I’d even announced this pregnancy is slightly disheartening and led me to raid the maternity wardrobe a bit earlier than I’d expected.
6. Stretch marks. I managed to get quite far along with Polly before I realised my giant belly was hiding those huge delightful purple streaks and did have a minor breakdown in the shower the first time I spotted them. Fast track to the next pregnancy and I’ve learnt to embrace my tiger stripes really. They tell their own story (sorry to get all mushy) but they just remind me what an amazing thing my body is capable of.
7. Nose bleeds. This was a random thing that totally took me by surprise but after taking to Doctor Google I found it was quite common. Just a bit annoying really.
8. Hair issues. So that nice glow you get from your hair when you’re pregnant is a bullshit lure into a false sense of security that you will carry on your life with gorgeous luscious locks. I have since found out that this is because your hair doesn’t do it’s normal shedding thing while a baby takes up residence in your uterus. So instead about 4 months after said baby vacates your belly, you know just when you start feeling a bit more like a human being again, then it all bloody well falls out. I mean in clumps. Big clumps of those gorgeous locks just come tumbling out in the shower. And let me tell you growing your hair back to looking relatively normal will be more frustrating than when you finally grew that primary school fringe out.
9. Haemorrhoids. I’ll try not to go into too much detail on this delight in case you’re eating, but oh sweet Mary mother of God. When these bastards struck me down in week 33 I actually wished for the dreaded morning sickness to take their place. They were excruciating. It was also pretty embarrassing trying to explain the reason I was walking like I was holding a tennis ball between my bum cheeks. Thankfully my boss at the time was incredible and didn’t take the mick too much (don’t worry we had that kind of bond where I’d have been more concerned if she hadn’t taken the mick a bit) when I had to explain that I wouldn’t make work the next day as I couldn’t walk down the stairs. I’m praying, literally praying, that I don’t get a repeat from these evil critters.
10. Tender boobs. This for me has been that first tell-tale sign that something is going on and it can really catch you off guard. Sadly, it’s not socially acceptable to massage them better in public as you might face being arrested so you have to find a discreet way of turning you back on people or ducking down out of sight to give them a little rub better. And don’t get me started on when it gets cold. Ohhhh those nipples feel like they’ve inverted and are stabbing you while trying to break themselves apart from your body. That’s a fun one to try and hide in social situations.
11. Baby kicks. Yes, it’s very sweet the first few times and it is reassuring to feel your little one move but trust me there are times when it’s nothing like a sweet calming feeling at all. Having a baby get their feet up under your ribs (always when you’re trying to drive) is honestly one of the most peculiar sensations I have ever experienced and you will find yourself shouting at said baby “move your bloody feet or I swear to God I’m coming in there to sort you out!” How you would manage that feat I have no idea, it just gives you the first taste of the attitude you can expect when they are out the belly roaming around not listening to you still.
12. Backache. I mean with a growing body (both yours and the baby inside) aches and pains can be expected but I was really hit with bad backache in the second half of my pregnancy with Polly. The only relief I could find was standing in the shower for 10 minutes or so with that warm spray running down, sadly the relief would go as soon as I stepped out, but hey you can’t win them all.
13. Hormones, hormones and more bloody hormones. At the beginning this means Henry finds himself married to Cruella De Ville who snaps and bitches at every little thing (my love I am sorry for this, not that sorry though when you consider the list beforehand). But it also means I get a bit emotional at silly things. Really silly things. Like during week 33 of the Polly pregnancy when I had a minor breakdown in the car after driving past a dead rabbit on the side of the road. Not an unusual thing to come across sadly when you live in the countryside but apparently that morning said bunny’s sudden departing from this life hit me as hard as Rose and Jack’s final moments in the icy Atlantic.
14. Baby brain. I will maintain to my dying day that this is very much a real thing. Honestly, I need some explanation as to why I keep putting the bread in the fridge, why I asked my brother whether you can eat avocado raw after eating it plenty of times in the past and the cherry on the cake when I lost Henry’s bank card in Tesco (I’m still not really sure what actually happened to that, I think I literally just discarded it on the floor after paying.)
15. Braxton Hicks. My God these are scary at first and I don’t care what people say they can be bloody uncomfortable. As Rachel so beautifully put it in Friends- “No uterus, no opinion”. The only good thing I suppose is that they do give you a bit of an idea (only a tiny idea though) as to what to expect when D-Day does finally arrive.
16. Weird dreams. I’d forgotten about these delights. I’m not talking about the odd random dream where everyone has turned into blueberries. I’m talking crazy, weird, weirder than weird dreams that are so vivid you wake up actually believing you’ve just given birth to a Furby baby with a mouthful of teeth (this is to date my weirdest one so far). A lot of these crazy dreams also come with an R-rated certificate and can be more saucy than 50 shades (doesn’t really take much to beat that though to be honest). Most of these dreams you forget by the time you’ve shaken the sleep out of your eyes (apart from the Furby one that is still engraved on my mind’s eye for all eternity) instead you just sit down to eat your breakfast and think “bloody hell, what was I on last night?”

There are obviously many other added bonus features that I haven’t featured here (heartburn, headaches and many other delights) mainly as I seem to have so far (touch wood!!) been left out of those clubs- I’m not going to brag about that though as I’m sure I’ve got plenty more pregnant time left to have a go at those experiences if mother nature feels like being a bitch.